What do we talk about when we talk about customer experience?
BUILDING GREAT CUSTOMER EXPERIENCES
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13 SEPTEMBER
08:30 – 11:30AM
Plain speak
As with a lot of bad customer experiences, the concept of ‘customer experience’ is itself shrouded in a lot of corporate speak, a lot of mumbo-jumbo.
Plainly speaking, customer experience is about whether or not someone likes what you sell, be it a thing, a service or an experience.
Having a bad customer experience means I didn’t like what I was sold or offered or the way I was treated or made to feel.
And whether I like something or not depends on my expectations. High expectations comes with the possibility of being more disappointed. I know that a piece of gum isn’t going to change my life, so I’m not so upset when it simply tastes good for a few minutes. But when my five-star holiday fails to make me feel renewed, I turn cranky and difficult.
Know thyself
Knowing what type of product you offer and what expectations your customers have, is the first step towards making sure you’re not offering something disappointing, annoying or frustrating.
Rule number one: Don’t oversell or overpraise.
But of course, rule number one should really be: have a great product. But not every company offers a great product. Lots of products are simply OK and people are OK with that, most of the time, if they’re not promised the moon.
The game changes when your company is seeking to make more money, as all companies do. According to Forrester’s U.S. Customer Experience Index, 2016: “customer experience leaders grow revenue faster than CX laggards, drive higher brand preference, and can charge more for their products.“
Preliminary conclusion: a positive customer experience can make your company more money, but building false expectations can ruin your reputation and your profits.
Great customer experiences
If you want your customers to feel valued, appreciated and confident you need to offer a product of a quality that does not fall short of their expectations and often surpasses these.
This means understanding the way someone interacts with or relates to your product at every point. A good first impression only makes things worse if the next step is fails to follow up.
Rule number two: A great customer experience is based on consistency of quality throughout.
And rule number three: Exceed expectations when you can.
Watch the video below to see how this gentleman was positively surprised:
Back to basics
Customer experience is really all about honesty and quality and how the two relate, both in your product and marketing and in your customers’ minds.
Strip away a lot of business jargon and process and the fact remains: people are happy with what you sell them if they feel the price is right relative to the quality of the product and the expectations they had.
Low quality products need to be sold with low expectations attached.
High quality can take hyping.
Customer experience isn’t complicated, but your business processes and ways of doing things might be.
Rule number four: Make sure your business is set up to further the quality of your product, as well as the ease of day-to-day management.
And rule number five, last rule: Keep it all as simple as possible.
Want to find out more about building great customer experiences? Make sure you sign up to the DSMLF meeting on 13th September and join your peers for a lively debate on the matter.