Whether you manage your business virtually or in a physical, brick-and-mortar space, you still interact with your customers. The human element is present in every business, which makes developing relationships with customers an absolute essential.
It used to be that providing the best quality product or service earned customer loyalty. But times have changed. Today’s customers prioritize the customer experience (CX). 86% of buyers are willing to pay more for a great customer experience (PWC). And according to Harvard Business Review, customers who had the best past experiences spend 140% more than those who had the worst past experiences, reinforcing that the CX has a significant impact on business outcomes.
SuperOffice sums up the CX like this: “The customer experience is your customers’ perception of how your company treats them. These perceptions affect their behaviors and build memories and feelings to drive their loyalty.” So, how do your customers perceive you and your brand? Do they like how you make them feel? Are they willing to stick by you and even recommend you to others? These are the questions that you need to ask yourself about your customers.
For customers to like you, you need to get to know them, understand their needs and expectations, and then deliver a personalized customer experience that makes them raving fans of your brand.
Here’s how you can make those customer experience (CX) connections happen in today’s digital world.
Be mobile-friendly.
In the third quarter of 2020, mobile devices (excluding tablets) generated 50.81% of global website traffic (Statista). Knowing that business today has become increasingly virtual, be mindful that people are still people when they’re interacting with your business on their phones, tablets and laptops. It’s a rule we repeatedly hear: make sure your website is mobile-friendly, as 88% of online consumers are less likely to return to a site after a bad experience (SWEOR).
Pay attention to the customer journey.
Put yourself in your customers’ shoes: First, make sure it’s easy to find your website—and then format the information on your website so it’s easy to digest. Provide links to your site in your social posts. If you sell a product or service, use social commerce on your social media platforms to make simply the purchases. Use texts to keep customers apprised of status. And then follow up with a personal email or hand-written note.
Emphasize visuals.
As humans, we’re drawn toward aesthetically pleasing designs. So, making your website look good is a no-brainer for creating a good CX. Be sure to carry that same brand design or look across all of your marketing channels. From social media to product sell sheets to your website, your brand visuals should be consistent and identifiable.
Collect feedback.
Asking your customers for their feedback allows them to be heard—and it validates that their feelings and opinions are important to you. The bonus is that if there’s an issue with your product or service, you can correct the problem to meet their needs better and create a more positive CX for them and others, too.
Be consistent with all customer interactions.
Insight from WSI: “A bad product with a good website is still just a lousy product. Bad customer service through a good website is still miserable customer service. The main way to avoid these sorts of mismatches is to remain consistent across your entire business. Doing so lets your customer experience act as a direct form of marketing, reinforcing messages about why your business is the best.” Read the article here: https://www.wsiworld.com/blog/customer-experience-you-deliver-is-vital-in-a-digital-world
These are just a few of the ways that you can be more intentional about improving the CX. At Shamrock, we’re big on asking for feedback. We meet with our clients for regular business reviews to take a look at the way we’re serving them and how we might be able to improve on that. It’s a great system that helps us fine-tune our CX. If you have ideas you’d like to share, join the conversation on our Facebook page.
A better user experience will make you stand out from your competition.