Also known as Customer Experience or CX, the customer experience can be defined as the physical, rational, and emotional perception that the consumer has of a certain company.
This understanding is built through the company’s relationship with the consumer, through shopping experiences, services, pre- and post-sales assistance, and assistance.
A company that seeks to stand out in the market is almost obligatorily working to value and improve the experiences that the client will have. After all, today, the consumer market is increasingly demanding and the consumer experience is something vital to the success of any company.
In this scenario, we are not just talking about offering good service or having a professional, organized, and responsive website.
The rapid technological advance shows a context in which only the basics are not enough to retain a customer and make him recommend the brand.
Consumers are increasingly looking for a unique experience that makes them feel important.
In this sense, the customer experience works by guaranteeing the customer all the characteristics he expects from his salesperson.
Are you interested in knowing more about the subject? Then read on! In this article, we will explain everything about this topic so important for any business.
What is customer experience?
As we mentioned earlier, the customer experience is directly related to the feeling he feels after completing a purchase or completing a service. Satisfaction, happiness, and loyalty are some of the feelings aroused when the sales experience was provided in the right way.
Given that we are currently living in the age of experience, a good purchase is just as important as the product or service offered. After all, all the time we are bombarded with offers of products and services.
So, what is the differential that makes the customer choose one store instead of another, which sells something very similar?
This decision will be based precisely on the experience that the customer will have. Thus, companies that work focused on Customer Experience are always one step ahead of the competition, as they offer the famous “something more” to their buyers and stand out in the market.
What is a customer-oriented company?
Generally speaking, a customer-oriented company is one that works in order to offer the best product and the best experience to its consumers.
Therefore, these companies do not work only with price, but with the value of their services, adding recognition and quality to the brand.
According to a survey, consumers are willing to pay up to ⅓ more of the product’s value for a good shopping experience. This study only proves how much capital is less than experimentation when it comes to selling and buying.
Thus, the focus of consumers is the values added to the product. Therefore, a customer-oriented company is focused on values and is not limited to only making products that people want or need. It offers a unique experience, which is able to build customer loyalty.
What is the relevance of a company when it comes to promoting customer experience?
Defining the sensations and characteristics that the company intends to bring to its customers through experience with its products or services is essential.
After all, the focus here is not just “producing and selling”, but rather guaranteeing the quality of what is being offered and the dissemination of values.
This system works as a reward to the customer for the purchase: in exchange for the amount received, satisfaction is offered with the product and with the entire purchase process.
In this new perspective of providing the customer with the best experience, the company is able to offer much more than what the customer needs.
Consequently, this leads to exceeding expectations, further improving your result. It is this vision that makes the customer loyal to a brand, disseminate it and indicate it.
By offering the consumer something so good that he didn’t even know he wanted it, the company gains a guaranteed space in his life and still generates extremely efficient word of mouth marketing.
What do you define as an extraordinary customer experience?
In general, the most relevant points to ensure an extraordinary customer experience are:
- Interaction and communication facilities during service;
- Agility and customization throughout the purchase journey;
- Offering quality products;
- Good communications and post-purchase experiences;
As you can see, in order to transform the customer experience from merely adequate to extraordinary, the process is not so simple and spontaneous. This feat requires a lot of planning and needs constant actions by the entire company.
In addition, it also requires leadership and good ideas. For it is necessary that the company’s managers have the appropriate vision for such a transformation, as well as the coordination and project management skills.
With regard to customers, it is possible to say that an incredible experience is one in which the feelings of participation and inclusion are aroused. And so, they are transformed into corporate loyalty and disclosure.
How to measure customer experience?
In a scenario in which offering a good experience to the consumer is the main objective of the companies that aim for growth, it is evident that throughout this adaptation it is necessary to invest in receiving feedback from consumers.
Satisfaction surveys and feedbacks are great parameters to measure the customer experience. In this way, it is possible to understand how customers are feeling about the experience with the company and the product.
For this, formats such as opinion boxes in physical stores and satisfaction forms via e-mail can be very useful. Thus, the answer is quick, simple, efficient, since it comes directly from the customer, the main focus of interest of the product.
How to improve the customer experience?
To paraphrase André Romero, director of Red Lemon, “the consumer wants to enjoy, share and fully live that purchase”.
In this sense, it is evident how much having a strategy geared only to lower prices is not enough to be able to gain notoriety in the market.
It is necessary to win over customers and work in order to make them feel included in the purchase context. Thus, people will consume your product, regardless of price, as its value proposal exceeds consumer expectations.
According to the Consumer Commitment Index (CCI) survey carried out by Officina Sophia Retail, the saying “the first impression is what remains” is a rule within the corporate world. In other words, what most attracts customers is the way they are treated, received and received within the sales environment.
For this, it is ideal that those who work with physical sales offer intensive training to their salespeople, teaching them to adapt to all customer profiles.
When we think about online sales, a professional and responsive website is decisive for completing the purchase.
What is the customer journey?
We call the customer’s journey their entire shopping experience, from the first contact with the product to the moments of post-sale and follow-up.
In other words, from the moment the consumer acquires knowledge about the existence of a certain item, the corporation must already start working on its image to win over potential stakeholders.
With this, it is possible not only to get to know the buyer better, but to induce him to complete his acquisition process faster.
Thus, little by little, the company approaches its target, seeking to build a customer journey that will make you satisfied. Thus, it will extend your relationship with the company and encourage you to recommend its products or services.
What experiences can be created to improve the consumer experience?
Improving the consumer experience is a job directly linked to welcoming and transparency. Therefore, there is no point in offering the customer several special benefits and conditions, without explaining them in detail.
In this scenario, some attitudes are essential for the consumer experience to occur in the best possible way for the company and the customer.
At first, a good tip is to prioritize the host, seeking to understand the context and objectives of the buyer. That is, analyze whether your priority is product value, what your intention is behind the purchase and especially when he intends to complete the purchase.
In this way, it becomes simpler to construct a direct and assertive argument with the client.
Another tip is to provide detailed explanations of the conditions in which the consumer is purchasing the product or service. As a result, the risks that possible doubts or mistakes prevent the purchase from completing are considerably reduced.
In addition, post-sale follow-up is essential for both the customer experience and loyalty and repurchase.
A text message or e-mail is enough to show the consumer how much the company cares about their satisfaction with the product purchased or service provided, and they are simple to do.
So, how much does your company do to provide a good consumer experience?
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