Customer experience — positive experiences make the difference

What is customer experience?

Customer experience (CX for short) is the overall experience that customers have when they interact with a company or with its products and services. It covers all points of contact between customers and companies — from the search for information, to initial contact, to purchase and beyond.
What makes for a good customer experience? A positive customer experience is created through seamless and personalized interaction that meets the needs of customers and makes them feel valued and understood. They are then impressed by the performance of a product, for example. Or from an attentive customer service employee who takes time to address your problem. Or about how quick and easy it was to order.
The goal of CX is to strengthen customer relationships and create long-term loyalty. Because CX shapes the way customers perceive a brand. And that has an effect on factors such as customer satisfaction and -Binding from — up to company turnover.

Why is a good customer experience important?

Customers today not only have a whole range of options to choose from — they can also find out about a company and the experiences of other customers with just one click.

That's why it's important to give them an exceptional experience. Good CX makes customers feel valued and taken seriously. A positive overall experience confirms to them that they have made the right decision with the company's product or service. They feel they can rely on the company. In this way, companies can use CX to set themselves apart from the competition and also achieve long-term success.

Because a good CX increases the chances of enthusiastic new customers becoming loyal customers who are also happy to recommend the company to customers. And that is exactly what it is all about: creating trust and building long-term customer relationships.

Examples of a good customer experience

But what exactly can an excellent customer experience look like? We have two examples for you:

Springlane: An immersive online experience

Springlane is an online shop for kitchen appliances and cooking accessories. As an online shop, the company focuses on an optimal digital customer experience. An important aspect is the user-friendly design of the shop. This offers customers various features, such as the ability to read reviews from other buyers, watch helpful content such as product videos and around the clock via a chatbot to receive assistance. Ordering yourself is also easy and uncomplicated — with just a few clicks, an item is purchased and various payment options, including express options, are offered.

In addition to the shop, the company also offers its own recipe platform. In the Springlane app, customers can browse through numerous recipes, create their own cookbooks and receive appropriate content for the purchased product. Springlane magazine also provides the latest recipe tips and guides for various products. The company is also active on Instagram, presents recipes and products and provides customers with questions and feedback.

The company observes the customer satisfaction accurate and also receives feedback and ideas from customers regarding the products as part of its customer surveys. We will look at why this is important for measuring and optimizing CX in the following article.

Springlane therefore offers a well-thought-out customer experience along the customer journey and is present for its customers on all relevant channels.

IKEA: Well-thought-out overall experience

IKEA invests a lot in customer experience, both in IKEA stores and online. The IKEA feeling in the branch is probably the most effective part of the customer journey. It is a prime example of how a visit to a shop can become a holistic excursion experience. From the beautifully furnished sample rooms, to the strategically located cafeteria and hot dog station, to the children's paradise. There is something for customers of all ages. Both in the furniture exhibition and in the market hall, there is a clear journey (keyword: arrows on the ground) so that customers can orient themselves well.

And IKEA also focuses on customer experience in the online sector. Customers have been able to configure their kitchens or PAX cabinets online for a long time. With the help of augmented reality, they can now also see how IKEA furniture looks in their home — even before they buy.

Measure customer experience

The customer experience doesn't have to be a blind flight. Companies can (and should) measure how good their customers' experiences are. It is important to take a holistic perspective and to consider all touchpoints between customers and companies.

Here's what you can do if you want to determine your customer experience:

• Analyze customer satisfaction: An important indicator of customer experience is customer satisfaction. The Net Promoter Score (NPS) is one of the most important indicators in this area. The score measures how likely it is that customers would recommend a company based on their experiences. The NPS can be measured through customer surveys. Ideally, you should measure customer satisfaction after various touchpoints in the customer journey. This allows you to see where you may still need to improve customer experiences and where things are already going well.
• Determine customer loyalty: Anyone who has a good experience with a company is likely to remain loyal to it. By analyzing how much your customer loyalty is, you get another piece of the puzzle of your customer experience. To do this, you can use the Customer Lifetime Value key figure, for example.
• Consider customer service: The experiences that customers have when they have a problem or a question are often the decisive ones. For example, check how long an average contact with the customer service takes time and whether there are recurring problems with support requests. This will give you information about your experiences in critical situations.
• Review the purchase process: If customers repeatedly abort at one point in the ordering process, this indicates a problem in the customer experience. Therefore, analyze customer behavior on your website. This allows you to uncover potential problems.

5 tips on how to improve the customer experience

1. To create a seamless and optimal customer experience, you must first use Customer journey understand what your customers are going through. To do this, create a customer journey map and visualize the points of contact that customers have with you. Think about how you can create a positive experience at each of these points.
2. Make things as easy as possible for your customers. Simplify Order processes, make returns easier by sending return labels directly, or make it easy for customers to find their way around their stores (IKEA, for example).
3. personalize You — where possible — the communications with your customers. The prerequisite for this is a central customer management tool that collects all data about your customers and previous interactions. Modern marketing Automation Tools help you to address customers in an individualized way.
4. Rely on innovative tools such as chatbots. These improve the customer experience through quick answers, personalization, 24/7 availability, error prevention, and data analysis. Even though AI chatbots Do not solve every problem in the world, offer (potential) customers an uncomplicated, first point of contact, and solve problems directly or register and pass them on. Either way, the customer feels seen and heard.
5. Ask your customers for feedback Be it as part of customer satisfaction surveys or by asking them what you want with regard to new product features. That shows them that you're really interested in their opinion.
   Tip: Even with a chatbot Customer satisfaction can be proactively surveyed.

How chatbots improve the customer experience

Let's take a closer look at how chatbots can optimize the customer experience:

• Quick and accurate answers: Chatbots can answer customer inquiries quickly and efficiently without the need for manual intervention by an employee. As a result, customers can get immediate answers to their questions and feel better looked after.
• Personalization: By collecting customer data, a chatbot can provide personalized recommendations and answers. By responding to the customer's needs and preferences, a chatbot can improve the customer experience and increase satisfaction.
• 24/7 availability: A chatbot is available 24/7. This improves customer support and makes customers feel that the company is always there for them.
• Data analysis: A chatbot can collect and analyze valuable information, such as which questions are asked most frequently or which problems arise again and again. With these insights, companies can continuously improve their customer experience. Companies also get exciting Insights in the behavior of their customers: How is something asked? Which terms are used? Are there specific topics that depend on time and time of day?

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conclusion

Positive CX comes from seamless and personalized interaction that meets customer needs and makes them feel valued and understood. It can help companies stand out from the competition and achieve long-term success by strengthening customer relationships and creating long-term loyalty. At a time when customers have almost endless options, an excellent customer experience is essential for companies.

Would you like to find out how AI chatbots can help to sustainably improve the customer experience? In our free e-book, you will get insights into how artificial intelligence is successfully used in customer service and how customer-centric orientation can be achieved thanks to chatbots. 👇