Is your customer experience strategy on the back burner?
Now is the time to consider whether your customers are pleased with your business.
According to a recent survey, customer rage is at an all-time high, with 74% of American consumers feeling that companies don’t exert enough effort to resolve issues.
And it’s taking a toll profits-wise. The same report projects a shocking $887 billion revenue loss due to poor customer support.
But that doesn’t have to happen to your business.
Let’s understand all the ways you can improve your customer experience and, in the process, boost brand loyalty and profitability.
TL;DR – How to Create a Customer Experience Strategy
A recent Zendesk report says 73% of consumers will take their business elsewhere after multiple negative experiences with a company.
Make sure you’re keeping your customers satisfied with these steps:
- Make positive CX a company-wide concern
- Know your audience better
- Optimize customer touchpoints
- Value and leverage feedback
- Deliver a consistent brand message
Confused about how to communicate and tailor your brand message to various channels?
I’m Nora Sudduth, a business coach, messaging strategist, and marketing expert. I can help you tell a unique, cohesive, and consistent brand story across all customer touchpoints to enhance your customers’ experience.
Book a discovery call with me today to learn more.
What is a Customer Experience (CX) Strategy?
A customer experience strategy is a roadmap for ensuring that each customer is satisfied with every interaction with your business.
It works with your brand strategy to improve your brand reputation and overall business health.
Customer Experience Strategy Examples
Let’s take a look at some brands known for their exemplary customer service:
Hubspot
In their own words, “Hubspot is crafted for customer experience.”
To prove their point, their CRM is customizable, user-friendly, and targeted toward achieving business success for their clients.
Plus, all the software and integrations a business owner like you needs to run and scale can be found in one platform.
Also, if you need help, they publish lots of useful content, such as reports, product guides, and surveys, that you can refer to anytime.
Buffer
Buffer has a unique name for its customer support: the “Happiness team.” According to them, that’s because they make sure that every audience interaction is special and meaningful.
Aside from Happiness Heroes, who respond to messages, tweets, and mentions, they also have Community Champions who “find ways to surprise and delight” their audience even before they get in touch.
Elements of Customer Experience
These elements make up and impact customer experience:
- Branding: Your branding dictates your messaging framework, values, personality, and identity, making it a crucial element for shaping customer experience.
- Product quality: Many customers who complain about a company do so due to issues with product or service quality.
According to the customer rage report cited earlier, 56% of consumers find it distressing when they encounter product or service issues.
- Pricing: Do your prices match the value you provide? People are often willing to spend for better experience or service, so it’s important to give value for money to maintain positive CX.
- Buyer journey: A seamless, no-fuss sales process is one of the best ways to keep potential customers from being frustrated and abandoning their carts.
- Customer service: Offering great customer service in the form of real-time support for user issues, complaint resolution, and even active involvement in community discussions, keeps customers engaged and happy.
Why is Customer Experience so Important?
Ensuring a positive customer experience is vital for a thriving business. Let’s look at the data:
- According to a study by the Harvard Business Review, customers who have had great experience in the past are 140% more likely to spend more.
- A study by McKinsey & Company found that businesses that invest in positive customer experience enjoy a 10 to 15% increase in revenue.
It’s safe to say, then, that the quality of your customer experience could make or break your business.
Customer Experience Management Framework
A customer experience management framework is a blueprint for how you will ensure a positive experience for your customers.
To create one effectively, you need:
- Customer insights: Data on what delights your customers is invaluable for directing your CX strategy. Actively listen to and research your audience to get a pulse on customer sentiment about your brand.
- Buyer personas: These fictional representations of your customers help ensure that your experience strategy is laser-focused on what they like.
- Performance measurement metrics: Monitor and analyze the effectiveness of your CX strategy by looking at key performance indicators, like customer churn and customer satisfaction.
- Technology: Utilize tools like CRM software (e.g., Hubspot) and social listening apps (e.g., Hootsuite and Sprout Social) to understand customer sentiment.
How to Create a Customer Experience Strategy
This step-by-step guide will give you a headstart for creating a CX strategy:
1. Make Positive CX a Company-Wide Concern
Your customer-facing team plays a major role in shaping customer experience. But they’re not the only ones who make an impact.
