The customer’s experience can be described with six CX pillars: Personalization, Integrity, Expectations, Resolution, Time and Effort and Empathy.
Customers need to perceive the company as a safe, trusted environment. Fairness must be one of the company’s governing principles, actions need to match the words, and promises made to customers must be fulfilled. A company gains trust not only through its public attitude and presentation – small things and actions of individual employees are important, too.
“My experience with the company is negative because they just showed me, once again, that all they do is try to extract money from people. They always focus on one thing and then they talk about it over and over again. Even if you don’t need it, they will always try to push you into signing something.”
When a problem that needs to be solved occurs, it does not have to be the end of the world. It all depends on how the company chooses to approach the issue. Those among the best come prepared and have procedures in place that will make the customer feel good even after a negative experience. And sometimes, the company even wins some extra points in their customer’s eyes.
“I travel with them often and I never had any problems. On our last trip, my husband left his cane in the train. I contacted them, and they informed me that they had it, so we arranged a time and place for us to come pick it up.”
When we buy products or services, we inevitably have certain expectations about what we are going to get. Apart from trying to understand and fulfil customer expectations, the company should also be able to actively manage and set these. The difference between what customers expect and what they actually get is crucial.
Of course, customer expectations are mostly shaped by previous experiences with the top brands. Nevertheless, setting and managing expectations well will allow the company to predict the customer’s expectations, which will, in turn, yield the best results.
“I have set up a savings account with them. I am always happy with their attitude – they’ll call, set up a meeting, and explain everything.”
Customers usually want their needs satisfied as easily and as quickly as possible. For a company, showing that they value their customers’ time and energy is always a good thing. Pointless effort of an employee or a customer is always unprofitable, so it is necessary to motivate employees to minimize the effort required from a customer. As an added bonus, the company will not only save time, but money, too.
“This company is really good at communication. I really appreciated their online chat, they were very helpful and accommodating.”
Customers do not want to feel like another face in the crowd. They want to feel like they matter, like everything is being done just for them, and personalization is just the thing you need to make the customers feel special. Put into practice, it means addressing them by their name, knowing their preferences, and understanding their specific needs. High levels of personalization can be achieved both online and offline. Of all six pillars, this is the one that is key to building customer loyalty.
“I’ve been to this restaurant – they were very accommodating and adjusted the dishes according to my requests.”
If a company and its employees manage to convince customers that they understand them and know how they feel, then they have just laid a perfect foundation to building a lasting relationship and great customer experience. Empathy is especially important because a strong, positive emotion will last for a long time.
“My mother, who had a severe health disability card and a mobility allowance, passed away. The employees treated me with great respect and professionalism in this difficult time when I had to arrange the termination of benefit payments.”