The Benefits of Implementing a Customer Experience Strategy
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In our previous series of articles, we shared our insights on the strategic importance of “Customer Experience” in today’s economy, by explaining the differences between customer service and customer experience, and introducing the “Five Dimensions of Customer Experience.”
This provided a solid framework of what “Customer Experience” is and why it is important for both the people providing and receiving service from an organization.
In this article, we will explain how “Customer Experience” strategies benefit organizations and their customers, and how it improves performance and, ultimately, the bottom-line.
Customers are more attuned to their experience with organizations than ever before.
As customer expectations continue to rise, customers penalize companies that fail to deliver upon their expected experiences. Proactive organizations understand that designing and delivering exceptional customer experiences is no longer optional, and realize the profitable benefits of loyal customers that are willing to purchase more items with greater frequency, and who are more willing to provide referrals.
“Customer Experience” is an innovative way to make organizations stand out from the competition.
The benefits that organizations can expect from “Customer Experience” initiatives are many and varied, and each type of business must find its own motivation and justification based on its business model and the type of relationship it has with its customers.
Here are some examples of how exceptional customer experiences benefit organizations and their customers:
Benefits for organizations:
-Increases in customer wallet share;
-Decreases in customer attrition rates;
-Increases in annual customer value of cross-sells and up-sells;
-Increase in lifetime customer value;
-Increase in customer referrals;
-Decrease in customer complaints;
-Increase in customer ideas and insight;
-Increase in customer and prospect purchase consideration;
-Decrease costs of customer acquisition;
-Increase in overall customer base;
-Improvement of corporate brand and image;
Increase in the number of customer thank you letters;
Benefits for Customers:
-Consistent levels and types of service;
-Clearly defined expectations;
-Reduced effort to receive service;
-Better experiences delivered more efficiently and effectively;
“Customer Experience” strategy transcends the business of being nice to your customers by lavishing them with delightful service. It is a results-oriented business strategy that leverages customer-centric innovation and problem-solving to consistently provoke smiles, attract
customers, increase customer spending, improve retention, lower costs of new sales, drive referrals, and improve business performance.
In our next article, we will explore in greater detail how specific industries can and have benefitted from having a “Customer Experience” strategy.
James Grieve is a Certified Management Consultant (CMC), Certified Customer Experience Professional (CCXP) and President and Senior Business Advisor at Catalyst Strategies Consulting, a Kelowna-based consulting firm that specializes in working with businesses in a variety of industries to design great service experiences that delight customers and improve business performance. He can be reached at 778.214.6010, or james@catalyst-strategies.
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