How the Customer Experience Works

The customer experience (CX) involves all of the elements observed and consumed across all customer touchpoints. The CX starts at the beginning of the sales life cycle, or customer journey, with the early marketing efforts of a business, all the way to purchase, customer return, and advocacy. This experience includes in-person customer interactions, calls to contact centers, experiences with online customer service, and self-service support methods through e-commerce platforms that empower customers to find solutions independently.

Customer experience is important because it helps solidify brand loyalty amongst customers. When a person has a good overall customer experience in your store or with your company, they’re likely to become loyal customers, return for additional purchases, or refer the brand to someone else. When a customer has a bad experience, they likely won’t return (unless it’s rectified satisfactorily) and will not market your business to others via word-of-mouth or social media. Customer loyalty can expand your business and profits and, in turn, lead to more customer retention.

An effective CX strategy can improve the relationship a customer has with a brand, making it one of the key elements of maintaining a successful business.

• Seamless: Creating a sales environment, whether online or at a brick-and-mortar store, where customers can seamlessly locate products, find out necessary information about products, and easily complete a purchase is a major aspect of a positive customer experience. Customers should be able to find the help they need or the products they want with little difficulty.
• Personalized: A 2017 survey revealed that 44 percent of consumers would likely become repeat customers after receiving a personalized experience from a business or brand. To learn more about your customers’ needs, you can solicit post-shopping feedback via surveys with special discounts or hire an tech professional to create an algorithm for your site that personalizes recommendations based on the customer’s clicks.
• Reliable: One of the best ways to build customer loyalty is by providing a consistently superior customer experience. Your customers should know what they’re getting out of their relationship with your company each time. They should be able to trust that customer support will be available and competent in tackling their needs.

To help ensure a better customer experience, see the guide below:

1. 1. Create a customer experience strategy plan. Outline a customer experience management (CEM) strategy that details how you plan on addressing customer’s needs, as well as meeting customer expectations. Having a thorough strategy in place can make sure your messaging and methods are continually working to create a great customer experience and reduce customer churn while also considering your bottom line.
2. 2. Take customer feedback. Getting customer feedback in real-time (like through surveys) can provide insight into your customer’s journey. Listen to any complaints or critiques customers have about their experience and improve these areas to create a more seamless and positive experience.
3. 3. Understand your customers. The best way to ensure customer satisfaction is to know what your customers want. Use customer relationship management (CRM) services that evaluate customer engagement and provide customer experience metrics to better understand their journey from start to finish.
4. 4. Provide excellent customer service. Work to exceed expectations by going above and beyond the standard customer experience. Ensure your sales team or support staff fully knows the business’s products and services and use social media or other services to enhance their experience and provide top-notch support. Avoid relying entirely on automation to gather feedback or provide service—customers often want to speak to a live person for support. They may get too frustrated listening to an endless phone menu of options.

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