In today's competitive marketplace, businesses need to do more than simply offer great products and services. They also need to provide an exceptional customer experience. The world has and will continue to change at hyper speed. The environment we once operated in has expanded beyond direct and in-direct industry comparisons, as customers, employees and stakeholders now function in a world of ‘liquid expectations’, when customer experiences seep over from one industry to an entirely different industry. Consider how clients increasingly evaluate the way their airline flight cancellation is handled against their most recent online retail transaction and compare their last physician visit to a visit to that of their local coffee hang.
As customer experiences with any product and service category affect how customers and employees experience said products and services in other categories previously thought to be unrelated, all businesses need to add new dimensions to how they understand and define their brand experience, continually re-shaping offerings for shifting expectations reclaiming control of the experience, fostering loyalty and even passion for their brands.
This means creating a seamless and enjoyable experience for customers and employees at every touchpoint (interaction), from the moment they first learn about the business to the moment they make a purchase or use a service.
At Brand Anthology we have developed a range of customer experience programs across several industries that have successfully enhanced the customer and employee experience whilst improving the profitability of organisations. The Brand Anthology customer experience loop model helps to identify touchpoints and moments of interaction. Rather than a linear approach from awareness to purchase to loyalty the loop model unites liquid expectations between brand experience whilst acknowledging each stage of the loop is not mutually exclusive and that customers and employees may transition through multiple stages at any point in time based on their prior experience with the brand and industry.
Experience management is a holistic approach to listening to the voice of customers, employees, and other stakeholders and using the knowledge, understanding and insights to design and improve the experiences your business delivers. It’s used by organisations to launch new experiences based on powerful market research to uncover unmet customer and employee needs, and then to continually optimise those experiences as their market and their stakeholders’ needs change.
At Brand Anthology we believe experience management should be integrated into the entire organisation, from product and marketing teams to fulfilment, customer care, HR, finance and frontline staff, everyone in the workplace today is responsible for designing and delivering experiences that make a difference to the bottom line of the business. Experience management is designed to provide everyone across the organisation with detailed insights and recommended actions to play their part in delivering world-class experiences to both customers and employees.
To help you think about getting started with your organisation's customer experience program, Brand Anthology have developed a CX strategy framework that is supported by key factors.
Key factors supporting successful CX strategy:
Business strategy alignment - your CX strategy needs to align with that of the organisation's aspirations, overarching purpose, strategic initiatives, and quantified business goals.
Leadership commitment - from CEO to middle management, in creating excitement and engagement all functions of the business are engaged.
Customer experience culture - prioritise strategies and practices that create positive experiences for their customers and employees through their communications, services, and products.
Customer experience ready organisational design - ensuring that the business has the cross departmental resources in place.
Customer experience ready systems, processes, technology - enabling your business to collect the right data, measure customer satisfaction and organise customer information.
There are many benefits to focusing on experience management. For example, businesses that provide a great customer experience are more likely to:
Increase sales: Customers are more likely to do business with businesses that they trust and enjoy interacting with.
Retain customers and employees: Businesses that build strong relationships with their customers are more likely to keep those customers over time.
Generate positive word-of-mouth: Customers who have a positive experience with a business are more likely to recommend it to their friends and family.
Attract new customers and employees: A positive customer experience can help businesses to attract new customers who are looking for a great experience.
Reduce costs: Businesses that can reduce the number of customer complaints and returns can save money on customer service costs.
A powerful methodology that can help you improve your customer experience is the customer journey mapping tool. A customer journey map is a visual representation of the steps that a customer takes when interacting with a business. It can be used to identify the different stages and touchpoints that customers have with a business, the rational, emotional and societal aspects that they experience at each touchpoint, and the pain points that they encounter.
By understanding the customer journey, businesses can identify areas for improvement and make changes to create a more positive and engaging experience. For example, a business might identify a touchpoint where customers and employees are experiencing frustration. The business could then make changes to that touchpoint to make it more efficient and user-friendly.
Customer journey mapping is a valuable tool that can help businesses to improve their customer experience and achieve their business goals. Here are some of the benefits of customer journey mapping:
Improved customer understanding: Customer journey mapping helps businesses to understand the customer journey from the customer's perspective. This understanding can be used to identify areas for improvement and make changes to create a more positive and engaging experience.
Increased customer satisfaction: Customer journey mapping can help businesses to identify and address the pain points that customers are experiencing. This can lead to increased customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Reduced costs: Customer journey mapping can help businesses to identify and eliminate unnecessary steps in the customer journey. This can lead to reduced costs and improved efficiency.
Improved decision-making: Customer journey mapping can provide businesses with valuable insights that can be used to make better decisions about product development, marketing, and customer service.
Experience management is an important strategy for businesses of all sizes. By focusing on the customer experience, businesses can increase sales, retain customers, and generate positive word-of-mouth. Customer journey mapping is a powerful tool that can help to understand the customer journey, identify areas for improvement, and create a more positive and engaging experience for their customers.
If you’re looking for ways to improve your customer experience, the team at Brand Anthology are ready to help you on your journey. Contact us today and let us help you grow your business - call Stephen on +61 (0) 402 399 211 or sd@brandanthology.com.au
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