Worried about growth?
Customer experience somewhere on your mind?

According to a research conducted by Salesforce “75% of consumers expect a consistent experience wherever they engage -social networks, in-person, online or by phone“. Different brands,  different ideas, different customers and different ways to handle them. With so many different types of customers, how can we achieve differentiated customer experience across and in line with what will really give a wow factor to each customer. How much do you invest in your customers and how do you feel when they give you a negative feedback? Can you predict and pre-empt your customers’ behavior?

In this competitive decade the only important factor is The Customer Experience.  And customer experience will only differentiate the Brand.  Zappos, Starbucks, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, Nike, American Express are a few brands that deliver a great customer experience.

This undoubtedly suggests that customer experience is the battleground where every player must really fight hard to remain relevant.

“Customer experience isn’t the next anything. It’s the here  and now! It’s the the current “Battlefield”. It’s the battlefield of yesterday. Why do these analysts keep coming up with those great headlines, and yet they know in their heart of hearts that companies need to be focusing on the experience today?

The purpose of any business is to create ( and nurture) a customer. Every day. Not two years from now. Today. ” Annette Franz, Founder /CEO CX-Journey Inc. , Top Cx Influencer writes in her article CX Journey™ Musings: Customer Experience is the Next…

Hyper-informed customer can be the difficult ones:

Today, when we visit a restaurant, we check in to the location. We click images of food and upload it online and give our genuine feedback. This is because we have hyperactive customers. Customers expect the best and want to share it with the world. Customers tend to compare experiences between brands. In fact social media is one of the best and most used review platform. Online reputation is the strongest tool to build a brand or destroy the brand in no time.

S.P ARYA, Promoter & Director of BizTek Advisors, talks to Enhancier CX “In the era of hyperactive customers with access to social media and having 24×7 online presence, customer experience needs highest attention ever. The company has to present its product in a way to attract customer, influence his buying decision, make buying a smooth experience, using the product effortlessly, hassle free service thus creating a lasting experience to retain him in a typical CX cycle. Customer experience is something beyond an experience a customer can imagine ever.”

Excellent customer experience is key to building customer loyalty!

Wikipedia defines Customer Experience as “…the product of an interaction between an organization and a customer over the duration of their relationship. ” But today its way beyond the expectation. It’s not only during the duration of their relationship, but also after that.

Sandeep Sharma, Investment Advisor & Co-founder Yepme.com talks to Enhancier “ It is more than 60% of our revenue from repeat customers. Businesses are built around loyal customers and no business can survive without repeat customers. It could be easy to acquire a new customer through a combination of marketing and sales team efforts, but excellent customer experience is key to repeat behavior. Excellent customer not only encourages the repeat behavior, but also results in word of mouth marketing of any brand. Many business functions and processes built around functions are essential for great customer experience. For instance, in today’s world of internet customer is looking for Omni Channel experience during pre-sale, sale and post sale warranty and support. Technology can play a key role in enabling companies to provide integrated and seamless experience. Implementing right mix of technology platforms can be achieved through aligning IT strategy with Business Strategy.”

Putting in efforts where it counts;

Him Shobha Luthra, Head of Customer Experience, Bajaj Finserv; talks with us.

“Global markets are a ‘touch’ away. We are buying from international e-tailers, commenting real-time on a Twitter post by someone who is based out of Canada when we are in Pune; banking with an international player, buying international brands from retail stores in local malls. Start ups are ‘uber’ quotes, processes, practices, apps and even people. Honey, the world has shrunk.

What stands out in all these interactions are the experiences these companies give us as customers at these touch points. Doesn’t matter what company or industry, we are dealing with; it’s the ‘highs’ and ‘lows’ of the hand that dealt with us that matters.

Minimum effort interactions, Commitment made and met, simple and quick processes, zero documentation, transparency, empathetic and approachable service teams, problems well understood and quickly resolved; deal with any company and these are a few things you are looking at.

Needless to say, ‘Customer Experience is the next competitive battleground. ‘ Simply put, it means putting our efforts where they count, getting our priorities right and improving not ‘all’ that’s broken, but only that which has the highest impact on what matters the most to the business, our customers. Do this through our people without whom we cannot achieve customer experience. “

Go digital, Customer First

According to Sheena Joseph, Head – Service Strategy | Head -Service Quality, Tata Tele Business Services , “With the burgeoning choices that today’s consumers have, companies are increasingly finding it difficult to stand out and catch the mindshare of the consumer. We are reaching an age where there is practically no differentiation in the traditional areas of product and price or marketing efforts. Customer Journeys then become key in leading top of mind recall.

A satisfied customer who is willing to refer his contacts is the ultimate dream of any company. It helps reduce marketing spend and creates an easy database for sales opportunities. Many organisations have realised this that focusing on CX helps build a clear advantage that product or price cannot compete with. Going digital for the millennial customer who prefers a touch free interaction to touch heavy or hand holding for the conservative, traditional customer is not an easy choice, but focusing on these CX aspects helps build a lasting legacy that can overcome competition.

Recognising this, many incumbents and new age players have started investing on this front. Go digital, Customer First is the mantras that players are investing in. We will hence see a new battleground of CX where the customer truly benefits not just because of price, but also because of a memorable empathetic experience, leading in turn to more spending on the product. “

Understanding customer behavior

Quoted one of our customers, Shuja Ahmad Shekh, Co-Founder & COO at Rakyan Beverages Pvt Ltd; “In Customer Experience, there are a lot of things already out. Like, systems that can recognize the customer so they are addressed personally, if we are talking about Enhancier’s software that is one thing we can look at, where the customers don’t have to repeat the issue because the agent can view the complete history of the customer be it any channel. Going a step ahead, anticipating customer requirements. If a customer calls what could be the reason, if there is an intelligence built in based on customer usage pattern or customer behavior to anticipate what would ask for next.”

 

To sum up,

Signature customer experience is the secret ingredient to success. The uniqueness of the customer experience will always stand out as a differentiator of your business in the otherwise commoditised market today. Customer Experience was, is and will always remain the battleground for any brand.