Nowadays, customer experience is key to any business. CX matters most for companies that provide services for multiple customers a day. This includes both brick-and-mortar businesses, such as stores, health clinics, hotels or service points, as well as online businesses, for example e-commerce or SaaS. Developing an effective CX program is a complex long term process, which must allow for all customer related matters. In this article you will learn six practices to help you develop a perfect CX strategy.
Customer experience is an umbrella term that encompasses all possible customer interactions with your business. CX refers to the quality and speed of service provided by your website. It is the sum total of all customer communication channels your business can use. It also comprises the way to respond to complaints.
Naturally, every business strives to offer the best possible customer experience, but truth be told, there are still some entrepreneurs that have little understanding of the matter. They neither have a defined CX strategy, nor do they measure customer satisfaction levels. Under such circumstances positive customer experience seems but a stroke of luck rather than an intended outcome.
If you are determined to make your CX work, devising a strategy is where you begin. Here follow 6 common practices to help you develop a CX strategy.
Plan all your actions bearing your customers in mind
Sounds cliche? The point is to start thinking like your customers. Try experiencing customer service as a whole: from the first touchpoint to the very close of your cooperation – naturally the way your customers see it. Are there any obstacles that might hamper contact or cooperation with your business? Perhaps there are some procedures, which you barely notice anymore as you have always done business that way, which cause unwanted friction? Is there room for improvement or a way to shorten each process? These and many other similar questions call for careful evaluation.
Generally, a CX strategy oriented toward the customer should:
Understand customer needs and problems, and offer a solution
Enable regular feedback (using surveys or opinion polls)
Focus on facilitating direct customer-business interaction
Meet customer expectations (proactive stand)
Ensure instant accessibility and extensive information
Swiftness is one of the fundamentals of effective CX. You might consider implementing solutions that allow a quick response to customer queries, such as a chat or a chatbot. Last year, CX Report by Gladly found out that 81% of participants considered it a helpful practice when a pop-up chat window appeared offering help in online shopping.
Provide your customers with a means to promptly contact your business and respond to their questions without undue delay. This will help you win their approval. Another interesting practice is to implement solutions which preempt possible questions. You could provide, for example:
● exhaustive descriptions of your products or services,
● comprehensive information on cooperation and service provisions,
● a section on FAQ, including answers,
● complete and accurate contact details, such as company address, opening hours, services rendered. For that purpose, you might be interested in using our new product, Store Locator. You can learn more on Store Locator below.
● advanced solutions that let customers better interact with the product online, such as augmented reality.
Make use of available tools
The world of marketing today furnishes a plethora of tools to facilitate or even automate customer service helping you build a positive business image. The tools allow you to:
● respond to customer queries quickly (e.g. chat or chatbots)
● keep customers up-to-date on the stock and order status
● share codes to track orders
● customize communication and marketing (personalized recommendations can prove extremely effective),
● distribute promotional codes,
● inform about new products on the market,
● build customer loyalty (through loyalty programs or VIP clubs), and take other actions meant to have your customers appreciate your business!
HOW CENTER.AI CAN HELP YOU
We would like to take a minute here and showcase three solutions available on our platform. First, Center.ai can help you analyze customer reviews. You are given access to information on average rating, the number of ratings awarded and their distribution for the entire network of listings within a freely defined period of time.
Second, Center.ai enables you to reply to customer comments easily. Responding to customer opinions is a vital element in CX strategies, as it shows your concern for customers and dedication to act on their suggestions. Also, Center.ai allows you to filter reviews by topic quickly.
The third functionality is a new product in our offer, namely, the Store Locator. Store Locator is an additional feature, which, once visually tailored to your needs and implemented on your website, will display information on your business locations. Each location is equipped with a page of its own, optimized for search engines and integral to a Google Maps listing. This toolkit supports your local SEO strategy and enables your customers to find relevant information, such as your address or opening hours, quickly.
Look into customer reviews and act on feedback
Your CX strategy should comprise regular customer satisfaction surveys. Sometimes, to get some feedback on your business all you need to do is ask your customers directly. There are at least four ways to measure customer experience. You will find more on the methods in the article linked below. What matters is to keep the surveys short and convenient to your customers. It’s a good idea to integrate such surveys into the final steps of order placement (a thank-you page on your website or a tablet next to check-out in a traditional store). This way you will encourage more and more people to leave a comment. For example, at one point Biedronka stores introduced this feature. Questions related to customers satisfaction popped up during payment process:
Should you receive a negative review you might ask an additional question: What made you answer this way? Consider the answers carefully and if you do notice room for improvement take immediate steps to address the issue eliminating those parts of the experience that customers disapprove of.
Monitor the web
Social listening will come in handy here. The bigger and more recognizable your business is, the greater the chances that your customers talk about your brand online. Social listening tools monitor news feeds, social media, online forums and search engines to mine any mentions of your business. Often, the most valuable information on CX appears in opinions posted on websites, or in user comments and discussions. With such information at hand, you have an in-depth insight into customers’ true sentiments.
Many such tools, for example Brand24, offer automated sentiment analysis, which allows to segment each mention under one of the three categories: negative, neutral, and positive. It is an incredibly useful functionality as it lets you focus on those opinions which signal a potential problem, without having to sift through hundreds of comments.
Simplify your sales process
Regardless of whether you run an online or offline business, your sales process should be possibly short and simple. Look into your current sales pathways: are there any unnecessary elements? Think for example if you ask your customers for information which is irrelevant to making a purchase. Or, perhaps, you ask them to perform some copious tasks redundant to the sales process. Another example of an unnecessary step is to enforce logging in when placing an order. Actually, many stores enable shoppers to place orders without an active account or to skip logging in entirely, which is a convenient solution, much appreciated by users who plan a one-time purchase only.
To sum up
Positive CX is a sum total of all your business efforts. Applied correctly, the CX strategy you develop will definitely assist (and never hinder!) your customers. Soon it will translate into customer satisfaction and glowing reviews.
Remember to respond to customer reviews, analyze them regularly and encourage your customers to visit your brick and mortars. Center.ai is there to help you all along.
Start your free trial today and see for yourself how useful the tool is in shaping positive user experiences!
