Creating an excellent customer experience in your company is key in growing your business - it makes your brand stand out. This is why we've compiled our guide to creating a successful customer experience strategy for your business.

What is customer experience?

Customer experience describes the way the customer perceives their interaction with your company, including things like ads on social media, website usage, and online interactions, from targeted ads to social media posts and website navigation. However, customer experience doesn't just describe online interaction. It includes in-person interaction, whether they are in the same place as your customer service time or not (eg a call center or retail staff members). A third aspect is your product or service. Having a high-quality offer that meets customer expectations is likely to improve your customer experience.

Why customer satisfaction is important

If you can provide positive customer experience, they are likely to lead to returning or remaining customers. This will also lead to positive reviews and word-of-mouth marketing. A successful customer experience strategy is likely to lead to an increase in loyalty and customer retention, a positively connotated online and social media presence, a reduction in returns, and increased sales figures.

How to create a successful customer experience strategy

A good strategy for great customer service and experience is based on an actionable plan. There are a few points of action that you should prioritize in your strategy. This includes asking for feedback, use this to inform your product and services, have your customer service team respond promptly (particularly to customer complaints), personalise your product and service where possible, and don't solely rely on automated interaction with customers. Of course, there are my more aspects to superior customer experience. Use your customer requests and input to refine and personalize your strategy for customer interactions.

Metrics for customer feedback

• Net Promoter Score (NPS): This score quantifies customer loyalty, asking customers if they would recommend your product or service to a friend
• Customer Effort Score (CES): Customers can fill out CES surveys after an interaction with your business. These usually include questions such as how easily their issue was resolved by your customer service teams
• Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT): This score helps quantify satisfaction with your product or service - it works in a similar fashion to CES

How to create a successful customer journey map

It is recommended to create a map of the customer journey, based on customer feedback you've gathered. A map of a customer journey should be a visualization of the customer’s interaction with your company. It should include:

• Customer channels - Your customer experience map should showcase channels that a customer of your business passes through. A channel could be from online advertising to website to phone line.
• Pain Points - This is where you define areas of the customer experience that need improvement (eg long wait times)
• Positive Points - This describes the areas of customer experience your business is doing well in.
• Customer persona - Use your personas, developed through quantifying customer experience.

This map can inform your customer retention strategy. The map should be a living breathing thing, so remember to get regular feedback. The entire customer journey will have to be updated regularly to create loyal customers and meet customer needs. Your customer experience strategy defines how successful your business growth is likely to be.

It is recommended to create a map of the customer journey, based on customer feedback you've gathered.