Today’s marketplace mandates businesses not only offer quality products and services, but that customer experience (CX) is valued at every touch point. In fact, CX has changed the game in nearly every vertical. The better your CX, the more you will attract repeat customers, net high-quality referrals and get away with charging more for your offerings.
In fact, a recent Salesforce report found that 50 percent of consumers are likely to switch brands if a company doesn’t anticipate their needs; and 52 percent of consumers will switch brands if a company doesn’t personalize communications with them.
CX Tips
Need to beef up your CX? Here are a few tips to get you started:
1. Build It Into Everything You Do
CX isn’t just a tagline, or something you ask your employees to deliver on special occasions. In order to be successful, it needs to be part of the fabric of your company, talked about in every all-hands meeting and a major touchstone in your corporate strategy.
2. Focus on Fostering Genuine Relationships
Nextiva’s employees have been known to do things like send flowers to customers when they’re experiencing a difficult time, and to deliver bottles of wine for wedding anniversaries. From the day we were founded, back in 2008, our commitment to Amazing Service has revolved around creating and maintaining authentic relationships with our customers. It isn’t a gimmick, and our customers know it.
3. Anticipate Customers’ Needs
Check in regularly with your customers. Talk with them about other parts of their businesses, about issues/concerns that may not directly involve your solution. By doing this, you will not only get to know them better (and they will appreciate your interest), but you will likely learn how to anticipate their needs and help them solve for everyday headaches. Do this and you will have customers for life.
4. Spend Time Hiring and Retaining Top Talent
The root of all successful CX comes back to strategic hiring. Focus on retaining the best talent possible and then treating them like gold — every single day. Happy employees mean happy customers, which only helps your bottom line.
Republished by permission. Original here.
Customer Experience Rating Photo via Shutterstock
This article, “Beef Up Customer Experience with These 4 Tips” was first published on Small Business Trends