Customer experience is taking the world by storm. Why it matters?

Customer experience is one of the hottest topics in the world of business, design and technology—even more so now during the pandemic. It plays a significant role in nearly every business strategy discussion. To clarify the fundamental concepts, I am preparing a series of educational articles. The first chapter is an introductory one; it covers the context of CX and answers essential questions: what, why and how.
By Jan Takacs, 5th October 2020

What is customer experience? In a nutshell, it is your customers’ perception of how you are treating them.

These perceptions are the main drivers of customers’ trust, loyalty and spending power towards the business. CX, holistically, is a result of every single interaction customers have with your brand.

If your customers genuinely like you, they will keep doing business with you, recommend your brand to others and even eventually become your ambassadors.

It has been proven many times over, that great customer experience increases retention, revenue and satisfaction for any business or organization.

Download the full deck

CX: Introduction (PDF, 1.5MB)

Today's winners are businesses who put their creativity into designing a unique experience for their customers.

Companies that prioritize and effectively manage customer experience are three times more likely than their peers to significantly exceed their top business goals. (Adobe)

There were three recent developments which explain why customer experience remains a hot topic in every business strategy discussion.

In recent years, customers have developed very high expectations and the ever-increasing competitive landscape driven by globalization is putting the relationship with customers at the pinnacle of business priorities.

Organizations are now able to interact with one customer at a time and then scale these interactions economically and efficiently into millions.

It is now more important to delight and please the customer than it ever was.

Why?

With the acceleration of digital technology, globalization's influence and a growing number of accessible channels, today's customers have an array of options and choices.

They are quick decision-makers and are never shy to abandon organizations which provide poor customer experience.​

Brands have to provide a clear value proposition that resonates with their customers and is easy to connect with.

74% of people are likely to switch brands if they find the purchasing process too difficult. (Salesforce)

We are living in the age of the customer, who is a very demanding individual.

Today's customers are digital-savvy, profoundly informed, always on the move, highly demanding and more difficult to retain than ever.​

They benchmark their expectations with the best experiences on the market - with the leading brands like Netflix, Google, Amazon, Dyson or Apple - and expect nothing less from other organizations as well.

After one negative experience, 51% of customers will never do business with that company again. (Vonage)

Driving factors behind customer expectations are always changing, but some fundamental themes are all-important.

1.

Today's customers are always on the move; if your brand is not mobile, it doesn't exist.

2.

Personalization is a must, don't ever ask customers twice for the information you already have.

3.

Customers don't want to spend time figuring out how to use a product or service. If it's not easy and convenient, they are gone.

4.

If you are going to make your customers wait, they will find an alternative option in seconds and most likely they will never return.

5.

Customers expect that you will care about their needs and feelings. If they sense that you do not care about them, they will find a brand that will.

SECU Interactive Art Wall by Float4.

80% of customers say they are more likely to do business with a company if it offers personalized experiences. (Epsilon)

Businesses have to adapt to this new reality. It is no longer enough to satisfy. It is necessary to "wow".

CX drives over two-thirds of customer loyalty, outperforming brand and price combined. (Gartner)

Successful organizations that thrive in the current climate are prioritizing and efficiently counteracting the problem of customer churn.

Building customer trust today requires delivering a pleasant and consistent experience across every touchpoint as it is no longer enough to meet customers’ expectations - brands have to exceed them.

Loyalty has to be won through moments of delight and memorable experiences continuously.

In the next session we will look at the core elements of a successful CX strategy.

Sources

1. Transform Customer Experience by Isabella Villani
2. Customer Experience 2020 report by Forrester
3. Customer Experience Management Stats, 2020 Edition by Adobe
4. Customer Experience Statistics 2020 by SuperOffice.com
5. 75 Customer Service Facts, Quotes & Statistics by HelpScout.com
6. Understand Customer Experience by HotJar

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