Improving Your Customers' Experiences

In website design, there is a factor known as UX, or user experience. It categorizes how easy a website is to use for the average visitor. In a business, however, it’s not just the website that matters. Customer service, maintaining social media while offering quick responses, and the customer’s journey from discovery of the product to purchase all factors into a business’ success. Improving the customer experience across the board improves a potential customer’s view of your company, making them more likely to make a purchase or utilize your services.

 

The Customer Journey

In order to improve your customers’ experience, you first need to look at the customer’s journey. This describes how a customer goes from awareness of a product to eventually buying it. Mapping it out means you can create a faster sales cycle by addressing pain points. Mapping it out can help you identify problems customers are having, giving you a starting point for addressing anything slowing down a customer.

 

From here, you can make choices based on your business and the customers’ journey. Perhaps they can’t find the right service — or are not even aware of all the services you offer. Maybe they are unsure your product is the right one compared to a competitor’s product. Addressing these questions is the first step towards improving the customer experience.

Social Media

Today, customer service often comes in the form of social media. On Facebook, for example, you should have your business hours listed as well as the best method of contact. If you have someone monitoring the Facebook page for messages, especially over Facebook Messenger, even better. The key is to answer questions quickly.

 

Social media can also be used for more than answering questions. Anything from a Tweet to a Facebook post can be used as soft-sell marketing, which can entertain potential customers. This enhances your branding, entertains your customers, and in turn improves their perception of your company. Their overall experience improves as a result, even if they are only entertained, and you are taking advantage of proactive marketing instead of simply using reactive marketing.

 

For example, Arby’s Facebook page posts photos of geeky creations, appealing to a specific demographic and enticing them to eat at a fast food restaurant that knows their audience. 

Seek Feedback

Another method for figuring out how to improve a customer’s experience is to simply ask them. Solicit feedback, which can be done through social media, as well. What did they like about the experience of shopping at your business or utilizing your services? What were they less than impressed with?

 

Seeking customer feedback on their experience means you can improve their experience next time. You might even get as simple feedback as, “No one wiped down the table,” if your business offers food. If someone got sick at your restaurant, something that happens to 1 in 6 Americans every year, they could splash it all over social media. This, in turn, will result in a domino effect on social media, and a growing negative sentiment in customers.

 

Some of the best customers to ask are those who have already bought your product or service. Have a conversation and listen to what they have to say about your company.

 

What additional challenges have they encountered that your company can address? Are there new or alternative products or services that better suit their needs you can offer now or in the future? Listening to this feedback and taking action improves your relationship with current and possibly returning customers, improving their experience.

 

Improving your customers’ experiences with your product, service, and company overall is no small feat. It takes time, research, interaction with customers, and executing a solid strategy. However, once implemented properly, you are likely to see more customers who engage positively with your company.

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