Why You Should Care About Customer Experience Management

Shopping is an integral part of our lives. Whether shopping for clothes, for food, or even shopping while on vacation, we do it on a daily basis. As a creature of habit, I usually frequent the places I know, where it feels like they also know me. Whether it’s the design of the interior, the employees who know my name, or even the store’s stated official policies, there’s something about familiarity that enhances the shopping experience.

Places where you are known, where you are recognized and acknowledged, provide a level of comfort and make the experience more fun. Indeed, if I am traveling in a different city, I ask friends for recommendations on places that they have been to, or cool things they have seen. Having a referral to one specific place provides that level of trust and you feel more assured that it is the right place to find what you’re looking for. Additionally, should something come up, you may also get the sense that you will be taken care of. 

Regardless of what your company has to offer, this same principle applies: The experience that you provide to your customers will greatly determine whether or not they will return to your shop. No matter the level of innovation that your brand has to offer, the customer can make it or break it for you.

Optimization of the Customer Experience

The Customer Experience, or CX, is something which becomes much clearer to understand when we view it as a complete journey. From the moment the customer walks into your store or enters your website, until the moment they leave or disengage from you, the experience they have when interacting with you or your products is what will determine their overall satisfaction as a customer. CX is dependent upon a sum of parts which make up the whole customer journey and it does not simply fall upon customer service to determine the overall outcome of a customers’ satisfaction level. Like the product itself or its location in the store, customer service is a single piece of a much larger puzzle. That’s where CEM comes in.

Customer Experience Management, or CEM, is the process of monitoring, improving and taking note of the interactions that the client has with your business. Obviously, you want your clients to have the best possible experience. It’s just common sense that a happy customer is good for business. But it goes beyond that. From developing a friendly user interface for your brand’s website, to implementing various ways of receiving feedback from the consumer, CEM is paramount to your company's success.

It is for this reason that not only managing, but optimizing the customer experience is just as important as managing the brand itself. Whether it’s the customer being in the physical store, shopping online, purchasing a product, or inquiring about a service, this applies in all arenas. Understanding how your customers engage with your brand and tailoring the experience to meet their expectations is the essence of CEM.

The Consumer Impact on Your Brand

The process that we go through and the people that we interact with stick with us. More than that, they recommend us to others. So, if the shopping experience is not enjoyable, the customer doesn’t feel a connection and thus, will not feel inclined or obligated to return to that specific shop.

One customer can create a wave and introduce your business to a whole new client base. Each happy client has the potential to create more business for your company, providing high quality, free advertising in the form of brand advocacy. The benefits of a good customer experience extend across multiple channels. Good online customer service will lower your company’s bounce rate, which increases your conversions. Furthermore, a good in-person experience could be taken to social media to give you more endorsements.

The more aware you are of your company’s ins and outs, the more efficient your company will become. When you are continuously receiving feedback from clients, it gives your company tremendous insight in how to direct future growth. After all, hearing directly from clients is the easiest way to know what needs improving upon and what’s working successfully.

Consumer feedback comes in real-time and your management system should be designed to handle that. The easier and more efficient your company is able to catalog what your customers are saying, the faster you will be able to improve your products/services. Reaching the highest level of quality will only further increase the consumer satisfaction level. It’s a beautiful cycle of reciprocity.

Regardless of how your business approaches Customer Experience Management, it is an integral and largely beneficial investment that will prove its value time and time again. Established and growing companies alike have much to gain from monitoring and studying the experience that their customers go through. From personalizing the consumer reality to helping develop customer loyalty, the potential benefits of a high quality customer experience are huge for both the short term and long term goals. From the perspective of a business owner, consumer confidence in your brand is not only a priority, but rather a necessity. Combining an excellent consumer experience with superb customer support and an innovative product will catapult your business to amazing new heights.

This article was written by Yariv Mendelson, VP of Global Sales (excluding North America) at nanorep.