In a recent article on mycustomer.com, Right Now CEO Greg Gianforte quotes an interesting new poll from Harris Interactive, where:
According to the research, some 84% of customers would be prepared to pay 5% over the standard rate for a superior customer experience, 62% would pay 10% more, 25% would pay 15% more and 11% would pay 25% more.
I believe that this research is US based but, I believe, there are probably similarities across all regions.
Some people might find these statistics shocking but I think they provide a huge opportunity for businesses to differentiate themselves and improve revenue and profitability at the same time by improving their customer experience and customer service.
In another piece, Neil Davey, editor across at mycustomer.com, reports that, according to another piece of research from Vodafone, this time in the UK that:
UK brands have lost a huge £70 billion-worth of business this year because of a failure to respond quickly enough to potential customers.
Research among 1,731 workers, which included 728 senior managers in organisations of all sizes across both the public and private sector, undertaken by mobile operator Vodafone, revealed that the country’s 2.3 million businesses have lost an average of £30,000 each this year for failing to be quick enough off the mark, a rise of almost £10,000 on 2009.
From this piece of research, responsiveness seems to a key element in defining some customers experience.
But, is that it? Is that the whole picture or are there other elements that would be straightforward to implement but that could enhance a customers experience?
What about the following:
- Staff with great attitudes
- Better training for staff
- Easy of buying – easy ways to pay and purchase
- A number of channels or ways with which to connect and engage businesses and their customers
- Seeking out opportunities to delight and surprise your customers
- Providing ways to solve customers problems before they even know they have one. This could be done through blogs, forums, white papers, books, updates…..
- Creating a space for customers to connect, interact, share stories and provide input
- Understanding your customer and their history so you can tailor any communication with them to suit their needs and style
What else do you think could enhance a customers experience?
All of the above elements can be summarized in one statement: Create a top down attitude from top management that anything else providing the ultimate customer experience will not be tolerated.
Employees with this mindset will find a way to make their customers feel great about their company. Sometimes that may even mean taking the side of the customer over their company itself. All you have to do is look at Apple. They are case in point of this attitude.
Considering the current attitude amongst business, and the focus on the negative … their easiest, most inexpensive competitive advantage may only be as far as the other end of the counter or the phone.