Five tips for delivering a great customer experience

A positive customer experience is a fundamental prerequisite for business performance. Satisfied customers will not only be more loyal, they will also be much more likely to recommend the product or service and share positive reviews. On the other hand, a negative customer experience can damage a company's brand image and greatly affect its business performance. So how can you improve the customer experience in your company?  

1 - Analyse the customer experience

First of all, take the time to carefully evaluate the customer experience at each step of the purchase process: pre-purchase, online order, in-store purchase, delivery, use, after-sales service, etc. What are the sources of dissatisfaction? What are the main dysfunctions and areas for improvement? Is a profound transformation necessary? Is the customer experience aligned with the company's culture and values? Is the brand customer-centric? This initial assessment will provide an overview of the quality of the customer experience, and allow you to deploy targeted actions to improve it.  

2 - Know your customers well

It is hard to offer a good experience to your customers if you are not familiar with their expectations and needs. To better understand who your customers are, you could create personas by asking yourself a number of questions about your typical customer: who are they? How old are they? What is their family, professional and socio-economic situation? What are their tastes, interests, expectations and needs? What communication channels do they use, and what are their consumption habits? What are the potential obstacles in their purchasing decision? CRM (Customer Relationship Management) software is an essential tool for analysing customer data and improving the understanding of customer needs.  

3 - Personalise the customer relationship

Personalising the customer relationship is a powerful driver for improving customer satisfaction and better retaining customers. Proposing tailor-made offers, high value-added content, personalised messages, promotions, gifts, etc. allows a company to create a real emotional bond and a long-lasting relationship of proximity and trust with its customers. It is also vital to communicate well with your audience via social networks, mailings, chatbots, etc. First and foremost, this will enable you to answer questions and respond to requests or complaints. However, it is also a way to encourage customers to provide feedback and to encourage positive word-of-mouth, both on and offline. Customer testimonials and reviews are extremely valuable for enhancing your brand image and attracting leads. Whether they are positive or negative, it is important to individually respond to them.  

4 - Offer an omnichannel path

In today’s world, offering a multi-channel customer journey is essential if you want to remain in sync with consumer habits. This requires the implementation of efficient digital channels, including an ergonomic and intuitive e-commerce site, and contact points (stores, call centres, etc.) with welcoming and available staff. The digitalisation of points of sale is another highly beneficial approach with regard to the customer experience. As well as simplifying and speeding up the act of purchase, it also facilitates the collection of data that can be used to improve the customer experience.  

5 - Readjust your offer

To provide a good customer experience, you should regularly analyse KPI such as the abandonment rate on your e-commerce site, and the number of complaints or product returns. It is also important to collect customer opinions on a regular basis through satisfaction questionnaires and surveys. This will allow you to precisely pinpoint the causes of dissatisfaction and to remedy them efficiently using targeted actions: improving the efficiency of your after-sales service; improving product quality; accelerating delivery times; changing packaging; renewing your brand identity to create a stronger and more impactful message; carrying out a digital transformation; offering relevant content; optimising and accelerating the supply chain, etc. Last but not least, it can be strategic to call on the expertise of an interim manager if you are looking to benefit from a fresh perspective and to successfully enhance the customer experience. This high-flying manager or executive intervenes directly within a company to identify any flaws and activate the levers necessary to offer exceptional customer experience.