How to Deliver a Successful Customer Experience? 7 Steps

Customer experience is a topic we will keep hearing about over the next few years. Companies are increasingly aware of the importance of pleasing their customers, but above all, of exceeding their expectations. When several companies offer a similar service, how do you stand out in the eyes of consumers and promote your offer among many others? By optimizing your customer experience to maximize customer satisfaction. However, it may seem easier said than done. Indeed, for some companies, the concept of customer satisfaction can seem very nebulous. That’s why in this article, we’ll offer you some ideas and examples to explain how to deliver a great customer experience. Without further ado, let’s get started!

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To know how to deliver a great customer experience, you must first master the concept of customer experience!

What is customer experience? Definition of the customer experience

According to marketing.com definition, the customer experience is in fact “the set of emotions and feelings experienced by a customer before, during and after the purchase of a product or service. It is the result of all the interactions that a customer can have with the brand or the company.’’ In this sense, from the moment you have a commercial relationship with a customer, they live a customer experience with your brand. Globally, the customer experience is the experience of a customer right from the start of the process of purchasing a product or service, but also extends to the post-purchase moment when the individual uses your products or services. The experience of a customer impacts customer satisfaction. The more positive the experience, the greater the satisfaction and the more the customer will be ready to recommend you to those around him. Deliver a great customer experience definitely to your advantage!

To this end, the concept of customer satisfaction is not new. As early as the 19th century, the maxim “The customer is always right” emerged. This was first mentioned by Marshall Field, a company executive at the time. In 2021, hundreds of years later, it’s more important than ever to prioritize the well-being of your customers by delivering a great customer experience. Today, there are a multitude of technologies that can help deliver a great customer experience.

Dimensions of customer satisfaction

1. The cognitive dimension (Linked to reasoning)

Following a customer experience, the consumer begins a process where they assess whether the experience has been positive. When the client evaluates the experience from a cognitive point of view, he validates from a rational point of view whether the product or service purchased fulfills the initial need. He will be able to see if it is useful on a daily basis and if it meets the prior expectations. To measure the cognitive dimension, it may be relevant to create a customer satisfaction questionnaire containing a question relating to satisfaction in relation to the product or service.

Here is an example that may apply to a facility providing care:

On a scale of 1 to 5, how would you rate satisfaction with the treatments received?

• Very satisfied
• Satisfied
• Neutral
• Dissatisfied
• Very unsatisfied

2.The affective dimension (linked to emotions)

When we talk about the affective dimension of the customer experience, we are really talking about how the customer felt during the buying process and the post-purchase experience. The Customer Effort Score (CES) is a metric that is part of the affective dimension. In a customer satisfaction questionnaire, you might ask how easy it was to do business with us throughout the process? If the customer felt that it was difficult to contact you, that your employees seemed irritated to answer the various questions, it is very likely that they give you the score of difficult when they describe their overall journey with you. This is a summary perception and he will think about how he felt when he did business with you. It’s not surprising that an emotional dimension is part of the process of evaluating your customer experience, because your consumers are above all humans living with emotions. Keep this in mind when thinking about how to deliver a great customer experience.

3.The behavioral dimension (Related to behavior)

The behavioral dimension of customer satisfaction is a factor that should not be overlooked when it comes time to think about how to deliver a great customer experience. Following the customer experience, what behavior will the customer have in connection with your organization? Several possibilities remain: the customer can buy your product again if the customer experience was successful, he can speak for or against your brand depending on how the customer journey went, etc. To measure the behavioral dimension, you can ask a question related to the Net Promoter Score (NPS), that is, the probability that the customer refers you to someone they know. Here is an example of an NPS question: How likely are you to recommend our services to a friend or family member? This will allow us to see if the customer experience was positive based on the likelihood of referral.

Knowing the dimensions of customer satisfaction allows you to know how to deliver a great customer experience as a result.

The importance of the customer experience

Optimizing the customer experience is essential to ensure the sustainability of your organization. In a context where the vast majority of companies do not have a monopoly in their industry, they face competitors. The customer experience is what sets you apart from others and what will ensure customer loyalty. The more loyal your customers, the more it will increase the Customer Lifetime Value of each customer, which will generate more revenue for you. Optimizing your customer experience will have a direct effect on the bottom line of your organization. In this sense, knowing the importance of knowing how to deliver a great customer experience, how do you get there? Let’s explore the subject!

How to deliver a great customer experience? The key steps

Step 1 : Understand the needs and issues of your customers

How to deliver a great customer experience? By caring about the needs of your customers first. The basis of any business is to offer a product or services that meet needs. For example, a mattress store fulfills both the need for sleep and for comfort. However, it is important to dig a little deeper than the basic needs that seem striking and to validate with your target customers what needs your offer meets. As you discuss, you might discover other needs that are not met by your current offer, but which could be considered in the future. To understand the needs of your customers, several methods can be used: sending questionnaires by email, sending questionnaires by SMS, face-to-face, or even virtual discussion groups: the possibilities are numerous! In these interviews, qualitative data will allow you to seek feedback that will allow you to improve your customer experience, both in terms of the product and the services offered by your team. The “job to be done” theory confirms the importance of understanding the needs of your customers: people don’t buy a product, but why they need your product/service. In this sense, your competitors are all companies fulfilling this same need. According to this theory, it can be said that most companies have a lot of competition, which reiterates the importance of standing out. Understanding your customers’ issues will undoubtedly be at the heart of the winning formula when it comes to knowing how to deliver a great customer experience.

