Nothing is Real Until it is Experienced

Clients are the most important part of any business. It is the customer or client who generates every unit of almost every metric used to gauge the effectiveness, efficiency and profitability of any business - the most important of which are those units called dollars. In fact, it is difficult to ever recall a management or stakeholder meeting where the customer was omitted from the deliberation. Quite the contrary. Customers must be at the center of all business calculus. Yet despite this intense focus on the customer (so-called), a palpable disconnect continues to burden brands around the world. It is a pervasive disconnect that stems from any number of reasons. All the rhetoric is there. The reader no doubt, can quickly recall the company marketing video which includes the depiction of the customer who smiles and seems carried away on a cloud of blissful contentment after seeing the unmatched product or service. This is all too often very far from reality. This profound disconnect is due to a pervasive lack of understanding - that nothing is real until it is experienced.

Businesses great and small spend mountains of time and resources to examine every touch point in the customer buying journey, dissect each online or phone survey and; analyse how the company's relationship with the customer has impacted revenue and profit. Data storms fly about like so much debris in a tornado. Extrapolations and inferences are made as desperate managers, service leaders and marketers seek to unlock the secret sauce to more and better business results - that elusive magical formula that will catapult the organisation to new vistas of success. Yet, the customer experience seldom makes the cut in the "New Strategic Vision" or "First Time Right Tactical Track" that emerge from the C-suite or corner office or; heaven forbid, the consultants' eighty nine volume restructuring plan. All this activity of introspection skilfully manoeuvres around the elephant taking up most of the room.

The Customer Experience - that massive elephant in the corner, who receives more lip service than world peace, is pushed to the end of the trough when it comes to actual company investment. In fact, it might be wise for organizations large and small to simply man up and admit the truth - most of the internal campaign regarding client experience has just an itty bitty flaw: It ain't real.

The organisational choreography is just another try at picking at the edges of a monstrous contraption in need of complete overhaul. The tweaks are enshrined in massive corporate plans all spelled out in far more verbiage than necessary and composed at varying degrees of sophistication (depending on the budget constraints). All of this intense and reverend corporate ceremony is designed to convince the people in the room that this time they have done it(so no need to mess with that damn elephant, right?)!

Yet, how often is the customer experience commitment arising from these company revivals, boasting a healthy surplus of "Provide" that delights the customer above and beyond the heaping helping of "promise"? That...is real.

It is not only how you sell but, how you deliver the experience, that makes the difference. Disruptive organisations that get REAL - actually making the elephant the clear focus of all they do - are the guaranteed winners of not some, or most, but ALL. Their real is why they win.

How did these Disruptors Figure this Out?

Oh, maybe it was the Mount Everest of real world data from every sector of the economy. A survey of 1920 business professionals in 2021 asked one simple question: "Share your number one priority for the next five years." The result was noteworthy.

Customer Experience (CX) was the number one response at 45.9 percent. "Product" was a distant second at 33.6 and "Price" was third with only 20.5. The result was most noteworthy because it was the first year that CX had beaten both Price and Product for the top slot. This should be no surprise to anyone since the consumer has been making it clear in the last half decade, that a great customer experience is one of the non-negotiable requirements for their loyalty.

According to a study by PWC, 86 percent of buyers are willing to pay more for a "great customer experience." That same study revealed just how important the "experience" is for the customer. Consider the following: 32 percent (1 in 3!) of consumers say they will walk away from a brand they love after just one bad experience. Allow that to marinate for a bit. The customer is talking about the brand they "love"- the brand that is more than just the default. Most likely, the brand has spent months or even years with that customer and invested more than just money. Yet, in one fateful interaction, the customer calls it quits. Boom! Another of several key studies - this one by Lumoa - says that 89 percent of customers have moved to a competitor following a poor customer experience with a brand. The argument for client experience could end right there.

There is an even trickier angle to the customer thought process with regard to poor brand experience. Customers enjoy saying that they will give a brand a second chance after a bad experience - 77 percent. Yet, these same customers are three times less likely to show that mercy. This suggests that the 1 in 3 statistic might be on the generous side.

But there is more - much more. The same PWC study reveals that 43 percent of customers will pay more for greater convenience, 42 percent will pay more for a "friendly, welcoming experience", and overall, 86 percent of customers say they will pay a premium for a "better customer experience." What kind of premium, one might ask? According to the surveys, anywhere from 13 to 18 percent more.

The jury is in and the verdict is crystal: The customer experience isn't everything - its the only thing.

Yes, it is clearly understood that design and engineering of a genuine customer experience is difficult. Being honest regarding the efficacy of existing "customer service" and experience delivery is scary and uncomfortable. This is also born out in the stats - only 46 percent of business organisations in the US are actually making real - money where their mouth is - investments in building genuine customer experience. Why? Well that should be evident - because it requires the consistent delivery of something "REAL". That will be covered in more depth later but, for now its best to simply realise that there is no room for error.

Now consider the following: "Differences in net promoter scores explain 70 percent of the differences in revenue growth between direct competitors". The net promoter score is simple and compact means of measuring how effective an organisation is at earning their customers' loyalty. It is therefore, a direct indicator of the effectiveness of the said company's customer experience. Bain & Company has shown direct evidence that a "net promoter score leader in a market, on average, grows revenue more than two times faster than its competitors". The evidence points to the customer experience as the driver of success in this new "customer centred" paradigm.

There is so much evidence that client experience will make or break the future prospects of organisations large and small, that one scratches their head at the idea of ignoring that elephant.

Here are just a few more zingers for the engaged reader looking to have a job in a couple years. Here is some food for thought for all the pragmatic business owners who have too much to worry about to make sure the company website is user friendly, up to date, and optimised for mobile devices. The client experience of the next decade must factor in who the consumer will be and how they will do business.

Nearly 66 percent of customers (all age groups) say that a "frustrating experience on a website hurts my opinion of the brand overall". A whopping 55 percent say that a "bad mobile experience makes me less likely to engage with a company". Most female Millenials (65 percent) are frustrated by inaccurate or out-of-date product images and/or descriptions. Among male Millenials, this frustration only irks around 34 percent. The key factor for businesses large and small, is that all age groups now shop online. Given the far reaching (and insanely idiotic) policy measures during the pandemic, it would be interesting to learn how many businesses went belly up because their online customer experience was fatally flawed or neglected. The online customer experience of businesses planning to have their doors open in 2030 is just as critical as their in person experience.

All the statistics given above are just an appetiser of what this new series will cover. In fact, the evidence presented in this writing is specifically to drive home the fact that the customer experience will be the only game in town by 2030 (many geostrategic factors will intensify this reality). Yet, for all the percent this and statistical that, there is still the original statement and thesis of all this: Customer experience has to be real.

The winners in the customer experience wars will be the brand that has the leadership and champions that are of a very unique, revolutionary cut. These "Experience Disruptors" will understand that just more money, more AI, better data cross channeling, blah...blah...blah isn't the ticket. These trail blazing leaders will make the consultants sit in the floor and give that neglected elephant a seat at the table. These disrupters will turn the business world on its ear by focusing on one simple rule: "Nothing is Real until it is Experienced."

Next Thursday, you will be introduced to what makes these "Experience Disrupters" the Jedi of the new Customer Experience Paradigm.