Boost Engagement and Loyalty With These Customer Experience Tips

We dress up for interviews, send formal thank you notes, and show up early on the first day. When starting something new, we make an effort to give a great first impression. This is the mindset you should have when greeting potential customers. As a brand, you want to set a good first impression so that new customers are more likely to continue the relationship. In today’s marketplace, consumers have more choices than ever. Making a good first impression through a stellar customer experience is essential to retention and engagement. How can you make sure you provide the optimal first impression every time?

Dive Deeper: If You Don’t Have a Customer-Obsessed Culture, You’re Losing

4 customer experience tips that lead to greater customer loyalty

The surest way to provide a great first impression to every customer is to heed these four tips.

1. Know what your customers want, and bake this into your CX strategy

The challenge of providing a consistently engaging experience is a challenge for many brands.  This is especially true in the age of technology, in which much of the communication with a customer is done online. It is important to maintain a level of human touch and personalization to ensure a connection with your customers. When surveyed about the most important aspects of a positive customer experience, 80% of Americans listed speed, convenience, knowledgeable help, and friendly service. These four factors should be the top priorities when working on your customer experience strategy. Companies like Netflix and Spotify meld these factors seamlessly into their interfaces. Both use artificial intelligence to recommend new content that each customer might be interested in based on their listening or viewing history. Many e-commerce retailers do this too with items “you may also like.” This level of personalization takes customer needs into consideration while adding engagement opportunities for the company.

2. Make your value proposition clear

You want your value proposition to be immediately clear to potential customers. In a saturated business market, providing this information makes it easy for users to understand the ways in which your company is superior. Customers will be attracted to your services or products if you prove that you can fulfill their needs. Just like in the first tip, understanding who your customers are and what they want is the preliminary tip. Then, you must be able to provide a high level of personalization, so that you can truly cater to each customer’s individual needs. This is among the most important customer experience tips, as it is fundamental for maintaining a loyal and engaged customer base.

3. Make your website navigable and intuitive

As more and more shopping experiences take place online, a great UX has become fundamental to solid CX. A website, app, or platform that is easy to navigate is important for adoption. On the other hand, sites that lack intuition and have complex interfaces often send customers away. By making your website navigable and intuitive, you can bridge the gap between a customer and the information they seek. We know that customers want knowledgeable help in a timely manner. By incorporating a self-service solution that offers on-screen guidance, you’ll empower customers to be self-sufficient and find the information they need on their own. This improves customer satisfaction and lessens the pressure on your support team. Automation is still gaining traction in the CX realm. When reaching out to a company, 71% of Americans prefer human interaction over an automated chatbot. While technology shouldn’t completely replace the human touch, its ability to support a more seamless customer experience can be a much needed benefit.

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4. Make sure your digital products and services work well the first time

Just about one-third of consumers will give up on a brand they love after one bad experience. And, a little under half of consumers will cut ties completely after several poor experiences. Given the options customers have, it is so important to make sure you are providing a phenomenal customer experience right off the bat. Many times, companies include a trial or unpaid period for a customer to try their product. This is a crucial window to ensure that your product works perfectly. If there are glitches, the prospect may never become a paying customer. After experiencing glitchy behavior, 79% of users will only retry the app one or two more times. This window of adoption, as customers first engage with your company, is the most critical. Setting a good first impression can set you apart from the competition and help retain both your new and veteran customers.