In today’s globally competitive marketplace, being customer-centric is not enough. We know customers demand brands provide an experience which makes them feel special in return for their loyalty. The reality for most companies is that they are still looking at customer experience from a product or service lens.
Research shows that approximately 80 percent of brands believe they offer a unique product or service – something that clearly differentiates them from their competition. However, only about 10 percent of customers agree with that assessment. So, what is missing? The way people connect to brands has changed.
Today it’s not only about the product or service a company provides. To deliver outstanding customer experience, you must have your employees engaged and passionate about their work. By making employees feel like a driving force behind your company’s mission, you’ll provide customers with something uniquely valuable. Employees believe in a mission with purpose and customers feel a sense of belonging as they co-create value with the brand.
In the ‘connected age’, companies collect an incredible amount of customer data, and yet still end up with mediocre customer service scores. This conflicts with the marketing concept that more customer data creates more personalised experiences and greater satisfaction.
With so much investment and resources going into innovation, be it artificial intelligence, machine learning, or big data, brands have tended to put their focus and energy into perfecting the science and technology aspects of it, but not the science and intuitiveness of ‘human behaviour’.
While all this tech is great to have, the real value differentiator is in understanding people. Creating an experience based on shared value that engages brand loyalty is the way forward.
What matters:
- Investing in employee experiences as much as customer experience
- Empowering your employees to co-create with customers
- Stating company values as behaviour, socialising and reinforcing values throughout the company to embed it in the culture.
- What will set you apart is the ultimate experience of your individual customers.
