What is the Customer Experience?
The Customer experience is really the overall satisfaction you feel when using a service or purchasing a product, whether that’s online or in person.
Although the need or want for a product or service usually already exists, its the journey in which you get there. That is what really makes an outstanding customer experience stand apart from a really awful customer experience.
When a company really wants to make its customers experience the best it can be, they will ensure the process was effortless and enjoyable, which as a result makes them much more likely to return in the future!
In a nutshell it’s the customers accumulated impression of a company as a result of the interactions the customer has with their services, employees and products from the start to the end of their purchase. For a long lasting company customer relationship, like any relationship you need to build a meaningful, memorable and trustworthy experience.
How has the customer experience changed with the emergence of new technology?
If I were to ask a room full of people what content do they engage with the most on a daily basis, most peoples answer would be different I’m sure. But one thing we can all agree on is that people “make” content. By matching content to customers lifestyles and personal interests you can directly enhance their online customer experience. In the last 5 years the way in which we view content has changed so much.
With events such as Covid-19 affecting everyone globally, it has meant that increasingly we now consume content remotely and more interactions that would previously be face to face are now on the other end of some form of digital screen. In either desktop, laptop, phone, tablet form or even virtual reality.
One of the more significant changes particularly has to be the use of mobile devices and of course social media. This has shifted the market towards mobile and online led experiences. As a result you can now see companies using new techniques to deliver the best customer experience possible.
Some formats include live chat bots, personalised product videos, WhatsApp Support groups, virtual showrooms and more. Companies are heavily investing into the emergence of these platforms to ensure the consistency as much as possible across all sites.
Why is it important for Companies to embrace Online Social platforms?
With the massive popularity of digital channels customers now have so many more ways to interact with businesses through websites, Mobile apps, Social media, and messaging services. In turn this has enabled these businesses to analyse their customers behavior and preferences.
Having this information is vital so these companies can personalise the experience and deliver more relevant information. The market however is always changing so its worth looking forward to see where technology will be in the future.
One of the new exciting prospects is the rise of Augmented reality and virtual reality. People believe this will transform the way in which we as customers interact with products and services impressively.
This is designed to replicate a customers personal experience to make products more tactile and immersive, engaging peoples imagination. A lot of examples of this currently in the market would be use of Virtual Car Showrooms, Virtual Property walk through's, 360 pictures, Augmented reality, Social Media Shopping, QR Codes to give people a sense that they are experiencing these products in real life.
The Future Online Customer Experience
The Customer experience is constantly developing. Its mainly driven by these advancements in technology, peoples expectations and changes in Industry trends.
We believe at Performance in People that customer service has and always will be an essential part of the overall customer experience. Having accumulated more than 24 years of hands on experience, and more than 35,000 field based assessors out there on their own customer experience journeys, we are able to offer a unique insight into the industry that you can only accumulate by having a birds eye view of the UK Market.
We are always on the pulse of emerging industry trends and have recognised ways in which we can stay ahead of the curve. In a world where in a lot of ways everything has moved to an online environment that can have some downsides when striving to deliver the perfect customer experience.
For example, you wont receive the same human touch and genuineness from a chat bot online, but in some applications that may be more suitable to the level of service expected. I think the important thing is for these new technologies to be implemented correctly than for the sake of it to ensure a balance between virtual assistance and personal assistance.
The area in which we set ourselves apart from the competition at Performance in People is that we are able to offer businesses that work with us a Customers experiences roadmap.
Its one thing to implement changes to improve your customer service but if you aren’t able to receive feedback on these changes you wont know whether they are working or not. We are equipped with the skills to prioritise the customers journey. This provides us the insights that allow for targeted improvements to their customer experience whether that be online or in person.
In a very competitive market it’s important for companies to stand out and one of the main ways to do so is by offering an exceptional customer experience.
Now that we all have access to the internet at our fingertips, its vital for companies reputation to maintain this level of service as word of mouth now exists through social platforms. This has become the top priority for a lot of businesses now most interactions taking place online. It will be exciting to see where the industry moves to in the next year of the Online Customer Experience!
