Customer experience translates into the continual relationship, at every touchpoint, between a brand and the customer. The textbook definition describes customer experience as, ‘the sum of all customer/brand interactions’. With customer experience creeping onto the agendas of senior marketers, now is a good time to get a deeper understanding of its true meaning and the business value customer experience creates.
In my experience, some organisations view customer experience as a customer service function, other companies view it as a marketing communications outcome and there are those that define customer experience from a singular touchpoint perspective, such as post-sale satisfaction. What’s missing here is that these views are siloed, singular approaches and to create real change and reap the rewards, organisations need a total customer experience approach.
What’s important to note here, is when an organization shifts its focus from a siloed experience approach to an entire or total customer experience approach, the effect is cumulative. From each customer/brand interaction the organization reaps the rewards: enhanced customer satisfaction, a reduction in customer churn, sustained revenue increases, reduced marketing spend, increased employee satisfaction and delivery of higher levels of customer advocacy of the brand.
When a customer makes a word of mouth recommendation to a family member, friend, co-worker or members of their social network they are expressing their admiration for the brand. This has become one of the most powerful influences in helping a new customer along the path-to-purchase. From real-world conversations in cafes about their brand experience, to online posts, reviews and discussion forums, customers are sharing their opinions and giving recommendations; providing accessible information for new customers to help make decisions.
Whilst advocacy levels vary from category to category, Boston Consulting Group’s research on word-of-mouth indicates that there isn’t a category in which customer advocacy is irrelevant. Their analysis showed, “that the revenue growth of the brands with the highest advocacy levels is far above the industry average. Over time, that difference separates the leaders from the laggards”.
We believe that great experiences get people talking. Brands that create emotionally positive experiences at every moment in the customer journey drive engagement, satisfaction and positive customer behavior, which leads to word-of-mouth recommendations that deliver a continuous loop of new customers.
First Published: https://goo.gl/ctXoeh