Some might argue that customer experience isn’t all that important and the age of customer service is over. After all, people can complete an order without ever talking to another human and have it delivered to their doorsteps within two days. Does the experience a customer has when they come in contact with your brand even matter anymore?
The way your business makes a customer feel is something that stays with that customer for a long time after they purchase the product or service from you. It’s important to leave a lasting, positive impression of the overall experience. Even if the main contact the customer has is with artificial intelligence (AI), they should still feel comfortable and cared about.
There are a number of ways you can take your customer’s experience up a notch. Here are seven of the top techniques for providing optimal customer service:
1. Interact on Social Media
If you don’t already have a social media presence, now is the time to develop one. There are over three billion people using social media around the world. While not everyone is your ideal customer, a good portion are. It’s vital you have a presence on social media.
However, you have to go further than hosting just a presence. You also need to interact with your followers and offer them some value for their time. If all you do is ask them to buy your products, they aren’t likely to pay much attention to what you say.
Earthegy is a good example of how to interact with customers on social media. Not only do they regularly post images of their jewellery and encourage users to share those posts, but they have a community for their customers. The customers post images of them wearing jewellery, questions and tips.
2. Create a Simple Site
Even though it’s tempting to create all kinds of bells and whistles for your site, it’s probably smartest to create a site that is fairly simple to navigate and use. Your customers’ experience won’t be a good one if they can’t even figure out how to check out from your shopping cart.
3. Make Contact Easy
When site visitors see that they have options to contact you, they are much more likely to trust you. What if a website doesn’t have a telephone number or email listed? If the customer has a problem with their purchase, they have no clear way to get in touch and find a solution.
Instead, place your contact info upfront so it’s easy to find. Encourage visitors to get in touch with questions. Then, staff your customer service so that a response is received quickly. Every element ties into the overall customer experience and makes an impact on how the customer sees your brand.
Best Overhead Door serves the Portland and Vancouver areas. Notice how their website gives the users a couple of easy options for contacting them. Buttons near the top clearly show how to request an estimate or service. The telephone number is in the top navigation bar in bright red letters. There is a sticky bar at the bottom of the page for people who wish to get in contact after hours.
4. Be Consistent
Seventy-five percent of customers want consistency no matter where they engage with a brand. One way you can create a better CX is by remaining consistent in your tone, policies and look across different platforms. The colors you use in your store should be the same ones you use online, in a newsletter and when mailing out a flyer.
5. Focus on the Individual Customer
As your business grows, it is tempting to put policies in place and apply them across the board. However, when you take a step back and deal with individual issues or needs, then your customer’s experience goes beyond good to amazing.
It isn’t always easy to focus on the individual customer. It starts with training your management and employees to value customers at all times – yes, even the difficult ones.
TD Bank is a good example of going out of your way to reach out to individual customers. They created a marketing campaign called the TD Thank You campaign. For example, one woman with cancer was given a family vacation.
6. Make the Experience Fun
In one survey, 55 percent of customers stated they were willing to pay more if they knew they’d have a good experience with a company. Customers who have an amazing experience are more likely to stay with you and remain loyal fans, even if your prices are slightly higher than the competition. Of course, you don’t want to set your prices ridiculously high, but command what you’re worth.
7. Listen to Your Customers
Anytime your customers take a moment to send you feedback or share their thoughts with you — positive or negative — listen to what they have to say. If the customer complains, how can you fix this problem not only for that customer but also prevent the issue in future? Ask your customers for feedback on what you can improve and what you’re doing really well.
All of this information is valuable to you if you want to improve CX because it allows you to see your company through your customers’ eyes.
Better Customer Experience
When you look at your business through your customers’ viewpoint, then you’ll begin to create a better experience for them. Optimal CX doesn’t happen overnight. If you want customers to be thrilled every time they come in contact with your brand, you must consistently work toward improving operations and even small things such as how fast your website loads.
A happy customer is more likely to return and purchase from you again. They’re also more likely to tell family and friends about you and why they like your company. Create not just good customer service but a good experience overall and you’ll outpace your competitors far into the distance.
