What does customer experience mean?
Customer experience, also known as CX, means the whole perception of the customer regarding a brand or a business. To put it in other words, the way customers feel and act when shopping from inside a store.
The experience of a customer is built by every interaction they had with your business or brand. It is a cumulative process which means that providing good customer service once or offering a deal once in a while is not enough if the overall experience is negative.
Every single action you do that impacts the customer directly or indirectly has an impact on their experience.
Why is customer experience important?
Offering a great customer experience is vital for all businesses and brands. This is because customers are starting to appreciate experiences much more than simple products. If a brand makes them feel great, tells a great story, or offers great customer support, customers will appreciate it which leads to customer loyalty.
Customers are willing to pay more for a better experience and they will end up buying from a different brand if they had a bad experience in the past.
However, a single bad experience with a brand or a business can convince a customer to never shop from that brand or business again. Also, as you know, customers are more vocal when they had a bad experience than when they received a good product or service. Bad reviews on social media or review platforms can affect the reputation and image of your business.
How to provide a great customer experience?
The most important thing when designing a customer experience strategy is to know and understand your customers. If you don’t know what your customers expect from you, then you won’t know what to provide.
Apart from knowing your customers, you need to be willing to receive and implement feedback from them. Their feedback will help you improve the quality of your services and products which will eventually lead to a better customer experience. When it comes to your customer, you need to go the extra mile and offer them the best.
How to measure customer experience
It is easier to measure other KPIs like customer acquisition cost or customer lifetime value than measuring CX. This is because every customer is unique and their experiences will differ from one customer to another.
The best way to measure customer experience is with regular surveys via email or inside the store. People can complete a short (emphasis on short) survey after they made a purchase from your store. You will be able to see if they liked the products, the customer service, the attitude of the employees, and the overall shopping experience.
