Have you ever seen customer surveys on a website asking this simple question? On a scale from 0 to 10, how likely are you to recommend our company to a friend or colleague?" This is essentially a customer feedback question to determine how loyal a customer is to their brand. Research by a financial services company found that 86% of their loyal customers are willing to pay more for a positive experience. Alternatively, another study found that 91% of unhappy customers leave a brand without complaining creating customer churn and low customer retention rates. This data suggests the customer experience (also known as CX) creates your brand and defines customer expectations. This month we kick off a three-part series on branding. In this episode, we uncover the benefits of creating superior customer experiences, managing customer expectations, and the effect of a bad experience when interacting with your business.

Key Terms

Customer Loyalty - The degree to which a consumer will continue using a product or service after experiencing it. Customer loyalty is decreased from a Bad Customer Experience whereas positive customer experiences increase loyalty.

Brand Equity - A measure of the value consumers place on a particular brand. It represents the sum total of all positive experiences they have had with a brand over time.

Customer Segments - Any marketing strategy should be centered on one of four client segmentation channels. Demographic, Psychographic Geographic, and Behavioral segmentation are examples of the four categories of segmentation. These are some popular ways for businesses to segment their market based on gender, age, lifestyle, and other factors.

Customer Touch Point - From start to finish, customer touchpoints are the places of interaction for your brand. A touchpoint is any time a potential buyer or current customer interacts with your brand–before, during, or after they make a purchase from you. This is the main area where consumer interactions can result in a bad experience or can create loyal customers.

Customer Experience Metrics - The Client Experience Metrics play a key role in the development of KPIs that the company uses to track customer feedback. These measurements can assist you figure out how satisfied or loyal your consumers are. Net Promoter Score, Customer Satisfaction, and Customer Effort Score are three of the most prominent customer experience measures. The metrics play a critical role in the customer experience management process.

Customer Perception - What is the significance of customer perception? Perception has an impact on more than just each individual sale; it shapes the long-term relationships that buyers have with your company, for better or worse. As a result, every interaction your organization has with clients must have a favorable impact on their perception.

Customer Experience Strategy - A customer experience strategy describes how your organization intends to provide the best possible customer experience in your specific situation. The sum total of a client's view of your company is called customer experience.

Buyer Personas - A buyer persona is a thorough depiction of a hypothetical individual who represents your target market. This is a hypothetical individual who exemplifies the attributes of your best potential clients, not an actual consumer. This consumer persona will be given a name, demographic information, interests, and behavioral characteristics.

Episode Takeaways

Customer Experience Strategy - The Benefits Of Optimizing Your Customers' Experiences

1. Improves Brand Perception

When people think about brands, what comes to mind first? Is it price, quality, style, convenience, etc.? If so, then you're probably thinking like most businesses do today: "How can I make my products/services cheaper, faster, easier, etc." But if you want to be successful long term, you need to start thinking differently. You should focus less on making things cheap and fast, but instead focus on creating an amazing an customer journey and experience. When someone thinks about your brand, what do they see? Happy customers or online reviews reporting negative customer interactions. What image does he get? How would he describe your brand? These questions help define your brand perception. And since perceptions drive behavior, improving your brand perception leads directly to improved sales and profits.

2. Increases Sales & Profits

A recent report published by Forrester Consulting showed that companies who rank high in terms of customer satisfaction also tend to outperform those who don't. They found that companies with higher levels of customer satisfaction were able to increase revenue per employee by $4,000 annually! That means that every dollar spent on providing great customer service yields four times as much profit than spending money elsewhere. So why aren't more companies doing this already? Well, there are two reasons. First, many organizations still view customer service as something that costs them money rather than an investment. Second, some believe that focusing too heavily on customer service could actually hurt their bottom line because it might lead to lower revenues. However, research shows that these fears are unfounded. Companies that provide excellent customer service not only enjoy increased profitability, but they also attract new customers and retain existing ones.

3. Builds Trust With Consumers

Trust is one of the key drivers behind any relationship between a buyer and seller. According to Harvard Business Review, trust has become increasingly important in our society.

Topics Discussed

- What is the customer experience
- Customer experience example
- The customer experience can be physical, emotional, sensory, or spiritual
- The scope of the total customer experience
- The customer experience also includes user generated content and online reviews
- The creation of virtual communities for sharing information and experiences
- Experience can only be gained from use, not from advertising or marketing
- The experience is the brand in the eyes of the customer
- 5 ways to improve the customer experience

Resources

- Free eBook: Customer Experience for Dummies | https://bit.ly/3xZR9lU

- The CEO Guide to Customer Experience | Article

- Customer Experience Measurement: How to Gain Customer Experience Insights | Article

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Academic Research

Want to uncover more knowledge insights and expand your learning? Here are a few research articles/case studies that connect theory with practice in the marketplace. Note: These articles are highly technical (i.e., the research method, data collection, and data analysis sections). To receive the most benefit, focus on the introduction and the conclusions/findings.

- Managing the Total Customer Experience | https://bit.ly/3yWc6iO

- Understanding Customer Experience | https://bit.ly/3AR1XED

- The Impact of Customer Satisfaction, Customer Experience, and Customer Loyalty on Brand Power | https://bit.ly/37OrbqR

Customer Experience: Tips on How To Delight Your Customers To Improve Branding | Ep. 6