Sponsored by:
Renewal, Expansion and Advocacy:
Customer Success Strategies for 2023
Produced by:
MARKET VIEW 02
Raphaël Mazoyer
SENIOR DIRECTOR OF ALIGNMENT,
GLOBAL CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
Just because you think people will take actions in a certain order, doesn't mean they necessarily will.
How can businesses create positive moments for their customers?
Businesses must put themselves in the shoes of their customers. Observing, spending time with, listening to the people who use their products and services is the best starting point to create positive moments. You want insights that are grounded in customer needs, what the customer sees, what the customer understands, and how it's brought together in the mental model different customers might hold in their heads. From such empathy for the customer, you can then think about touchpoints and journeys. Just because you think people will take actions in a certain order, doesn't mean they necessarily will. You also need a reliable system for capturing customer satisfaction data to drive continuous improvements.
What is the most important factor in creating a successful customer experience?
Even with the best processes and people in place, changing customer expectations will always be a near-impossible task for businesses. Even if two customers are served at the exact same speed, one might be delighted with a quick turnaround while the other was hoping for something even quicker. This is why businesses simply cannot attribute customer experience to just one transactional moment. Instead, they need to consider a more holistic view of customer experience. In the case of restaurants, the quality of food, speed of service and cleanliness of the premises are just some of the factors that combine to make an overall customer experience. For some customers, they may choose to come back to a restaurant with slower service because they know that the food is going to be served piping hot every time.
Of course, making sure that a customer can achieve their intended objective is the first priority in creating a successful customer experience. Once that box is ticked, using their understanding of customers that we talked about earlier, businesses need to ensure that the customer’s experience is cohesive. This means that there is nothing that stands out negatively to the customer as they complete their objective. If you have a few “wow!” moments then that’s great, but cohesiveness and consistency in delivery are key if you want to create successful customer experiences time and time again.
Businesses simply cannot attribute customer experience to just one transactional moment.
You should prioritize new technology that will empower customers to engage with you in ways that matter to them.
How can firms prioritize which new technology to adopt?
There is a huge rush happening to acquire and utilize the latest technology. Artificial Intelligence in particular is the latest ‘must have’ for businesses. But more often than not, the implementation and application of the technology lacks any real meaning or value. As a real example, how many times have you engaged with an automated chatbot and found the experience frustrating? Having a deep understanding of your customers, as we talked about before, is essential before exploring any new technology. Once you have this insight, it’s important to think about the technology needed to meet customer expectations and then deliver positive moments. You should prioritize new technology that will empower customers to engage with you in ways that matter to them, but also have the capability and flexibility to keep up with customer expectations. If it’s taking you months to catch up with customer expectations on how they engage with you, then that’s not ok!
Raphaël is an experienced digital marketing and customer experience specialist. He has worked with leading brands such as McDonald’s and ASICS across Europe, North America and Asia. Raphaël is known for ‘getting things done’ whilst putting the customer at the heart of everything he does.