A new year, a new customer experience

Image by Tumisu from Pixabay

Powerful prosumers

Social media has significantly shifted the power of influence and the control of narrative towards customers, who are now able to consume and produce content simultaneously for brands. Trust has shifted and while brick and mortar stores benefit from the physical practicability, word-of-mouth has never been more vital.

A few Facebook reviews from real people can influence potential customers on an actionable purchase. Given the greater risk with any e-commerce transaction, customers are more reliant on research and the reviews that this uncovers. Social communities are connected via shared or similar experiences, and one bad review posted online, could have hundreds of comments validating this due to their own personal brand encounter.

Nike developed @teamnike on Twitter, which is a dedicated team that services customer queries in seven languages seven days a week, with record response times. This is due to primed responses for potential complaints and effectively moving the conversation offline into direct messages for a more human-related experience.

AX vs. CX

While most strategies are developed towards being customer-centric, a grassroots approach must be considered. AX, described as the agent experience, is a prerequisite to create positive customer interactions.

Ensure that front-line and support staff are effectively trained and that customer feedback is integrated via practised channels of communication. Rather, moving away from the customer is always right, to a happy employee leads to a satisfied customer.

Zoom, which saw an increase from 10 million meeting participants per day in December 2019 to 300 million by March 2020, can boast about having the happiest employees of last year, proving that AX is imperative despite their exponential customer growth.

Convenience and customisation

With safety being a determining factor towards an online purchase, consumers have become accustomed to the convenience available in a few taps and clicks. Uber Eats highlights the successful integration of both by having orders arrive in under 30 minutes via contactless delivery.

Customers appreciate and prioritise a personalised experience even when online. To achieve this, customer data must be effectively mined, segmented and analysed continuously, to understand the ever-developing needs of the target base. Using technology, like Dixa, allows for effective data management that makes finding insights and implementing this into a strategy, easier.

UX is an imperative component of any business success and can be a C-level threat. Customers want a CEO that is more active online, engaging with customers, and a brand that understands its purpose and its customers’ position. With the power in the hands of the buyer, the greatest asset to invest in is not what is sold, but how it is sold, placing UX up front.