Have you ever walked into a store and been impressed with the prompt service from the staff when they assisted you to get the product of your choice? And you get everything billed without hassle? Or at times when you were treated rudely, your queries were neglected and the billing line made you wait for hours?
That’s what customer experience (CX) is called. In layperson terms, customer experience is a person’s overall interaction with the brand’s product and/or services, encompassing various factors. It helps in building an emotional connection with the brand; in turn, encouraging customer retention and brand loyalty.
Often, most brands focus on getting a newer audience but fail to focus on a key aspect of their revenue generation – brand loyalty. Forming a strong customer base becomes a crucial aspect of customer experience management.
What is Customer Experience Management (CXM)?
CXM is often confused with CRM or Customer Relationship Management. The former is customer-oriented while the latter is sale-oriented. Both help in understanding the market for a brand’s business.
CXM oversees all the processes that take care of any interaction points between a customer and the brand’s product. It focuses on a product right from its purchase to its sale.
In experience management, the customer is the centre of attraction. The key focus lies on how they perceive the brand and how any fallacies in the entire framework can be rectified and avoided in the near future. Hence, management begins even before the customer has interacted with the product and/or service.
Benefits of Customer Experience Management:
Customer retention– employing better strategies that satisfy the customer needs leads to generating a loyal customer base. This not only helps in customer retention but also raises profits. Studies suggest it is more economical to keep a customer than acquire a new one.
Lower marketing costs– a loyal customer becomes the poster child of the brand. They tend to endorse the brand by sharing their positive experience with their peers resulting in a free word-of-mouth promotion. This drives sales and better conversions without spending much on marketing costs.
Helps understand competitor’s mindset– customer feedback is immensely valuable. When sharing their experience, a customer tends to compare it with the contemporary brands that target the same clientele, which makes it easier to understand the areas of improvement in the brand and devise new strategies.
Better management- applying effective strategies avoids any last-minute setbacks and provides a seamless customer experience. This not only benefits the customer but the employees as well. Because, in the end, a good work environment is bound to encourage enthusiasm among the staff.
Improved standards– better management aids in raising the brand’s standards and provides it an edge over its competitors. If a company understands their consumer needs, they generate more revenue at less cost.
How to make it better?
The brand’s primary goal should be to build customer retention. Below are a few strategies to do so:
Ideate a framework: along with the brand’s vision, it is crucial to understand the customer’s vision. What do they expect from the brand? How would they interact with the brand’s services? This helps in increasing customer loyalty.
Tap into customer’s emotions: it is imperative to deep dive into the customer’s psyche. What are their sentiments regarding the brand? How do they feel about the brand’s products/services? Building an emotional connection helps establish a long-term relationship with the customer.
Personalize the brand: personality evokes emotions. It makes the product feel less like a commodity and avoids alienation from the brand.
Reward their loyalty: offering referrals and bonuses help make customers feel special, in turn earning their trust. Interacting with them through various channels makes them feel valued. Loyal customers purchase repeatedly and spend more time with the brand, which encourages higher sales.
Take the feedback seriously: any input, be it positive or negative, inspires the brand to improve its product/services to meet the customer’s expectations and fulfil their needs with changing times.
It is crucial to track your customer needs at each step to drive more sales. Your goal as a brand is to get into every nook and cranny of the customer’s mind and come up with effective strategies to avoid any discrepancies and work on consistent improvement. CXM offers unique insights into increasing sales and strengthening the brand.
