Do you think you know your customers well? Are you confident you understand how they experience your brand in a myriad of online and offline interactions? Well, here’s some sobering news: Even if you think that you have a firm grasp on your customer experience, that’s all going to change sooner than you think.
Customer experience has undeniably become the next battleground for business and the quintessential scale to pick between brands.
According to Forrester, 72% of businesses say that enhancing the customer experience is their top priority, while only 63% prioritize on implementing technology investments to reach their goal.
Interestingly, market leaders are decided based not just on which company has the superior product at the lowest price, but on which company manages its connection with customers the best as ‘The Great Wall of Digital’ is being built between organizations and customers.
How are you responding to the change? Do you feel disconnected with your retail customers?
A few considerations
1. Not keeping it Simple
Solution– Today’s customers expect an easy-to-use interface across all channels, an exciting in-store experience, and fast service 24/7. Yet many organizations, especially incumbents, struggle to meet these expectations because of not so it user-friendly and intuitive interface. Remember, a simple user experience unfolded with crisp and clear user interfaces goes a long way in the saga of man-machine interactions.
2. Not establishing an emotional connection with your customers digitally
Solution: Embedding technology in your day-to-day marketing operations doesn’t mean you’re sacrificing a human connection. That indicates treating every touchpoint with your customers like a face-to-face conversation. With customer data easily available, organizations can tailor their content to connect with customers on a more personal and emotional level.
3. Not getting a unified view of the customer
Solution: Remember that data integration is the secret sauce to the customer journey. You should connect disparate data silos for a comprehensive look at your customers—gather customer insights and interactions in one place and get a 360-degree view of your customers to anticipate their requirements and optimize the customer experience.
4. Not providing consistent omnichannel CX
Solution: No matter what industry you operate in, your customers expect to be able to engage with you effectively across multiple channels. Why? Customers typically want to get what they want from your business quickly, efficiently and on their terms – be this on your website, via your mobile app or by engaging with your customer-care team by phone, live chat or any other means. Creating a single, uniform face to your customers that delivers them with a consistent experience as they move across channels is, therefore, key to success in this omnichannel world.
5. Overlooking Personalization- the hidden ingredient to engage your customers
Solution: You need to build an insightful and personalized shopping experience that connects digital, in-store, and back office operations. You must adapt to constantly changing needs, and provide phenomenal customer service by leveraging the Next-Gen technologies and innovation. Consider offering more product selection and recommendations by combining the best of online and in-store shopping.
6. Not building immersive retail experiences
Solution: You need to elevate buying behavior by deeply engaging your customers through personalized retail experiences. Seek more control over store operations through automation and advanced analytics capabilities. You must provide your customers the adaptability to make a purchase in-store, pick up in other locations, or have it delivered to their doorstep.
7. Not calming your impatient customer
Solution As it turns out, intensely digital customers are also intensely impatient. They’re also not as wedded to digital experiences as we would like to believe. To retain this fickle and fast-moving group engaged, you need to focus more on dazzling them with superior digital service across all channels of interaction.
In Conclusion:
If you think the digital era is causing a disconnect between your brand and your customer, think again.
Too many companies squander the treasure that is customer feedback. Remember, customers feel disconnected when you fail to think through the degree of effort it requires to do business with them, you don’t provide user-friendly technology solutions, you don’t simplify every touchpoint and you don’t provide the personal touch. That’s what causes a disconnect between the two of you!
The solution is to get closer than ever to your customers and that too, so close that you tell them what they need well before they realize it themselves. Create a digital strategy that places customers at its center to drive innovation that they will value, and then operationalize the model consistently. Extraordinary digital connections can undoubtedly deliver extraordinary results.