Less visible team members, like your marketing staff, shape your brand messaging, determine key touchpoints to maximize, and map out the customer journey so your front-facing teams know how to effectively interact with your audience.
Also, remember that the culture within the company always radiates outward. This means a customer-first mentality must permeate every aspect of business operations.
Here are practical ways you can involve everyone in your CX strategy:
- Appoint CX champions in every team
- Educate teams on the business impact of a customer-centric approach
2. Know Your Audience Better
Research your audience to gain an in-depth understanding of your customers.
Knowing the problems they’re trying to solve and the incentives they’re looking for is key to exactly shaping CX for them.
Understand which audience segments find your brand most helpful and direct your efforts toward strategies that drive results. Additionally, pinpoint opportunities to reach customers you haven’t connected with yet.
Some ways to gain deeper insights into your audience include:
- Social listening
- Market research
- Sales analysis
- Customer research
- Website analytics
3. Optimize Customer Touchpoints
Map out the customer journey to understand how customers learn about your brand, what motivates them to engage, and how they decide to make a purchase.
Creating a visual map will allow you to spot gaps in your processes and know when you can interact with your audience.
The goal is to create a seamless experience where every consumer is captured and led further into the customer journey – until you successfully close a sale.
4. Value and Leverage Feedback
Your customers know exactly how they want their relationship with your brand to be. So, welcome feedback and use it to ensure that every customer touchpoint adds value to their entire experience.
There are numerous ways to gather feedback, like running polls or surveys, putting out questionnaires, conducting customer interviews, and asking for reviews.
Tip: You may come across some scathing remarks along the way. Don’t try to hide them. Instead, promptly resolve them. Note that 83% of consumers feel more loyal to a company that successfully resolves their complaints.
5. Deliver a Consistent Brand Message
Make it easy for your customers to recognize your brand and highlight shared values by delivering a consistent message across all channels and touchpoints.
Remember: Your messaging is how you articulate your brand value to your audience on all possible interactions – from sales calls and chatbot inquiries to handling customer complaints.
That’s where I can help. I can work with you to shape a consistent message strategy that’s rooted in your brand pillars, delivers a compelling value proposition, and inspires your desired action. Connect with me today.
How to Improve Your Customer Experience Strategy
If your CX strategy isn’t bringing in the results you expected, here are some tips you can explore:
- Utilize AI tools: There is a growing inclination toward using AI in shaping a positive customer experience. And that’s largely because people now expect everything at a faster pace than ever.
To adapt, train your customer support team to leverage AI for daily tasks, optimize workflows using AI tools, and power customer chats with generative AI and more capable bots.
- Analyze CX strategy results: Measure the success of your strategy by analyzing key performance indicators and outcomes. Refine your strategy based on insights gained.
- Study your competition: If your CX is not positively impacting your bottom line, that could mean your competition is doing something better than you.
Assess strategies that are working for them and see how you can provide a better, more seamless customer journey.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
I’ve answered the top questions about CX strategies in this section:
What is Strategic Customer Experience?
Strategic customer experience is a carefully planned approach for providing a positive customer experience.
It entails creating a CX strategy tailored to your target market and designed to bring them through each stage of the customer journey.
What are the 3 E’s of Customer Experience?
The three E’s of customer experience are:
- Effectiveness: Refers to how well the CX meets the expectations of each customer.
- Ease: A positive CX strategy ensures a seamless customer journey with as little friction as possible.
- Emotion: Customers engage with brands based on how they feel, which is why it’s important to tap into your audience’s emotional motivators.
Customer Experience vs. Customer Service: How Are they Different?
Customer experience refers to the quality of all interactions a customer has with a brand. It’s impacted by elements like a brand’s products or services, pricing, and brand identity.
On the other hand, customer service is the process of providing support during the customer journey. This involves product inquiries, consumer complaints, and post-sales support.
Conclusion
Customer experience is not merely a happiness metric in a vacuum.
The quality of your customers’ experience with your brand affects your market position and profitability.
Invest in a good CX strategy by involving all teams in a customer-centric business approach, understanding your audience, and delivering a compelling message across all touchpoints.
Messaging is key to ensuring consistency as you communicate through various customer interactions and channels. And you need an expert who can do that without diminishing your brand value. Schedule a discovery call with me today, and let’s get started.
