“Business growth stems directly from the quality of the Customer Experience”
This sentiment is not new. Not at all.
Enlightened executives have been asserting this view for the last five years. The corner shop has always known this. The rest of us; we’re all just playing catch up.
It’s all about to get a hell of a lot easier though. Why? Because the “perfect storm” is here. We are finally seeing a convergence big data, content, mobility, social, customer service, customer advocacy and overall customer engagement planning.
OK. So what does this actually mean and how can we take advantage of this?
Put simply, Customers now spend their money on the interactions they get from the brand and not on what the brand messaging states.
For example, a company may state that they are the number one estate agent of new houses in a region. But, if their Customer Experience and subsequent social commentary are poor to middling – prospective Customers will look elsewhere. In this example, the Customer Experience starts via a referral or advertisement, through to the home viewing, to the house handover, and even through to the potential property resale. Research has reinforced the Customer Experience truly does encompass the entire journey – but each step/interaction of this journey is important in its own right.
Consistently poor experiences will conflict with the original brand statement and the variance results in a Customer backlash. Conversely, great experiences will reinforce a company’s brand messaging and further enhance its overall positioning.
So what is this “perfect storm” and why is 2020 the year to take advantage of this?
Recent technological advances have now provided (companies of all size), access to applications that present insight into Website, Social Network (Facebook, Twitter etc.), Sales & Service (Customer Relationship Management) and Marketing (Marketing Automation) activity. This data (generally known as Big Data) can now provide companies with the ability to better understand how their customers are interacting with their various channels – thereby, allowing them to build a customer journey that reflects what their customers are after.
Through leveraging shared applications (cloud-based applications) Startups, SME and Corporates can now use this insight to build customer-centric growth strategies. These strategies are finally aware of the holistic customer journey and truly appreciate the importance of each step in this journey.
Your next step – a Customer Journey Audit.
Set aside some time to review your various Customer Journeys (these can be product or service line related). Establish your data holes and then look at ways of filling them in. Explore the ‘consideration period’ and who your broader competitors might be. Using the house buying example above – during the consideration period (before a customer has decided to buy a new house), they might be exploring renovation of their existing house or even another asset acquisition such as a vehicle upgrade or boat. Don’t limit your thinking at this stage.
You will find that investing time in this activity and building out a true appreciation of your Customer’s Journey will deliver you significant business growth opportunities.
Again, it is all about how your customers view your brand and the experience they receive from it. The Customer is King – but in 2020, we can now better understand how we can make them feel like a King!
If you would like to discuss this further, please schedule a call.