In highly competitive markets, consumers demand real value and exceptional experiences in return for brand loyalty. Businesses need to continuously raise the bar on how well they understand the customer and meet their needs. This becomes more challenging as technology and social business are evolving rapidly, which means organizations need to adapt quickly as consumer expectations change. The following five strategies can help companies understand how to design customer experiences that build brand loyalty and win new business.
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Look at the big picture |
Before you start making improvements here and there, first make sure you really understand your customers’ experience with your business as a whole. Customers see you as one company; they don’t care if you operate in silos, they want a seamless experience from one touch point to the next. Start by “journey mapping” to gain a complete picture of the customer experience across all interactions with your company, as well as their lifecycle of interactions over time. For example, how smooth was the sale process? What kind of continued support have customers received, if any? Do you know their preferred channels of interaction and are you making that easy for them? Are you tailoring new offers to meet their unique needs? Are customers demonstrating their satisfaction by recommending your brand to others?
Taking a holistic perspective helps you focus on optimizing the entire customer journey, rather than isolated touch points. To gain insight, be sure to look at both structured data (e.g., transactions, surveys) and unstructured data (e.g., call center transcripts, social media) as this can uncover connections between interactions across your company, and help you understand how to create an “end-to-end” optimal customer experience. |
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Listen first, then take action |
![]() Make sure your VOC efforts align with key business objectives to help ensure that any improvements you make will generate measurable value for your customers and the business. For example, to acquire more profitable customers, you can use predictive analytics to define targeted segments based on purchase and interaction patterns, preferences and feedback, and then deliver highly tailored experiences and offers that are most likely to appeal to those customers. |
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Think global, act social |
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Build a customer-centric ecosystem |
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Define metrics: Lather, rinse, repeat |
![]() Once you’ve got answers, keep refining the customer experience to meet evolving needs, and keep measuring the impact of your changes. Don’t just focus on measuring volume; be sure to track the impact you’re having on how customers feel about your brand, and look for clues on how to make the right offers at the right time. |
By taking a holistic perspective on the customer journey, and nurturing a customer-centric culture, your organization will be well-equipped to deliver the experiences and value that keep customers coming back, and reduce the cost of acquiring new business.