How to Create a Customer Experience Strategy

Everyone has a happy memory of a time a business went above and beyond to help them. Whether it’s a retail assistant that saved Christmas with spot-on present recommendations or a hotel that made an anniversary truly special by dressing a room to perfection. 

These happy memories are at the core of what businesses try to achieve with their customer experience strategies. It makes sense that a customer that had a positive experience with a business is more likely to visit again in the future. 

Developing a strong customer experience strategy can be the difference between a business failing or succeeding. To create positive customer experiences, we must first define what customer experience actually is. In this blog, we’ll explore this topic in detail and tell you how to create a seamless customer experience. 

What is customer service experience?

In short, customer experience refers to the overall impression you give to your customers when they shop with you or use your service. Whether it’s a good or bad impression, customer experience affects how your customers and the general public view your business. 

Generally, a company with a good customer experience will be more successful than a company with a bad customer experience. While it can be difficult to predict consumer behaviour, people will usually prefer businesses that put the extra effort in. 

The two basic tenants that make up customer experience are people and products. Your customers should find your products or services useful and high-quality. Your people (your staff) should be attentive and helpful. Once you get these two tenants right, the rest will fall into place. 

Why is customer experience important for a business? 

In the interconnected world of today, consumers have more and more options for how they shop. This has shifted the power dynamic in favour of the public as businesses now have to compete for attention in the face of declining high streets and increased levels of internet shopping. 

Providing your customers with a memorable and world-class customer experience is perhaps one of the most important things you should do to stand out. After all, a happy customer that feels like they have been looked after is a loyal customer. 

Loyalty breeds repeat business and repeat business is vital to the continuing success of a business. Customer loyalty is priceless. By adapting to this new custom centric landscape, you can build a stable customer base and position yourself for prosperity. 

How to create a good customer experience

What makes a good customer service experience? In this section of the blog, we’ll answer that question by taking a look at some simple strategies that you can implement in your own business.

Create a customer journey map

A customer journey map represents how your customer interacts with the business. It tracks the experience of a hypothetical customer from when they walk into the store to when they leave. By building this out, you can identify what’s working and what’s not so that you can better adjust to your customers’ needs. It’s important to note that these maps cover all aspects of your customer-facing processes including your social media and your website.

Build a buyer persona

A buyer persona is a term that’s become very popular over the last couple of years. In essence, a buyer persona is a profile you build of your average customer using research you’ve compiled yourself. It described their buying habits, what their lives may be like, their age, and any problems they may need to solve. It serves to help you better understand your customer on a deeper level and ensure your business is meeting their needs. 

Establish a connection with your customers

This point is quite self-explanatory. By establishing a genuine connection with your customers, you can effectively build customer loyalty. Think about what your customers want, where they live and work, and their shared values. Combining these insights with friendly service and a connection should form naturally. 

Ask for feedback and act upon it

A good business owner should always be aware that there are things they can’t control about their business. An outside perspective can offer a much-needed glimpse into how your business is being conceived by the public. By asking your customers for feedback about their experience business, you can identify what’s working and what needs adjustment. It’s important to act on the feedback you receive so that your customers can see the effort you’re putting in. 

By incorporating these four simple steps into your business strategy, you can build a great customer experience. 

How to measure customer experience

Now that you have the basics of a customer experience strategy implemented, you may be wondering how you can measure customer satisfaction. Here are a few simple suggestions on how you can measure the success of your new strategy. 

• Customer Surveys - By asking your customers to complete regular surveys, either in-store or via email, you can get a solid grip on how your customers feel about the business. Take care not to ensure that you don’t ask your customers to do surveys too often as this could have the opposite effect and damage your customer experience. 
• Understand your customer churn - Customer churn refers to when you lose customers. It’s an unavoidable part of business, but if your churn rate is high than normal, it’s an indication that something about your company is turning customers off. Identify whatever the reason may be and eliminate it as soon as possible. 
• Analyse customer requests - By opening a dialogue with your customers, you can build a better picture of what they want. It’s important to identify any trends in customer requests as this can give you an insight into what your business is doing right and the areas it still needs to improve in. 

Improve customer experience even further

A simple way to improve customer experience is by using an EPOS system that allows you to produce transactions quickly and efficiently. The Epos Now Complete Solution stands head and shoulders above the competition. 

Let your point of sale system handle things like sales trends, customer profiles, and loyalty programmes. 

With Epos Now, you can also:

• Create personalised email communications using set templates
• Schedule emails and SMS messages to be sent at the most impactful time of day
• Review analytics on engagement with your website and outreach 
• Save customer contact details and shopping preferences for more targeted marketing on our CRM system
• Integrate with the business automation apps that are right for your business

If you’d like to know more, get in touch with our team below.