The Importance of Customer Experience

Customers might not remember the exact day they bought something from you or even how much it cost. What they do remember is how shopping with you made them feel. You can’t overstress the importance of customer experience in finding new customers and keeping loyal fans. The most successful businesses focus on making any encounter the best it can be.

In a survey of 6,000 consumers, researchers discovered 76% of people expected companies to understand their needs without them having to explain them. The process starts with knowing who your buyer is and what their pain points are. The importance of customer experience proves you must think ahead of what the customer needs, so you present a solution the instant they realize there’s a problem.

If you’re ready to focus on the importance of customer experience for your brand, there are key factors to consider. Business is a bit different now than at any other time in history. Keep these elements of the buyer’s journey in mind to create a top-notch adventure for both current and new customers.

1. Know Your User

You can’t offer a personalized experience unless you know your customer intimately. While the creation of a user persona starts with demographic data, you must dig deeper. Turn to customer service and the questions most often asked of your staff. Questions point to pain points your buyers have. Once you understand the problems driving people to your business for a solution, you know what to offer them to solve their issues.

2. Refine Your UVP

What is your unique value proposition? Define what you bring to the table for users no other company offers. Perhaps you are the only company truly understanding the importance of customer experience. Maybe you have the fastest shipping, best support or lowest prices. Whatever makes you better than Company B, write it out so that you know your UVP.

Communicate the benefits of doing business with you on your company website. Update your design so that it meets the needs of customers and points to your value.

3. Write Service Policies

How do you give excellent customer experience? One way is to offer a consistent method of doing business. If your company is customer-centered, you’ll do everything in your power to make sure the person is happy.

Free up your service agents to come up with creative solutions to user problems. Have a generous return and exchange policy. Train your staff in all rules and procedures so that people don’t get different answers from different employees. Understanding the importance of customer experience for your brand is vital.

4. Measure Customer Satisfaction

All the focus on the importance of customer experience doesn’t matter much if your clients aren’t happy. Spend time surveying your customers and asking what aspects of their adventure they appreciate and where they think you can improve. Merely starting a dialogue with those who’ve bought from you can teach you a lot. Pay particular attention to any negative comments. Complaints are the key to improving your business model.

In a recent study, 74% of respondents said they switch brands if it’s too hard to make a purchase. Think about the process of completing the sale. Talk to your customers about how you can make buying easier. Online changes might include one-click buying, including using Facebook or Google logins to fill out information fields. In-person changes may have more to do with the speed of the checkout line.

5. Take Requests

The importance of customer experience isn’t always easy to define. Sometimes the buyer wants something you never expected. Take requests from your regulars. Pay attention to when they say there is something specific they want or need. Hearing your customers allows you to brainstorm and come up with ideas you would never have.

Listen to what your customers say. You might not have the ability to change everything they request, but if you change what you can, you’ll be a step ahead of your competitors.

6. Check Customer Support Tickets

Look through your customer support requests and figure out what issues people have most often with the products they buy. One example of focusing on the importance of customer experience appears on Oak and Hearth’s website. They know people think their UV light wand doesn’t work when they only need to hold the button down for three seconds.

When you submit a customer support request, they let you know about the issue many people have. They answer the question before the user even has it and reassure them the device does indeed work. It simply needs a little finesse. As they explain this, they never blame the consumer for not thinking to hold the button down. They just tell the user what to do to get it working. The focus is on problem-solving for the buyer.

Never Forget the Importance of Customer Experience

Everything you do as a brand should focus on the impact on your buyers. If you make a change to your website, it should be to improve the usability. Adding a new product should be done because the item fulfills the needs of your typical customer.

Everything you do must run through the lens of the importance of customer experience. If it doesn’t stack up to your standards, it must go. Replace any unfriendly policies with ones customers love. With a little attention to detail and a customer-centered attitude, your brand will outpace competitors by huge numbers.