The importance of customer experience

We are probably going through one of the most atypical periods in the organisational world, where the experiences and habits that we have adopted over the last year and a half will make a real difference in the near future. With the current global economic scenario in crisis and the market stagnant, adopting creative strategies focused on customer needs becomes fundamental to ensure the success of any business.

In this sense, Customer Experience is associated with the perception that the organisation has of the market from the consumer. The watchword for those who work with this type of method is – and always will be – the customer, who should have the best experience possible from the moment of attraction to after-sales. In this way, we must look at the customer as an informed person with numerous needs to be fulfilled at the exact moment. It is imperative that we abandon communication that is not very agile, not very user-friendly, bureaucratic and traditional, otherwise we will not be able to respond to their real needs.

On the other hand, the online and offline spaces are tending, more and more, to mix, also ceasing to exist the traditional borders, because the important thing is that the contact with the client is valued, whether by internet, telephone or even in person. According to a study conducted by the Harvard Business Review, 40% of clients state that they would no longer be loyal to a company or brand with which they had a bad experience of support or service, which shows that this care and attention to the Consumer may be what differentiates a company from its competitors.

It is here that Customer Experience begins to gain importance, since it makes it possible to create various buying and selling experiences that increase loyalty rates, which makes investment in this concept a priority. But, for that, it is necessary that organisations bet on integrating the right tools so that they can obtain the results they want.

However, the biggest challenge for companies, which have their sales process sustained by fragmented tools and/or not sustained in the most correct way, is to want to radically change their software base to state-of-the-art tools. Much more than the question of technological development, all Customer Experience projects, to a lesser or greater extent, are Cultural Transformation projects. If companies make an intelligent management and articulation between the implementation of technologies with the necessary time that users will need to adapt, the probability of success of the Customer Experience project will be higher.

Benefits that the customer experience will bring to the business?

1. Greater knowledge of the target public – An organisation must always identify the customers’ profile in order to anticipate their needs and contribute significantly so that products and services are developed to meet their needs.
2. Improvement in customer service – It is essential that employees are focused on improving the quality of customer service. This is a requirement, as the team’s behaviour in supporting the buyer represents one of the main competitive differentials that a brand may offer.
3. Improvement of internal processes – For an organisation to present requirements of excellence when it comes to price, service, product quality and distribution channels, it is imperative that there is an internal alignment between the areas of sales, marketing and communication, production and logistics.
4. Customer loyalty – Providing differentiated service with promotions and tips by e-mail may be one way to strengthen the bonds between the brand and the customer. For that to happen, one must invest in communication channels that track consumer satisfaction rates and monitor the results obtained.
5. Optimization of resources – By identifying what pleases or does not please its customers, the company gains greater knowledge regarding the areas and products in which it should direct its main investments, potentializing good results and adjusting what can be improved.

We may thus conclude that Costumer Experience strategies are associated with several relatively simple, low investment solutions, with proven results and benefits for organisations and of quick implementation, without any constraint or need for service interruption. The pandemic has only accelerated the already existing need to update the consumer experience services of small, medium and large companies on a global scale.