The customer experience is something that should never be underestimated. A company might be selling the best product on the market, but without the backdrop of a great customer experience it’s excellence will be diminished.
Since the dawn of COVID-19, what makes up that perfect customer experience, or CX, has changed. Where before focus might have been on ‘service with a smile’, other, more practical elements have taken centre stage. Offering an experience that makes customers trust a company has their wellbeing in mind is essential. What that experience entails will include clear health and safety measures, signage as well as efforts to manage a seamless customer service while observing social distancing guidelines.
It’s well known that good CX leads to better customer loyalty. Loyalty is crucial when acquiring a new customer costs 7 times more than retaining an existing one, and it’s just as important for safely riding the wave of this global pandemic. Loyal customers make excellent brand advocates. They are the best resource a business has for maintaining positive brand sentiment and communicating how and why a company is worth supporting at this time.
Time for an audit
Now, as the world changes, is the ideal time to carry out a CX audit. As we’ve suggested already, customers are changing; their needs and expectations have been dramatically influenced by COVID-19. What made a customer experience perfect before won’t necessarily make it now. An audit makes it possible to:
- pinpoint the values which are most important within the customer journey
- identify the most important areas for improvement, establishing where gaps lie as customers interact with the brand
- establish customer experience management (CEM) strategies
To carry out an audit, a brand must take a close look at its customers’ journey, from start to finish. They must first think, what is the need someone has for interacting with the business? What do they want? Then, look at every touchpoint that customer will have with the business along the way – how does each play to their needs? Recognising, understanding and optimising each of these ‘moments’ (and how these relate to each other), lays the foundation of the eventual CX.
It may not take long for a business to find its brand has more events and potential touchpoints than previously realised. Because they include every time a customer comes into contact with the brand, they might even go beyond the physical. Everything from off-site marketing to on-site digital signage is important; venue management software and staff communication tools, for example, have an important role to play.
We would expect any audit undertaken in 2020/21 to reveal the need to promote social distancing and focus on clear, positive staff and customer communication. That’s where we can help. Theravada’s customer experience range is made up of technologies, both visible and discreet, that create positive user journeys in this way. They help customers to relax, grant peace of mind by improving communication and provide new levels of personalisation while optimising existing services.
If your business is ready to review its customer experience, get in touch. Whatever the need, we can find the perfect tool to help you stand out from your competitors and improve guest satisfaction.
