Customer experience can be simply interpreted as an impression or customer experience received from the vendor’s service or service provider. In any transaction, customers or consumers want a good and satisfactory service.
Like sellers, they also try to provide satisfactory service to gain loyal customers. So how? Take a look at the explanation below!
What Is Customer Experience ?
Before discussing customer experience, you should first understand what the term means.
Customer experience is the experience of customers when interacting or transacting with vendors or service providers. This experience applies when the customer is new or when they are an old or loyal customer.
All processes in transactions are closely related to customer experience. This can be seen from the ads served, the performance of the sales website when visited, the buying process, the speed of delivery, or the security of the package.
Read also: customer relationship management, an important strategy in a company.
What Characterizes a Good Customer Experience ?
After understanding the importance of customer experience, it is also important to understand what are the characteristics of good practice. Here are some of them:
1. Ease of Access to The Sales Website
The characteristics of the first customer experience are easy to access on the sales website. The better the quality and features of the website, the more satisfied the customers will be.
For this reason, improving the website performance to make it more accessible is a way to increase the good impression of customers.
2. After The Transaction, There Is a Thank You Note
A thank you note after a transaction is an indicator of a good customer impression of online transactions.
Generally, the seller or service provider thanks the customer after the transaction is completed.
This aims to give a good impression to buyers and indirectly pay attention to customers.
By making a good impression, customers can transact again at the same place later. In other words, this thank you can also be a way to attract loyal customers.
3. Quick and Satisfactory Response
In addition to friendly treatment and a thank you after a transaction is completed, a quick and satisfactory response can also determine the success of a customer experience.
In this case, the seller or service provider can create a quick and informative response through multiple available mediums such as phone or live chat in an application or website.
Quick response to customers is required, but sometimes resources are not enough. The solution is to use an application chatbot AI that automatically provides customers with a chat with fast service using AI technology.
4. There Is a Good Reception
Not only a quick and informative response is highly required, but also a good reception. As a seller, it would be nice to always give a good reception to every customer who comes.
This good reception can be developed in several ways, one of which is the live chat welcome. In this way, customers feel cared for and welcomed and feel more comfortable doing business in it.
5. Informative and Relevant Content
Any store, business, or service provider will always do their best to satisfy their customers. One of them is to provide information on relevant content.
The form of this content can be in the form of articles, tips, or other important information that is closely related to the product.
The existence of this content does not play a role in promoting products, but can also simply increase customer knowledge and insight.
6. Easy Submission of Criticism and Suggestions
A good customer experience is also created when customers can conveniently access the products and services they receive or make criticisms and suggestions.
This is not only useful for consumers to express their opinions but can also serve as a suggestion or evaluation material so that sellers or service providers can improve in the future.
7. The Existence of a Survey Development
Survey development mentioned in this case is the creation of surveys that are given or opened to each customer.
When they start to participate in surveys, they also indirectly play a role in the development of the product or service to be sold.
Through this survey, customers will later provide useful input or reviews for future business progress and development.
These are some of the features of the customer experience that have often been encountered. If some of the above things have not been achieved by consumers, likely, the business being operated is not providing the maximum customer experience.
What is The Importance of Creating a Good Customer Experience in The Business ?
Customer experience plays an important role in business operations, as this evaluation can later increase the value of products and services.
A good shopping experience or service for customers leaves an impression that influences the company’s perspective.
For this reason, customer experience is often a way to find out whether the sales strategy is right or not. In addition, business owners can also experience the feedback or reciprocity that each customer feels after the transaction.
What is The Strategy to Improve Customer Experience?
The following are some strategies that can be applied to make a good impression on the customers of the managed business.
1. Building a Culture of Customer Obsession
The first way to improve the customer experience is to put customers first. Build a consumer-centric culture so that every business process performed considers customer value.
This has proven to be profitable, as 60% of companies that previously prioritized customers achieved better and more profitable profits.
Therefore, changing business strategy by prioritizing the customer is a method that should be considered.
Make customer satisfaction a decision driver. Also, don’t forget to make it known to all employees so that they are united and committed to implementing it.
2. Understand The Target Group Well
Building a good customer experience is impossible if it is not accompanied by getting to know the customer. Understanding the target consumer can begin based on gender, age, hobbies, social media users, and a few other key pieces of information.
One way to understand this target customer is to create a buyer persona. Through this document, salespeople can later create customer profiles that appear real to improve audience understanding.
3. Define a Customer-Centric USP
USP or short for Unique Selling Point is the uniqueness of a company that can be used as a differentiator from other companies or similar competitors. Having an attractive USP increases customer interest in buying.
In improving or developing the maximum customer experience, USP must focus on customer satisfaction.
This USP can be created not only through product quality or uniqueness but also in other supporting elements such as packaging.
In addition, attractive marketing strategies such as free additional products or discounts on certain days can also be used.
4. Make Your Customers Feel Special
Customer is king is not a concept anymore, considering that in the business world, customers need to be prioritized.
In this case, sometimes being friendly and polite is not enough. There are several ways you can make customers feel prioritized:
a. Offer Special Promos or Coupons For Birthday Customers
Providing offers for customers who have birthdays, in the form of certain discounts or gifts, is one way to develop a customer experience that is currently being worked on a lot.
In this case, the customer feels cared for not because of the many or few gifts, but because the vendor is concerned about their special day.
b. Get in The Habit of Leaving a Good Impression on Every Customer
Leaving a good impression on each customer can be accomplished in many ways, such as saying thank you, a prayer, or encouraging words at the end or conclusion of each interaction with customers.
