The Ultimate Guide to Removing Friction from Your Customer Experience for More Loyal Customers
Attribution - PEXELS _ Sophie Dale

The Ultimate Guide to Removing Friction from Your Customer Experience for More Loyal Customers

3-minute read

Removing friction from the customer experience is essential for businesses to improve customer satisfaction and loyalty. Friction refers to any obstacle that impedes a consumer from completing their journey, such as long wait times, shipping costs, botched orders, and escalated service inquiries.

Businesses can remove friction by making small changes to their processes or shifting their mindset.?

For example, collecting the minimum amount of customer information at each step in the purchase and onboarding process and only asking for it when needed can effectively reduce friction?1.

This newsletter will examine how businesses have successfully removed friction from their customer experience and what benefits they have gained.?

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Photo by Rick Han: https://www.pexels.com/photo/disney-castle-3428279/


Disney: Enhancing the Park Experience

Disney is known for creating magical experiences for its guests but also faces challenges such as long lines, crowded spaces, and high prices. To address these issues, former and current CEO Bob Iger has implemented several changes to reduce friction in the park experience.?

For example, they provide all guests free access to ride photos, making lower-priced tickets available in larger quantities and eliminating the need for annual pass holders to make reservations to enter the park2. These small but impactful changes have received positive customer feedback, demonstrating the friction-hunting approach's effectiveness.?


Iron Planet: Simplifying Heavy Equipment Purchasing

Acquiring a second-hand car can be a challenging task, however, if you attempt to buy a pre-owned excavator from an outdated building site, it will be even more difficult.?

Iron Planet is a SaaS company that connects buyers and sellers of heavy construction vehicles and equipment.?It removes friction by providing detailed inspection reports, online bidding platforms, financing options, and shipping services.

By making it easier for customers to find and buy what they need without hassle or risk, Iron Planet has increased its revenue and market share.?

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Faire: Upcycled Denim shorts


Faire: Streamlining Wholesale Shopping

Faire is a wholesale marketplace and store that connects artisans to retail shop owners.?It removes friction by offering free returns on unsold products within 60 days3, net 60 payment terms for retailers, free shipping on orders over a certain personalized amount, and curated recommendations based on store preferences.

By reducing the uncertainty and complexity of wholesale shopping, Faire has attracted more than 1000 brands and 35 thousand retailers to its platform.?


Conclusion

Removing friction from your customer experience can significantly benefit your business, such as increased customer satisfaction, loyalty, retention, reduced costs and revenue growth.

To identify and remove obstacles in your customer journey, you need to understand your customers’ needs, expectations, and pain points and then make changes that address them effectively.

You can also learn from other businesses that have successfully removed friction from their customer experience and apply their best practices to your context.


Links:

Customer Journey Management Professional+ (CJMP): https://cjmplus.com

Steve's website: https://www.stevetowers.com

BPG: https://www.bpgroup.org

Steve Towers, CPPC? ACXC? CXMan ?Service??Revenue ??Cost

?? Customer Experience & Business Transformation Leader | Driving Growth Through Innovation.?? I help you deliver Triple Crown benefits, Revenue Growth, Cost Reduction and Service Uplift ?Simultaneously?

1 年
回复
Steve Towers, CPPC? ACXC? CXMan ?Service??Revenue ??Cost

?? Customer Experience & Business Transformation Leader | Driving Growth Through Innovation.?? I help you deliver Triple Crown benefits, Revenue Growth, Cost Reduction and Service Uplift ?Simultaneously?

1 年
回复
Howard Tiersky

WSJ Best Selling author & founder of QCard, a SaaS platform designed to empower professionals to showcase their expertise, grow their reach, and lead their markets.

1 年

Customers expect hyperconvenience from businesses. In today's rapidly changing world, the speed and efficiency at which businesses can deliver their products and services to customers are critically important. Removing friction at every touchpoint must be a top priority.

Bill Quiseng

Chief Experience Officer at billquiseng.com. Award-winning Customer CARE Expert, Keynote Speaker, and Blogger

1 年

Steve, I didn't just emoji ?? or ? your article. I emoji ?? and verbally celebrated it to express my appreciation and kudos for sharing your insight into removing friction from your customer experience. Customers pay for their experience, not a company's product or service. They seek the best value in their experience, not a company's logically reasonable best, product or service. And if a customer's best value is one that is quick, easy, and painless, then removing friction would certainly be that customer's best value. Thank you, sir, for sharing your insight. I very much appreciate you. As you are always, be GREAT out there!

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