Why and what makes a customer experience optimal?

Customer experience is everything. All engagements, touchpoints and journeys the prospect takes from the first moment they interact with your brand to the moment they are a paying customer using your product or service need to be seamless, enjoyable and hassle-free. Having a negative experience may not only turn away a prospect or customer but can also have a detrimental effect on future business through harming brand image, negative reviews, poor word-of-mouth marketing and blame sharing on social media. This blog will explore the value and measurements of having a positive customer experience (CX).

Measures of good Customer Experience

Google reviews, Yelp, Trust Pilot, Feefo and many other apps and programmes have been designed to help consumers make informed decisions when it comes to spending their money on products and services. This makes the customer experience even more valuable in 2022 than ever before. Consumers will read reviews and look at ratings before making a decision. Offering a poor customer experience will lead to worse reviews and hence lower conversion rates due to poor ratings.

Some factor which separates poor or average customer experience from a high-quality customer experience is making the consumer feel like they are more than just a transaction to the company, making them feel special. There are a few key concepts to consider when trying to make a consumer feel special.

Making the consumer aware that the transactions are mutually beneficial
- The consumer is helping your business achieve its mission
- The Business is offering the consumer service or product they desire
The journey the consumer embarks on has to have positive value for the consumer
- This can be done by sending thank you note to the customer or sending a follow-up E-mail after purchasing
- Rewarding loyal customers with discounts and offers
- Demonstrating to the consumers that their feedback has been received and taken into account or even implemented

PWC have actually outlined four key factors that contribute to a customer’s overall experience with a brand and what helps makes it positive. These can be defined as

Efficiency: build on this
- The whole experience should only take the time that the consumers intend to spend.
  - There shouldn’t be delays and long delivery wait times without warning
  - The E-commerce platform should be optimised for an appropriate number of users

Convenience: build on this
- Customers should be able to access the products, product details and other company information which the customer
  - Relevant products are promoted to the consumers
  - Website design offers the most relevant pages to the consumer on the landing page
Friendly service: build on this
- Employees should be able to assist consumers with any questions, quickly with politeness
  - Important to establish a genuine connection with the consumer
  - Exchange chat messages or emails with customers in a polite and brand-appropriate manner
Easy payment:
- Payment options should be varied and the consumer shouldn’t have to prepare to pay via a select few methods.
  - Accepting foreign currency and digital payment options
  - No unexpected charges and costs
  - Payment plans for expensive products (offering payment flexibility)

Source: https://www.pwc.com/us/en/advisory-services/publications/consumer-intelligence-series/pwc-consumer-intelligence-series-customer-experience.pdf

Consumers want an experience which won’t take up a large portion of their time whilst also having friendly and insightful conversations with the employees or sales platform.

E-commerce’s role in positive customer experience

Customer experiences can easily extend into e-commerce and online shopping. Providing a positive experience for consumers across any channel can build loyal lifetime customers. With e-commerce shopping becoming the most prominent method of purchasing products it’s an ideal time to optimise the customer experience.

Platform

Optimising your customer experience will require optimisation of the purchasing platform which the customers use. Simple tweaks can be made to optimise the ease of use for your consumers. Star with an easy-to-use landing page which will have all frequently used tabs and buttons clearly outlined for users. Additionally, consumers should be offered employee live chat if the company is providing a service rather than a tangible product. With knowledgeable and friendly service being among the important factors in customer satisfaction it would be ideal to have employees that are able to assist customers through live chat if possible.

Furthermore, Hubspot focused its resources on writing a blog on optimising your landing page and website for consumers. E-commerce platforms should prioritise convenience and ease of payment. An intuitive user-friendly design in regard to payment and product alterations is going to improve a consumer’s experience (S. Chambers, 2021). Choosing the size, colour or material of their chosen product should be simple to do and ideally all on one screen. For services being able to have a calendar to choose a select time on the same page as payment would convenience the customer. Making payment flexible and simple should also be prioritised, allowing the consumers to pay securely and in as many ways as possible to ensure that there aren’t inconveniences to consumers.

Story

Another positive aspect of the e-commerce customer journey is that it provides a measurable way of identifying how customers are acquired. Providing an explainer video describing the service or process or production can attract consumers and help them build a bond with your company.

Social enterprises specifically benefit from telling their story in explainer videos, advertising campaigns and across their landing page and website. Once a consumer has an understanding of where the product came from or where the money they plan to spend is going they could be convinced to make the purchase they intended—selecting an appropriate narrative that will keep consumers interested and not seem artificial or forced upon them.

Positive customer experiences reduce wasted marketing spending

Customer retention and customer acquisition is part of the marketing department’s responsibilities. It’s important to associate these two concepts with customer experience. Getting an innovative gripping and relevant piece of marketing is going to kick-start a customer’s experience with a firm in a very positive way. Whilst retaining customers through relevant incentives and smartly chosen next-best purchase marketing will aid in customers having on overall greater lifetime satisfaction, making them more likely to market said product or service via word of mouth.

Physical

PaperPlanes programmatic direct mail marketing is an excellent way to keep high levels of customer retention and improve the consumer experience. Direct mail marketing is a great way to connect with customers in crucial periods which can lead to consumer conversions.

Mailing consumers when they have recently made a purchase and suggesting their next best purchase to follow, reminding consumers that they abandoned an online basket (and bringing them back with an incentive) and even mailing consumers who have not purchased in a long while or who might’ve unsubscribed from a service. Garner excellent results such as

300% more likely to return

50% more time spent browsing pages

ROAS of £11 for every £1

9.3% Topline conversion

40% Stronger with mail

9.3% of Baskets recovered

3.2% of Lost customers were won back

Paperplanes could be your solution to improving customer experiences through your direct marketing channel. To learn more about how integrating programmatic direct mail can improve your customer experience throughout their lifecycle read our dedicated blog: https://paperplanes.co.uk/customer-lifecycle-pdm/

Get in touch with the button below to learn how paper planes can greatly improve your customer experience and provide your brand with more attention & retention.