Games Can Enhance The Customer Journey

Everyone knows how critical a positive customer experience is. However, too many companies focus on improving individual touchpoints without looking at the entire customer journey.

When companies view individual touchpoints, it's easy to think customers’ experiences are positive. But those interactions are just one part of a journey. For example, a call to technical support may be ‘positive,’ but your customer was probably unhappy before he/she called in the first place. So, a positive interaction doesn't equal a positive experience as a whole. 

Customer Experience - Looking Under The Hood

Once you've looked of your customer’s entire journey and have a clear idea of what areas need improvement, you can use gamification strategically to enhance their experience. You can gamify individual touchpoints or entire sections of the customer journey. 

This doesn't mean just adding points and badges and expecting miracles. Badly planned and executed gamification can significantly hurt your customer experience.

Done right, however, gamification can cut through the competition and bring loyal customers to your brand. 

Make The Entire Customer Journey Fun

Almost any customer touchpoint can make use of gamification, from product exploration on your website to troubleshooting with a technical support agent. However, to be effective, the gamification has to serve a purpose. 

Great gamification makes interacting with your brand simple, convenient, helpful and enjoyable. It overcomes the pain problems that hurt your customer experience.

For example, product exploration on a financial institution's website is not a thrilling part of the customer journey. It can be overwhelming, and let’s face it, the features and options of bank accounts and packages make for dry reading. 

Many financial institutions combat this by offering product recommendation quizzes. This basic gamification element helps customers find appropriate products quickly and in a more enjoyable way than reading pages of fine print. It’s a convenient and helpful method to find the information and advice they are looking for. 

Simplify Information

There’s no quicker way to annoy your consumers than by making something more complicated than it needs to be. Well-designed gamification simplifies complex concepts and explains them in ways that are engaging and easy to understand. 

Gamification can also help clarify or direct a customer down a specific path. Games inherently have a beginning, middle and end. They are designed to provide the player with a specific goal and illustrate the necessary steps to get there. That kind of clarity of journey can simplify a process for customers, making the experience more convenient and enjoyable. 

For example, imagine a troubleshooting game that helped identify and solve a customer’s problem. The game would make it easy for customers to find the right information and would guide them through solving their problems. Sounds better than scouring forums or manuals for answers!

Create a Community

Everyone wants to feel like they are part of something. At a basic level, gamification can add a social element to your customer experience by awarding shareable badges, prompting social sharing and highlighting individuals on leaderboards. 

It can also help build social communities. Social communities instill a feeling of belonging among your consumers while providing access to helpful information or offers. They create relationships with customers. Gamification within social communities encourages consumers to engage repetitively by making the experience fun — even addictive. 

Just look at Nike+ or FitBit. Both brands use social communities to maximize engagement with their consumers. Players can track and share their progress, invite others to compete against their high scores and see how they stack up against friends. 

Consider The Holistic Customer Journey

Creating better customer experiences doesn’t mean just improving touchpoints. You have to consider the customer journey as a whole, and identify areas that can be simplified or made more enjoyable. 

Gamification can help, but it’s not a miracle fix. Points and badges won’t make complicated processes more enjoyable. Gamification should be used as part of an overall strategy to make your customer journey simple, convenient, helpful and enjoyable.

Improving your customer experience may not be simple. But the reality is, it’s imperative to competing in today’s market. Customers already expect amazing brand experiences. It’s up to you to deliver. 

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Stephen Baer is a founding partner of The Game Agency, a digital services company focused on game-based training, education, and marketing. TGA has offices in Stamford, CT, Seattle, WA, and Los Angeles. To learn more about how your business can grow with The Game Agency, visit thegameagency.com or email [email protected].