Why Customer Experience is Vital for Business Growth

Making a customer happy is the best business strategy you can have.

Why?

Because those customers will keep on coming back to you, and not only that, they will tell their friends and family about you, marketing your company totally free of charge.  

There are plenty of ways how a well-chalked out customer strategy can help you acquire more business, reduce your churn rate, increase overall revenue and give your business the edge it needs to stand apart from the rest. 

So let's take a deep dive into what Customer Experience is all about and why it's so crucial.

How Do You Define Customer Experience?

Customer experience is an umbrella term, which encompasses every interaction between your brand and your customers.

It starts when the customer first learns about your product through your marketing efforts and ends with after-sales support and customer service. Customer Experience includes every touchpoint between your customers and your brand - the user interface, FAQ's and support, product demos, talking to a sales agent, the payment portal, or even visiting your stores and interacting with the sales representative. 

In a nutshell, customer experience is the feeling you want to instill in your customers whenever they interact with your brand. When you are making a sale, you aren't just selling a product, you're selling a feeling. A customer might not remember what they bought, but they will never forget how you made them feel. 

Why Should You Have A Customer Experience Strategy?

In today's crowded market, if you don't provide good customer experience, your users will just go to your competitors because they will think they'll get better treatment there. More so, if your competition launches a compelling offer and discounts.

A recent study by Econsultancy shows that only 20% of companies have an extensive and well-planned customer experience strategy. These companies include the likes of Apple, Disney, and Tesla. You just instinctively associate quality and excellent customer experience with these brands. 

Here's what those brands do differently and why customer experience is so essential to their business model.

1. Your Brand Image Depends On It

If you had to name a few renowned brands from the top of your head, what would you choose? Apple, McDonald's, Adidas, Coca-Cola, Mercedez?

What these brands have that others don't is unique brand identity. Nobody else quite matches up. They aren't trying to make a more affordable product or a more functional one. But what they do have is excellent customer experience.

For example, there are plenty of smartphones that can match up to the iPhone's performance, and they are definitely cheaper. Yet, Apple makes a profit every year. Why So?

It's because they have something you can't quite put your finger on. You just feel good about yourself buying their products, and you trust them to give you a great experience. 

2. You'll Have Loyal And Recurring Customers

If you keep providing top-notch customer service, your customers will start to think of you as an authority figure on the subject and place their faith on you above everyone else.

Just think about it. If you buy a laptop from a particular brand, and you see that not only the laptop works great, but also you never have any problems contacting customer support for repairs or getting spare parts. You'll remember how easy it was, and the next time you want to buy a laptop, you will definitely choose that brand again.

That is also why someone who uses a Macbook or drives a Mercedez never changes brands. Focusing on customer retention should be a critical aspect of your business strategy, and the best way to go about is through great customer experience.

3. It's The Most Trusted Form Of Marketing

Who are you more likely to listen to - someone on TV endorsing a product or a loved one or someone close to you recommending something?

We always trust our loved ones the most and value their recommendations and suggestions above everyone else. If you can make a customer happy with your customer strategy, they will definitely let their friends and family know how you made them feel and advocate your product.

No matter how creative or ingenious your marketing team is, word-of-mouth is still the most trusted form of marketing. 

4. It Gives You A Competitive Edge

In today's completely ruthless marketplace, unless you have a super unique product, it will be tough for your business to get sustained growth. One way you can stand out is by showing your customers that you care about them much more than everybody else. While product features across competitors become more alike, customer experience is difficult to copy. It is not about the tools and technology but also about people and culture that makes it so unique.

Many companies offer a "No questions asked return policy" but when you are actually returning a product what makes difference is how you are treated at that time. So the strategy of customer experience is not limited to company policy but how smoothly it is deployed by the front desk team as well.

Also, the personalisation makes a big impact to customer experience. No two customers are the same, and you should do your best to make the sales/support process as personalized as possible.

Take Spotify, for example. They will use the songs you have been listening to and use them to create daily personalized playlists with new songs they think you might like. For example, if you're going through a breakup and listening to breakup music, they will craft you a new playlist based on your listening habits. In this way, they are a lot like a good friend who's trying to make you feel better.

Final Words

The most reputed companies are those who can hit the right emotional note with their customers. Customers will always prefer a company whose image and vision are similar to their own views and beliefs. 

That is why having a great customer experience strategy is so paramount to building your business and accruing a large and happy customer base.