Customer experience has overtaken price and product as the key brand differentiator in 2024. But apparently, not enough companies consider this: why invest in customer experience?
We are now living in a world where information regarding a company, its products, services, and even the owners are just a click away. Where does a customer’s voice stand in such a rapidly fickle world?
The customer is now the king and most brands and brand leaders are looking for reasons to invest in customer experience. The customer now holds more decision-making power than they had a few years ago.
What is Customer Experience?
Customer Experience (CX) refers to the overall perception and feeling customers have about their interactions with a company, brand, or product across all touchpoints and throughout the entire customer journey. It encompasses every aspect of a company’s offering, from the quality of customer service to the ease of use of its products or services, the efficiency of its operations, and the emotions evoked in the customer by their interactions.
Why Invest in Customer Experience?
A company that is willing to invest in Customer Experience is more likely to witness a fair amount of growth when compared to a company that doesn’t take it seriously. Always ensure that you remember one key aspect. Your customer does not just see you as a part of the company. They see you as one whole cohesive brand, even if your organization has a complex working structure with other procedures and systems.
When your customer interacts with the company, there is a significant chance that they do not care about the bureaucracy, the different divisions, roles, or even hierarchies for that matter. Undoubtedly, the customer has a key role in making or breaking the company. After all, the customer is the king!
Recognize the value of a customer and take steps to improve customer experience. Win the customer’s heart and contribute to the welfare of your company. And when you do, you are never going to ask yourselves ‘Why invest in customer experience’.
Try SurveySparrow: The best customer experience platform that absolutely suits your need.
Looking for Ways to Invest in Customer Experience?
7 Top Reasons to Invest In Customer Experience
1. Brings About Better Growth
A study conducted by Watermark Consulting came up with an interesting conclusion in 2015. According to studies, companies that systematically lead in customer experience have received far better results comparatively in terms of growth and profitability. In addition to this, their value also increased when compared to those considered as dawdlers.
Another research by Forrester Research has also concluded that in the coming years, the difference between leaders and dawdlers will be even more obvious. This means that not investing in Customer Experience is bound to destroy the financial result of a company.
2. Deepens Customer Relationships
In addition to bringing growth, a good customer experience can also lengthen the customer’s relationship with the company. The customer will prefer staying with the firm rather than switching to its competitor. According to studies and research, a customer who is satisfied with a product or a service of a brand would rarely prefer to switch to a different one.
This is why most companies have started to invest in customer experience so that the possibility of losing a potential long-term customer would be next to nil.
3. Encourages Positive Word-of-mouth from the Customer
To state a simple fact, if a customer is satisfied with the product or service, then they will be willing to pay more for the same experience irrespective of the cost. Startling as it may seem, the reasons for a customer’s insistence to pay more for a high-quality product or service is hardly surprising. Perhaps the age-old adage that something good comes with a higher price would apply to the situation here.
Customers will pay a higher price as long as they get the same or better experience with the product. In addition to this, researchers have also noted that a good customer experience leads to the customer’s tendency to recommend your company to a third party. It is quite obvious that a customer who has had a good experience with your company would surely be willing to recommend it to a third party.
4. Decreases Negative Impact
Picture this, a customer who has had a terrible experience with your company, or was treated poorly by your staff would not just shun your company the next time, they would also cost you more, directly or indirectly. The worst that can happen after a terrible customer experience is that the customer would be reluctant to return to the company.
If a company is unable to rectify the reason for the poor customer experience, then it would lead to more customers being unhappy with the company. If more customers take the same route, it would lead to stunted growth for the company.
Research stated that if a customer has a bad experience with a product or a company, then their interactions would cease. It must be noted that these customers would be more willing to share the reason for their negative experience with another customer or potential customer than the company itself. This leads to stunted growth of the company. This will adversely affect the firm unless it takes steps to rectify it
5. Shares Positivity among the Staff
Take the example of a restaurant or a café.
If the customers have a poor experience, then they might show their displeasure to the waiting staff or the management. A negative review regarding the services or even poor waiting staff is bound to affect the morale of the staff. When a customer’s experience with a product or service is bad, it sure does affect the morale of the staff. When the customer experience is well-planned, positive and brings credit to the staff, evidently the staff’s morale will be better. The employees in the company become proud that they have produced a good experience. As a result, they will continue to bring about the best in terms of customer service.
Research shows that nearly 80% of customer satisfaction and customer loyalty depend on the employees. This is indeed true, especially in areas such as hospitality or banking. A customer will almost never return to a bank if he has a poor experience. The same can be stated when it comes to restaurants as well. Make the staff aware of the fact that good customer experience depends on their keenness on their job.
6. Brings about Innovation and Better Branding
It is common knowledge that a good customer experience also helps in improving the brand. The reason is quite obvious. A customer who has had a good experience with a company or a product will surely recommend it to others. This will lead to an improvement in product branding, leading to the popularity of the product. Also, remember that a good customer experience increases the company’s ability to be more innovative. It is fairly ridiculous to think that planning and innovation of the customer experience can be done in a lab.
Companies must be open to embracing an open innovation model to improve customer experience. You can find the inspiration for this anywhere, even outside the company. The process can help the entire company in changing the way in which innovation is brought about.
If customer experience is not the focus of your company, then you are too late to bring growth. Research shows that a number of companies have made improving customer experience a part of their agenda. Many have already invested heavily in actually improving it. Sadly, companies that do not prioritize improving customer experience end up losing out.
7. Builds the Foundation of Trust
Customers tend to have interactions with a brand that treats them fairly and values every touchpoint they have with the organization. Being transparent with your customers is also part of providing a good experience to them. When so much is done, you gain their trust and in turn, your customers become loyal to your organization.
Here are some of the best practices to build customer’s trust:
- Listen to every query or complaint your customers have
- Empathize with your customers
- Address their questions
- Deliver instant solutions
- Apologize and specify the cause when an issue arises
- Specify the purpose and other details before you survey your customers.
- Show product ratings
When you give your dedicated attention to customers trust follows suit.
How Can SurveySparrow Help?
SurveySparrow enhances the customer experience by:
- Increasing Engagement: With conversational surveys, it encourage higher response rates for better insights.
- Offering Multichannel Distribution: Ensures reaching customers on their preferred platforms for feedback.
- Providing Real-Time Analytics: Helps quickly identify and act on customer feedback to improve satisfaction.
- Enabling Personalization: Customizable surveys and automated follow-ups make interactions feel more personal and valued.
- Facilitating Continuous Improvement: Tracks changes in customer satisfaction over time for ongoing enhancements.
Invest in the best customer experience tool & know what your customers feel.
Try SurveySparrow for Free.
14-Day Free Trial • No Credit Card Required • No Strings Attached
Wrap Up
Investing in customer experience isn’t just a trend; it’s a transformative strategy that propels businesses towards unprecedented growth, loyalty, and innovation. By prioritizing CX, companies unlock the power to not only meet but exceed customer expectations, turning every interaction into an opportunity for engagement and every customer into a brand ambassador.
This strategic focus on CX cultivates an environment where positive word-of-mouth thrives, innovation is sparked, and a foundation of trust is built, ensuring a sustainable competitive advantage in today’s ever-evolving marketplace.
