In our previous blog, we discussed the necessary integration of systems to deliver real-time, meaningful customer interactions. Organizations seem to understand the importance of gathering and utilizing data to help create a seamless customer journey, but are struggling at getting it in the hands of the right people at the right time to be truly impactful.
You can see how valuing the customer experience requires an organizational commitment to embracing the concept that customers rule supreme. Clearly, every team member from every department needs to be on board with delivering your brand’s strategy. This will lead to less customer turnover and strengthen your position in the marketplace to continue attracting new customers.
To effectively focus on the customer experience though, companies must clearly understand their goals and objectives for their customers. And for every company this will be different. For example a healthcare provider and a video game business will have different customer experience priorities and goals…..hopefully.
Having a deep understanding of your customers is required, to then embed it into every aspect of your operations. This way your customer experience strategy is a reflection of your culture and operating processes. Aligning your business goals and customer experience initiatives creates an important customer connectedness that permeates everything you do.
The result of this effort that companies are striving to achieve is high customer satisfaction. With a solid strategy in place the expectations are set so employees know how to approach customer interactions. Unfortunately, any inconsistent or inconvenient experience on any of the many digital channels customers use can result in a missed opportunity or negative communication about their journey.
The flip side of course is that any positive customer experience can also be communicated, spreading the word to others about your brand. The July issue of Communication World noted that today there are many channels which customer experiences are communicated through like social media, including Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram; review platforms, like Yelp and Google; assisted website chats, chatbots, and email. It’s important to recognize the power of these platforms, as 71 percent of consumers who have had a good social media experience with a company are likely to recommend that company, according to statistics from an Ambassador infographic.
Good marketers also know that regardless if the customers’ comments are positive or negative, as a company you need to respond in a timely manner. Bad reviews need to be addressed quickly to figure out a solution that solves their issues. This does not need to all happen within the public sphere, through private email is fine as long as you are trying to fix that person’s customer experience. Positive comments too need to be addressed as that type of customer interaction is highly valuable to your business.
Yelp and Google reviews need to be handled in the same manner. According to a 2017 BrightLocal Local Consumer Review Survey 85 percent of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations and 73 percent trust a local business more if it has positive reviews. When you acknowledge peoples’ comments, you are letting them and other potential customers know you value their opinion and their business. You are building a relationship with them.
In so many respects then, feedback becomes the critical tool for the success of delivering a consistent, compelling customer experience. This is true when customers interact with employees through email or through Facebook, you are showing the human side of your organization. The side that is caring and looking to nurture potential customers or long-time fan favorites.
Gathering the feedback and integrating data findings will help keep customer interactions relevant and meaningful to your customers and their changing needs. A good customer experience strategy takes everything into account and needs to be embraced by everyone involved in your business. Ready to provide compelling messages across all your platforms? Let MMP develop the strategic content your business needs to deliver a successful customer experience.
