The Customer Experience: Tips that make a difference

The customer experience is the sum of all experiences that the customer has before, during, and after the purchase of a product or service.

Effectively applied, it is a strong tool to fuel sales growth and a powerful lever to differentiate yourself from the competition.

In contrast, a customer experience that is inconsistent and not aligned to the brand’s overall image could negatively affect the company. This premise is highlighted in the first part of a study done by the Gartner Institute:

• A negative customer experience leads to the loss of the customer in 89% of cases
• 86% of customers are ready to pay more to benefit from a better customer experience
• 58% of consumers said that they would recommend companies where the customer experience is higher than their competitors

Here are a few points that, once applied, can work to improve customer experience.

• Social media, a vector for the customer experience

In a context where social media is omnipresent, customers who are willing to get information and interact with an organisation are naturally interested in social media.

• Be transparent

You are facing a problem, for example, an unexpected inventory outage, a shipping delay, or an event that you have to cancel…

Take the time to inform your customers and explain the reasons behind the event. Apologize and compensate if appropriate.

• Differentiate yourself from your competitors while keeping a consistent brand image

Determine your value-add, your strengths, what makes you different from the competition and find ways to transfer these into the experience that you offer.

Example: You define yourself as being attentive to customers’ needs. Now let’s pretend that a customer is trying to reach you and he hears an impersonal voice message asking him to send inquiry by mail. The customer would certainly be surprised and disappointed.

Stay true to your brand at each one of your customer touch points 😉