Customer Experience….the phrase is certainly in the air these days, along with the pollen here in North Texas. With so many references to it, articles about it, and just plain mentions it can make you feel like you need to jump in there and do something about it.
Don’t. Just jump in, that is.
Like everything in business and life, while it is important to carpe diem, some planning is in order first.
- Determine what kind of experience you want your customers to have with your business.
- Identify what, if any, type of experience your customers feel they are having now.
- Elicit feedback from them to find out ways to make the experience more pleasant, exciting, educational, or whatever other type of experience you are trying to build.
- Finally, build that experience.
What kind of experience to offer?
What kind of business do you have? How do you want people to feel after dealing with your company? Maybe you want people to feel like part of a family. Perhaps you would prefer to present a more formal relationship to enhance the air of expertise. If you deal in events, maybe you need to make the experience reflect the type of event your customer wants.
How do your customers feel now?
Your front line agents will be able to tell you quite a bit about how customers feel when they contact your company. Listen to them. They have valuable experience and input to give. They are your feet on the ground.
How can you build the right experience?
Get feedback directly from customers through brief surveys, voice and data analytics, and social media monitoring. It doesn’t have to be intrusive or exhaustive, just ask the right questions. If you aren’t sure how, there are quite a few services out there that can help you with that.
Once you have achieved the experience you want your customers to have and they agree they are having it, you aren’t done. Like everything else, you need to continue to monitor how your customers and prospects feel about working with your company so changes can be made when needed.
Customer experience takes planning, like any other initiative. It needs to fit your business and your customers. Use your time and money wisely to offer what customers want.
