What's Trending in the World of Customer Experience?

Customers matter.

They’re the reason you have a business, and a recent study of over 13,000 consumers revealed that your products and services may not be quite as good as you thought they were. Research carried out across 29 countries determined that 88% of customers say that the experience a company provides is as important as its products and services - the highest it has ever been.

It is far easier to retain a customer than it is to source a new one and whilst growth must be on the agenda for any successful organisation, if you can’t retain, you won’t attract. Eventually, your poor customer satisfaction will ripple through society, becoming a general perception and your business will be doomed forever.

Companies with high levels of customers satisfaction aren’t always successful. You cannot sustain a gold standard service for a bronze price. Yet, the ones who play by the rules rarely create anything fancy, they simply get the basics right, consistently.

?

They meet Customer Expectations in a way many companies overlook

We all like surprises, even the people who pretend they don’t. So long as they are small, nice, and in-frequent. The reality is, we are most content when our expectations are met. The problem is, in a world full of choice and opportunity, how would a company continue to meet a customer’s expectation?

Well, for the modern world, the simple answer would be to help humanity lower their expectations or remove them all together and be thankful for what they do have. That would fix a lot of problems. However, unless your selling Guru’s, your attention should be focused on providing the next best solution.?

Manage the Expectation.

Consistency and Transparency are high on the list of trends when it comes to reasons to be satisfied.

Customers recognise consistency in language used, and we like it. If the landing page constantly changes or the service in store, in app or over the phone is inconsistent, we won’t return.

The most successful organisations help their employees to be successful by making it easy to be a part of the culture they want to create and sustain. They make service offers simple, breaking them down into easy-to-follow steps that allow each employee to be on the same page and easily identify when they are not. Happy employees make for happy customers. Employees are customers too, and when they know what they’re supposed to be doing and why they are doing it, their life will be much more rosy place to live. Keep it simple, make it fun.

Similarly, if we like a product or a service, we want it to stay the same. Yet, interestingly, we are accepting of change, so long as we know it’s coming. Successful organisations stick to the basics of consistency and transparency. Once they develop a product or service, they make it a success with stability. Starbucks tastes the same, Ikea tell you where to walk, Costco hands out free food, McDonalds Happy Meals provide a free toy. If any of those things didn’t happen, there would be uproar. Unless of course, the customer is pre-warned of a change, rather than handed an apology after dissatisfaction is raised.

Just because you understand your service offer, it doesn’t mean your customer does. Tell them, in detail. They don’t have to like it; they have a choice. But you have an offer, and so long as it is a good one, you will retain and attract for as long as you tell the customer what your offer is, you remind them of said offer, and you keep it the same. Then, when you need to change or improve your offer to help you grow and remain competitive, you tell the customer about it first.

Walk in the park anyone?

?

The best organisations don’t say no if there is a tiny chance they could say yes

The best organisations don’t complicate matters. They just say yes, unless it really must be a no. They smile. They are kinder than their competitors. There are no hidden terms and conditions, and they leave the hoops at the circus. They make life easy. John Lewis is renowned for this. Not only do they offer a longer warranty on their products than most of their competitors, but when customers claim it is damaged just before the warranty period expires, they don’t ask the customer why or how. They don’t question integrity. Where it is reasonable to do so, they replace it. Why? Because why would you need to shop anywhere else?

??

They know the right kind of Customer engagement is the secret ingredient

But what does Customer engagement mean today?

Well, it has become popular for organisations to be data-driven and I can understand why. Business is competitive, having a data-driven approach can provide a significant advantage. Companies that leverage data effectively identify challenges and opportunities faster than their competitors. Data-driven analytics can help companies optimise operations, identify inefficiencies, streamline processes, reduce costs. You can personalise, manage risk, adapt, ensure compliance.

It’s hard to argue against the fact that being data-driven allows companies to better understand their consumers. Data, when used correctly, can shine a light on customer behaviour, preference, satisfaction. Thus, allowing for the tailoring of products, services and strategies to improve the overall customer satisfaction. Big supermarket chains, Netflix and Uber do this very well. We hate choice, that’s why Netflix pick the Friday night film I want to watch for me, and Uber suggests the takeaway I believe I chose myself to keep me company. It’s the same reason we keep going back to the same supermarket, because surprisingly, they keep having offers on the things we like…

They have our data and technological advances allow them to use it well. In many ways, they understand our subconscious better than we do.

So, being data-driven works, I won’t argue against that but is it working for you? You may well have a lot of data but how do you know what it is telling you? What tools are you using? If you’re not a large, experienced tech organisation using the latest Artificial Intelligence, there’s a chance you are guessing what your customers want, and that could be the problem.

You must listen, to not only understand but to do something with the understanding. You must listen to not only better engage but to help interpret your own expectations and how those expectations influence how you understand your customers. For instance, society will have you believe that if your company isn’t providing the latest digital solutions, using AI to make the morning coffee, or providing 24/7 access to services, you are going backwards. And you probably will, eventually. However, current studies suggest that only 20% of customers are happy using non-human connections. Granted, the numbers of acceptance will rise, but it cannot be your only solution today. That said, 45% of customers will avoid using a business again because of poor technology. Who said balance was easy…

In a world full of data, online service and remote working, perhaps some of us forgot how to communicate. And with AI and other technological advances on the horizon ready to change the way we do things forever, perhaps by trying to be data-driven, we are all acting in good faith. Yet, there may be a call for flexibility, at least in the short term.

We believe that to improve our customers experience we must continue to exceed expectation. Thus, every negative comment and formal complaint has organisations running around, often scratching chins and banging heads looking for quick wins, service improvements or transformational change. Again, rightly so, but an exceeded expectation only happens once before it becomes expected. As is true for all walks of life, when we want better, we often overlook what is right in front of us. The most sustainable may to enhance satisfaction and retain customers will likely be found in managing the expectation, not meeting it.

?

They shower us with little unexpected bursts of kindness

Remember when I said we all like surprises, so long as they are nice, and in-frequent? Well, companies with high levels of customer satisfaction know that, and they do something about it.

You can’t raise the bar for every single customer, every time, nor do you need to. You just need to create an atmosphere that you’re amazing, kind and generous. Which of course you are, and that will keep customers guessing, wanting, wondering… could it be them?

Provide a care package to a customer who just told you their dog died. Contact a customer and offer a refund on their order because you felt like. Carry out a service for free, let them have a product on the house.

As humans, we find it very difficult to leave when people are nice to us. Similarly, when you do fall short with your service offer, you are much more likely to be forgiven if you have demonstrated kindness.

Let’s face it, we all return for the same haircuts we don’t even like. Are you brave enough to change your Hairdresser?