This method can be applied in different communication areas, whether directly by phone or by chat.
c. Run UGC Campaigns Via Social Media
UGC campaigns via social media have a great impact on increasing customer experience. This is because the social media used makes customers feel valued for their work.
d. Conduct an Online Meetup if Needed
The final way to make customers feel special is to hold meetings or meetings online.
While not required, this method brings numerous benefits to building relationships and closeness with customers.
5. Building a Good Emotional Relationship With Customers
Based on surveys and conducted research, a strong relationship between customers and good business owners can increase the percentage of sales by 85%.
This means that a good relationship between sellers and buyers plays an important role in improving customer experience.
Treat customers well, don’t be afraid to start a relationship to make it more personal, give jokes when needed, show empathy, and listen to their complaints or grievances.
6. Don’t Hesitate to Ask Customers Directly
While running a business, you must have thought about what makes consumers satisfied. This is answered when the salesperson asks the consumer directly.
Now there are many ways you can do this, such as:
a. Via Live Chat
Live chat is now a widely used way to contact customers, whether it is just to provide information or answer complaints from customers.
Now, this live chat feature is mostly found in the application or website versions. One of the advantages of live chat is generally to provide answers or responses in a short time, unlike social media communication.
b. Through Surveys
In addition to using the live chat feature, vendors can also use the now easily accessible free survey features such as Quiz, Survey Master, or YOP Poll to meet customer requests with a more attractive appearance.
7. Conducting Personal Interviews
The next option is to conduct interviews directly with customers by asking a series of questions. This method is more effective when conducted after the transaction is completed.
Before that, do not forget to ask for permission or availability of time first, if the customer does not like it, it cannot be forced. If needed, sellers can also offer gifts or bonuses in return for surveys conducted.
8. Improving The Quality of Customer Service
Talking about customer experience, of course, is closely related to the quality of customer service. Why is that? Because improving the quality of customer service directly affects the quality of customer experience.
According to a survey conducted, 52% of customers would like to purchase a product or service if they received a response from good customer service.
So how do you improve customer service? Here are some tips that can be done:
a. Provide Admin for 24 Hours
Providing an administrator or customer who can answer and support customers 24/7 is one of the right solutions. With this, every question the customer has will likely be answered.
A 24-hour service is very helpful because customer complaints or questions about the products and services offered arrive not only during working hours but at any time according to the customer’s request.
b. Try to Always Respond to Incoming Comments
Responding to comments or incoming messages from various media is also a surefire way to increase customer confidence.
As a salesperson, try to always reply to chats or comments that come in from different social media you have.
Managing business communication channels from multiple social media is certainly not easy. Through the customer service application, you can improve the service quality for customers from different social media.
c. Install The WhatsApp Plugin on The Website
Besides providing live chat, you can also add a WhatsApp plug-in to the sales website to make it easier for customers to contact you without writing down and saving the number manually.
With the help of the WhatsApp plug-in, customers can directly enter and connect to the chat room. You can use the WhatsApp API to simplify responding to chats with multi-user features.
d. Mentioning tTe Customer’s Name
Polite and friendly treatment is incomplete if it is not accompanied by mentioning the customer’s name. In this case, try to always mention the customer’s name or the username used during the interaction.
This aims to create a more intimate relationship while making customers feel special or well-treated.
e. Don’t Forget The Three Magic Words
The three magic words meant in this case excuse me, please, and thank you. Try to use these words whenever you interact with customers.
This is to make them feel comfortable and minimize the occurrence of misunderstandings or injuries caused by unwanted words.
f. Send a Chat or Reply In a Relaxed Speaking Style
The final step that can be taken to increase a good impression by communicating with customers is to use a relaxed and casual speaking style. Make sure that the language used is not too standard or stiff.
Create as comfortable a situation as possible so that customers can fully express their questions or complaints.
These are 8 strategies to improve the customer experience along with the steps that need to be taken. Once the 7 strategies have been implemented, the customer experience will likely be maximized.
What Are Some Examples of Companies That Have a Quality Customer Experience ?
Here are some companies that are considered successful in building a good customer experience:
1. Amazon
Amazon is one of the biggest e-commerce websites that often come up with innovations in their business.
As the largest e-commerce company that has gained a lot of trust from the public, Amazon always tries to prioritize customer satisfaction. There are several ways to do this, namely:
- Facilitate customer transactions with a selection of select features like Amazon Prime and Amazon Plus. Free shipping is also offered for certain locations.
- Create products with a one-stop shopping system so customers can buy books and read them on one device.
- Offering convenience in transactions, not only through a cashless system but also through a cashier-less system developed by Amazon Go.
- Provide 24-hour customer service in various categories, such as orders, returns, services, accounts, and more. Customers can choose from these categories according to their needs.
2. ticket.com
Tiket.com is also one of the companies that provides quality customer experience. Some of the innovations developed to support this are:
- Offer easy refunds with a guarantee of up to 100% up to a maximum of 4 hours before departure.
- Provide services that make it easier for customers, such as checking in through an application without having to go to a hotel or tourist location.
- Providing 24-hour customer service via WhatsApp that can help and answer any incoming questions.
- Providing rewards in the form of discounts, additional facilities for free services for customers who have joined the elite reward, or loyal customers.
Using the two examples of these companies, we can now see how the innovations implemented by each company create an impressive customer experience.
After reading the above assessments, it can be concluded that improving the quality of the customer experience leads to improving the quality of the managed business. Prioritizing customer satisfaction is one of the most important things to implement.