Life & Loss – Why Customer Experience Matters

We’re all consumers, and every day we interact with brands. Every brand has its’ own personality and level of customer service.? Some are better than others.

When I think about customer experience, it’s part of the relationship you have with a brand.

Good CX moves you from a transactional relationship to an emotional one. When you relate to a brand on an emotional level and that brand helps you feel something that elevates your experience, customers turn into loyalists.? It’s one of the most powerful relationships you can have with a customer, and it’s earned through trust.

If you’re ever thought about customer experience and why it matters to your business, consider that companies with superior customer experience grow revenue 5.7 times faster than their competitors, according to Forrester Research.? 80% of businesses consider customer experience a competitive differentiator according to Adobe.?

There's a positive link between CX, customer loyalty and company success. I’d like to share some of my personal customer experiences as examples.

I recently lost my wonderful cat Sarah after 11 years.? She was the love of our family, and her loss was not easy. We chose in-home euthanasia, and while it was an unhappy time, this special, caring vet delivered a wonderful service to all of us. She was kind, caring and supportive, and provided little services that paid tribute to Sarah, including writing a detailed online remembrance based on what we shared about her.? It was beautiful and moving. She provided excellent communications via email and text and mailed a personal handwritten note. I was impressed with the quality of her service and happily wrote an online recommendation.

For years I bought Sarah’s prescription cat food from Chewy. I’ve heard Chewy sends sympathy cards following a pet’s death, but I came home to flowers that they sent, and that kind gesture really took me by surprise. ?They also refunded some unopened cat food and told me to donate it.? I posted on Instagram and tagged them.? They wrote right back with a personal and human response.?“Your sweet girl will always have a special place in our hearts. If you need anything at all, we’ll always be here for you.” I’m a CX advocate, so I also emailed a thank you, and they thanked me for taking the time to reply, reminding me that they can only do what they do because of loyal Chewy family members.

W O W. How many brands speak and act like that?? There's so much to learn from Chewy ’s stellar CX example. Will I remain a loyal Chewy customer?? You know I will.

Both these companies delivered excellent customer experience across channels.? They helped make it better because they understood the emotional time and led with empathy. It made me really value their services and I, as a brand advocate, shared my positive experience with others.

Now I’ll share another brand experience.? At the same time, I’m in the process of booking a vacation, and working to schedule my flights.

The airline I fly frequently and have recent gold member status with sent me some rewards. I chose the preferred seating at no additional cost. I felt like I earned something special.? But when I go to try and select seats as I’m booking my airfare, it takes a lot of time, and I can’t figure out how to redeem coupon code.? Then I need to waste time on the phone with multiple agents to learn that since I’m already a gold status member, I get preferred seats for free and don’t need the rewards.?

WHAT?? You rewarded me for something I already earned that you didn’t tell me about and sent me an offer that I’m basically ineligible to use because of my status. A few days later you mail me info about my gold status benefits, which includes complimentary preferred seats.? Well, forget the concept of right information at the right time.? You totally blew it.

I’ve been flying this airline for a long time and use their credit card.? They have a lot of CRM data on me and should be using that data to provide relevant info and a better customer experience. ?Not the case. So, my relationship remains transactional, and one of tolerance. They don’t make it easy even for preferred members. Is their loyalty program really worth the effort?

PwC found that 73% of consumers consider CX an important factor in their purchasing decisions. So how can you help your company improve their customer experience? ?It starts with aligning internal stakeholders to identify critical business areas. Mapping the customer journey to understand life in your customer’s shoes. ?Collecting feedback in a variety of thoughtful ways to measure and monitor the experience, and making informed decisions based on that data and insights. Always be learning and optimizing.

Leading organizations understand it’s imperative to know their customers' needs and wants, identify the moments that matter (MTMs)* and deliver on them. Keep in mind, no customer will ever be disappointed if you exceed their expectations. That’s what competitive differentiation is all about.

"People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."? Maya Angelou

*Credit to Karen Root, MBA, CCXP , author of “Signature Experience, The Intersection of Brand Promise and Customer Experience for Competitive Advantage”