Step 2: Measure the state of your current customer experience

To do better, you have to know where you stand now. How do you know how to deliver a great customer experience if you don’t ask your customers what they think of your current practices?

Setting up customer satisfaction questionnaires, containing questions related to CES, NPS and many other types of questions will give you concrete customer feedback. Moreover, we must not forget that the work of your employees has a huge impact on the customer experience. By obtaining feedback from your customers in a questionnaire, you will be able to get a good idea of ​​the service offered by your staff. You will be able to rectify certain practices or address certain issues with the people concerned if necessary.

Either way, measuring satisfaction in relation to your current customer experience is essential, otherwise, you will deliver a great customer experience and engage in optimization tactics that are not based on actual customer feedback. The danger would be to embark on projects based on assumptions and not facts, which can lead to a waste of time and money, which is not desirable. How to deliver a great customer experience? By first measuring the state of your current situation!

Step 3: Make conclusions from your current situation

Once you’ve gathered feedback related to your current customer experience, it’s time to take some big insights to deliver a great customer experience. Summary dashboard, official team meetings: there are many possibilities for centralizing this valuable information and drawing great lessons from it.

By taking an inventory of comments received, you can categorize everything based on recurring comments. For example, if several comments were noted in relation to the speed of responses to customer issues, it is very likely that this is an issue worth discussing. This will allow you to prioritize this type of issue in optimizing your customer experience.

Categorizing the comments received will be a very rewarding strategic exercise to see what needs to be improved. How to deliver a great customer experience? The key is to make big statements about your current situation by questioning your customers about their current satisfaction.

Step 4 : Optimize your practices by raising awareness among your teams

Once you’ve categorized your comments in relation to customer satisfaction, it’s time to optimize your practices! Several solutions may be available to you depending on the nature of the comments received: optimization of your product through research and development, training of employees to improve the quality of service, reduction of certain steps if the current deadlines are too long, etc. Once the leadership of your organization has decided on the elements that will be optimized, be sure to present them to your teams. Thus, you will be able to share common objectives with your teams, since each employee should have customer satisfaction as a priority.

To motivate your teams, it can also be interesting to reward your employees if certain objectives are reached. For example, if the NPS score and customer satisfaction improve over the next year, a one-time team activity will be organized to thank everyone. This kind of initiative can help motivate your teams to improve the customer experience. It’s up to you to see if this kind of idea applies to your organization. Either way, the overall idea of ​​this tip is to educate your teams about the importance of applying your optimization tactics. How to deliver a great customer experience? By making sure you involve your teams in your strategy!

Step 5: Personalize your approach according to the type of customer

Customer experience is not about one size fits all. Each customer is a unique individual. Keep this in mind when thinking about how to deliver a great customer experience! Although there are some common needs that categorize your customers, it’s important to give importance to each individual, otherwise, your customers will feel like a number. Making every customer feel important is at the heart of a good strategy when considering how to deliver a great customer experience!

The creation of personas can be a relevant exercise in order to define a strategic approach to personalization. For example, for a renovation company, if one of your clients fits the persona aiming to renovate a house to bring it up to date, you will not take the same approach with a persona who wants to renovate their home. house to fix water damage. The mindset of these two personas will be totally different and your customer service should definitely adapt to these two specific scenarios. For example, someone who wants to renovate their home from a purely aesthetic standpoint may be less nervous and rushed than someone who needs to quickly renovate their basement to meet insurance standards.

Personalizing the customer experience will allow you to tailor the service you offer and even exceed the expectations of your personas. Empathizing with each type of persona is essential in order to deliver a great customer experience. If you are wondering how to deliver a great customer experience, keep personalization in mind!

Step 6 : Get the right tools

These days there are plenty of tools to help you deliver a great customer experience. Whether it is technologies in your point of sale or on the web, there are several options.

If you have a hair salon, for example, having software that allows you to confirm the appointment and send reminders can positively contribute to your customer experience.

If your customers criticize you that your phone line is constantly busy, consider implementing an online chat tool on your website.

On a more global level, if you want to survey your customers to find out their level of satisfaction, some tools like the InputKit customer experience solution can allow you to send customer satisfaction questionnaires based on specific events, such as example the purchase of a product. This web solution allows you to consult a dashboard showing you the average scores obtained for each type of question asked. It is also possible to send feedback in real-time to your targeted employees so that they can adapt based on the feedback received. How to deliver a great customer experience? Using the right tools can definitely help!

Step 7: Continually optimize your customer experience and don’t take your customers for granted!

Optimizing the customer experience shouldn’t be a finality, but a lifelong job. It is essential to talk to your customers and remain open to opportunities for improvement at all times. You are not immune to a new competitor or potential controversy that could damage your reputation. In this sense, establishing a culture of continuous improvement is a practice to adopt now. Making the effort at this level will pay off in the long run! You have to see optimizing the customer experience as an investment!

Finally, we hope you will find this article useful to deliver a great customer experience. In summary, how do you deliver a great customer experience? First and foremost, you need to take the time to understand the needs of your customers. Next, you need to measure your current customer experience to learn big lessons from this feedback. Then comes the time to optimize your practices based on the comments of your customers and then you have to communicate everything to your teams. The personalization of your tactics is also a key element that should not be overlooked. Finally, by using high-performance technological tools and by ensuring that you continually optimize your practices in place, you ensure that you deliver a great customer experience that will stand out from the crowd.

If you’re wondering how to deliver a great customer experience, know that the InputKit experts can guide you by recommending the right tools. Contact us for a personalized demonstration without obligation!