Two unknown people get to know each other from one of their common friends. Get hooked on their first meet, numbers exchanged, and conversations began. Started spending time together, for several days at different places, yet enjoyed each other’s company a lot. All went well, and get together.
Looks like a cliche love story?
Well, it’s not. Reread it from a perspective of a business owner and your customer.
The same story looks like a journey your customer goes through before making a purchase and finally becoming the advocate of your business. From being unknown to becoming an advocate, your customer follows a journey. In this journey, they get in touch with multiple people through various touchpoints but expect the same experience.
As per McKinsey & Company, 70% of buying experiences are based on how they are treated. Even 67% of customers consider a bad Customer experience as the reason to leave a brand. That’s why to deliver a delightful experience to your customers; you need to focus on optimizing your customer’s journey.
Here are the five ways to optimize your Customer Journey –
1. Customer Feedback is your magical tool
Before improving at something, you need to know what’s lagging. Your customer would be the best person to help you out in this journey of discovery. Your customer’s feedback can help you find out what they feel about your services, products, and how is their cross-channel experience.
96% of unhappy customers don’t complain to you but will tell 15 friends. Therefore it is said that your unhappy customer is your most prominent teacher.
Why is Customer feedback important?
- It makes your customer feel they are being heard.
- To find the loopholes in your current customer journey.
- The areas to focus on to improve the customer experience.
2. Map your customer journey
Customer journey mapping is a strategic approach to understand your customer’s expectations. Once you get an idea of the customer’s expectations, you can better tailor the solutions to create a seamless experience. In addition, the mapping of your customer journey helps you navigate through all the stages your customer goes through.
Today’s customers are aware and intelligent; they want their brands to be the same. They expect a personalized approach and omnichannel support from brands. In addition, 84% of consumers like to be treated like humans rather than just a business lead. Journey mapping plays an essential role in matching these expectations.
Why is Customer Journey mapping critical?
- Optimizing your Customer onboarding process.
- Bridge the gap between expectations and reality.
- To unify the differences in expectations when customers move from various stages of your journey.
3. Focus on providing Cross Channel Support
Customers have become smart today. Before buying anything, they indulge themselves in heavy research. They can read blogs on your website, contact you through email, or even enquire about a specific product or service through social media. Cross-channel support is necessary for customers to feel well treated at every touchpoint.
In a survey, 83% of consumers state that they’re likely to move from one channel to another to understand a brand better, but only 50% of businesses support such cross-channel interactions. The CMO Club report says that 55% of companies have no cross-channel strategy, which ultimately hampers the customer experience.
Why is Cross Channel support important?
- It provides a seamless experience throughout the Buyer’s journey across multiple channels.
- To improves the customer experience through Personalization.
- The brand remains omnipresent for customer help.
4. Follow Brand guidelines
It is usually referred to as brand presets, which means following a specific visual appearance that remains constant everywhere. By following the brand guidelines, in your tone, content, graphics, etc., the customer can instantly recognize your brand across any channel and feel a consistent experience.
Whether your customer is interacting on the website, social media handle, email, or physical shop, you can deliver a similar experience across all touchpoints by following the brand presets. It is a simple yet effective way of amplifying customer experience across the channels.
Why brand presets are essential?
- To give a parallel visual experience across channels.
- A sense of familiarity with the brand.
- To maintain the branding aesthetics.
5. Use Data for Personalized experience
More touchpoints mean more data. As you interact with your customers on various channels, your data set keeps on increasing. This data can be used to provide a personalized experience to your customers. Even 80% of customers are more likely to purchase a product or service from a brand that offers personalized experiences.
The products a customer likes, the type of content that triggers them, their response based on their interactions on social media can all be tracked easily. Creating a personalized experience based upon this data can help you to create an unparalleled experience for your customer through their buying journey.
Why using data for personalized experience is essential?
- The customer expects a personalized experience from brands.
- A customer feels special through a personalized approach.
- It enhances the customer experience and makes your brand stand out.
The organizations that invest in providing a similar experience to customers across the customer journey optimization retain 89% of customers, compared to only 33% for those that don’t.
That’s why investing in improving customer experience is essential for brands in the 21st century.
A single mistake can ruin your customer’s experience, and it takes 12 positive customer experiences to make up for one negative experience.
Don’t make that mistake.