Thus far in my Measuring the Customer Experience series, I’ve shared with you:
As a reminder, every customer experience starts with a person, who’s got a need they would trade something of value to have solved. Their experience is something they pass through – it’s what happens and how they feel as they realize they realize a need, learn about options to solve it, buy, solve the need and even evolve to another need over time. This week we look at the metrics you can use to see how the third step of your customer experience is impacting your business performance.
At this step customers are trying out the short list of options they are considering. They are experiencing a kind of mental virtual reality, imagining what life would look like on the other side of a purchase, with each option (hopefully you) helping them solve the need that triggered them to act. Their goal is to see a future with a solved problem. Your goal here is to demonstrate to customers how you solve their need better than any of the other options they’re considering.
(I get comments regularly about the earlier post linked here. Heard often: “It’s hard to stay focused on a “virtual reality” here – but the payoff is HUGE!”)
In top performing organizations demonstrating why you’re different & best means staying sharply focused on what contributes to solving a problem well, and serve only the target customers with that problem, your business will get and keep more customers. Check out these metrics to see how you’re doing at the Try step of the customer experience.
As for earlier steps & metrics, I’ve noted here which metrics are leading performance indicators — those that are predictive of future performance, and which are lagging –those that reactively measure performance outcomes.
- Lagging: Sales close ratio shows how often prospects who try you out actually choose your product, service or company.
- Leading: Return on your total investment to acquire customers (staff, contractors and program expenses in sales, marketing and advertising).
- Lagging: Speed to close indicates how easily customers are able to see a future with their need solved.
- Lagging: Actual vs. target price – you can measure this on each transaction, customer, or your actual vs desired price position among competitive alternatives. You’re measuring how much customers value your answer to their need.
- Leading: Overall customer profitability. On an aggregate basis, profitable customer relationships infer that you’re doing a good job demonstrating that you can solve a need well.
How are you doing at this step? Are you designing your experience to deliver on the things your customers value most? Can you see the reward in your business performance? If you’re feeling positive about your performance against the metrics here, you’ve demonstrated your ability to solve your target customers’ need well. You’re prospects are trying out your solution and envisioning life on the other side of a purchase with you helping them solve their need. Bully!
Do you use these metrics to measure your performance at this first step of the customer experience?
