Customer experience is the product of an interaction between a customer and an organization over the duration of their business relationship. Interaction can include awareness, discovery, cultivation, advocacy, purchases and service.

Customer experience is the most thrilling opportunity for businesses this year and the reason is simple; businesses that focus on customer satisfaction will have happy and loyal customers, leading to higher revenue and profits.

The customer is king, a business cannot exist without its customers, and therefore companies are focusing on how to win new customers and perhaps more importantly, retain existing customers.

The happier you are with a brand, the longer you stay with them. And so, if you treat your customers poorly then they are more likely to leave. Therefore, companies that deliver superior customer service and experience outperform their competition.

Products and services no longer prove to be competitive differentiators for businesses. Customers expect personalized, timely, seamless and rewarding experiences across all channels.

5 ways to improve the customer experience

1. Create a clear customer experience vision

The first step in your customer experience strategy is to have a clear customer-focused vision that you can communicate with your organization; to drive the behaviour of your organization.

2. Know your customers.

The next step is to bring to life the different types of customers that interact with your support teams. Segment them and create personas to better understand and connect with them on an empathic level.

Customers become loyal because they are emotionally attached, and they remember how they feel when they use a product or service.

3. Elicit customer feedback in real time

How can you tell if you are delivering great customer experience? You do this by capturing feedback in real time. Outbound calls and post-interaction surveys are a good tool for capturing feedback.

4. Act upon regular feedback

From acquiring customer feedback, you what customers think about the quality of your service, then you can measure that against the customer experience principles you have defined and act accordingly. Also encourage employee feedback, because they are also internal customers and have ideas on ideas on how to improve the customer experience.

5. Measure the ROI from delivering great customer experience

How can you know tell if all your investment in your teams, process and technology are paying off? The answer is in the business results.

The fact is customer expectations are higher than ever and meeting them should be every company’s priority. A wow customer experience would be great marketing for your brand because word of mouth travels fast.