Improve customer experience? Then focus on service and convenience

The quality of your product or service is top notch, the offer fits seamlessly with the wishes of your customer and there are few complaints. Yet customers 'only' give your organization a 7 when you ask afterwards about their general experience. You don't get it, what else can you do to improve the customer experience? Don't worry, you're not finished yet. Your customer probably misses that extra bit of service and convenience.

Your customer's expectations are constantly changing

Customer expectations continue to evolve. Your customers are better informed than ever before and know what a good customer experience and customer journey should feel and look like. They no longer compare a company or brand with your direct competitor. Your customers compare their own customer experience with the best they have ever had at any organization or brand.

In the past, service and convenience were considered competitive advantages. Now they are fundamental to taking the customer experience to the next level.

Bad customer experience? Switching is easy

Whether it concerns banks, insurers, telephony or other companies. If customers have a bad experience, there is a chance that they will switch to the competitor. And that is expensive for your organization. The graph below shows per generation what percentage of customers switched in 12 months due to poor communication from a brand or organization.

Communication with your customers is therefore essential to offer customers a positive customer experience. No customer wants to search for an email address or other contact information for a long time. In addition, your customer expects various digital channels through which they can get in touch with your organization. This development has accelerated 'thanks' to the pandemic.

Customers are fed up with slow, complex and impersonal interactions with your organization. Especially if there is no option to move to a physical store or office. Technology has therefore become an important instrument in the entire customer journey. As long as an escape is offered to a live person who has the information from the previous interactions.

Service and convenience are fundamental to a good customer experience

So if you as an organization want to offer a good customer experience, you should not only take into account the wishes, priorities and feelings of your customer. But also with service and convenience. These two focuses are more essential than ever before and are becoming increasingly important. In the past, service and convenience were considered competitive advantages. Now they are fundamental to taking the customer experience to the next level.

Remember that good service can be an experience in itself. Because let's face it, no matter how good your experience in the store of your favorite brand is, if customer service does not respond or responds slowly to your question, it can significantly affect your experience and general impression.

All interactions you have with your customer are of course important. But the digital interactions you have with customers are perhaps the most important right now.

Digital customer interaction as an important part of the customer journey

All interactions you have with your customer are of course important. But the digital interactions you have with customers are perhaps the most important right now. Partly because more and more contact is taking place online and people are getting used to this. So respond as an organization to this change and need.

Companies with a customer-oriented culture and that see digital interaction with customers as a top priority generally have very happy customers. How does that happen? Because they offer their customers extra service and convenience.

Digital customer interactions include live or asynchronous customer contact via e-mail, a contact form on your website and messaging apps. Or an interactive, personalized video in which your customer can determine the content or arrange matters without leaving the video. There are so many opportunities there to improve the customer experience. As long as they fit within the total customer journey.

The most important trends

In the coming weeks we will share the latest trends in digital customer interactions via our website and LinkedIn page. Consider, for example, asynchronous communication, voice + chatbot and the cookieless era. We won't reveal more yet... Don't want to miss any of these trends? Sign up below in the footer for our email updates or follow us on LinkedIn to stay up to date.

A few extra tips that you can already do something with:

• Ensure clear and personal communication towards your customer.
• Always provide a quick response in every interaction.
• Provide competent, pleasant employees who are ready when the customer cannot resolve the issue themselves.
• Don't lose sight of the human side and contacts.

* The translations on this website are provided by G-Translate from Dutch