What Makes Your Customer Experience Worth Talking About?

We’ve reached a tipping point. Brands are no longer competing solely on the quality of their products and services. Consumer sentiment is favoring brands who not only deliver the “goods”, but the service to match. When combined, these brands offer a contagious customer experience that these newly minted brand advocates – customers – can’t wait to spread.

The Buyer’s Journey

Customer experience doesn’t start at the checkout counter.  It starts way before any money exchanges hands, right about the time a potential customer realizes they have a problem or sees an opportunity.

During this awareness stage, consumers are vaguely aware of the brands that could be a resource for them but haven’t narrowed it down to any clear frontrunners. As the journey toward purchase continues, consumers research their options and narrow down their choices to include brands that check most of the boxes and have been recommended by people they trust.

Now left with a smaller, but more qualified list of options, the consumer is now ready to make a decision.

Sharing The Customer Experience

All throughout the buyer’s journey, brands have an opportunity to give the consumer something they rarely get – a good experience from beginning to end.  At each touchpoint, brands can choose to solve, not fix. To interact, not just respond, ultimately resulting in an experience the moves the consumer from a casual encounter to a long lasting lover of the brand.

And brand loyalists are happy to share their experiences with others in their community. In fact, studies suggest that almost 90% of customers do just that.

Customer Experience Starts At Home

Creating good customer experiences is one of the few remaining competitive advantages your organization has.

Consumers have options, and as they travel along the buyer’s journey, you don’t want your organization to be one of the brands that they weed out.

So, adopt a customer-centric corporate culture that aligns with your business goals and reinforces your brand strategy.  

Be committed to serving the customer and crafting unique experiences like these that exceed their expectations and gives them plenty to talk about on social media, review sites, and in person.

But don’t settle for one or two instances of greatness by a few exceptional people within your company. The commitment to delivering branded customer experiences ­­– those that you’ll be known for – should be woven into your brand’s core values, documented in service manuals, and practiced daily.