As a Customer Experience CX brand, insight6 specialise in all areas of customer experience with the aim of driving up sales and improving customer retention rates. If you want your business to survive and thrive in a competitive market, then focusing on your customer experience is
essential. But, before you do that, you need to understand exactly what customer experience is. So, what is it?
Essentially, customer experience can be defined as the impression and overall experience a customer goes through when presented and experiencing your service. In an ideal world, customers who use and interact with your brand, product or service will come away with a positive customer experience, if their expectations have been met through their customer journey (more on that later).
Why is customer experience important?
We can all think of positive and negative experiences we have had as customers. Good or bad, these interactions shape our opinions of brands, products and services we interact with. Ensuring your business delivers a positive customer experience does not only make your customer(s) happy but can also increase the potential of return customers and therefore revenue.
Here’s an example:
Let’s say you go to eat out at a local, family-run restaurant where the food was great,
the waiting staff were polite, and the overall experience was friendly and very positive. This is an example of a good customer service and experience, as the waiting staff went above and beyond to provide a positive customer experience, creating a lasting impression and improving the likelihood of a return visit.
Let’s compare this with a chain or corporate restaurant where the quality of the food is the same, but the waiting staff are disengaged and somewhat impersonal.
Although the waiting staff weren’t bad, they did not deliver an overly positive or memorable customer experience or a lasting impression. By this logic, you’re more likely to return to the family-run restaurant because your experience with them was positive and memorable.
We can all think of positive and negative customer experiences and this is why ensuring your business is providing a positive customer experience journey is essential. It is the difference between the sustained growth and development of your business and decreased revenue and a
declining reputation.
With online reviews now dominating people’s opinions before they consider, let alone investing their time and money in a service, ensuring your business has a great customer experience structure is now an essential practice.
What are the key components of customer experience?
At insight6, we provide six services that encapsulate the best possible customer experience:
1. Customer experience reviews
2. Training and development
3. Customer journey mapping
4. Online feedback
5. Focus & listening groups
6. Mentoring & coaching
More information on each of our six bespoke services can be found on our services page.
Alternatively, you can contact us via phone or email and one of our experienced customer experience consultants will advise further.
What is customer service?
Customer service is a branch of the overall customer experience. Simply put, customer service can be defined as the assistance and advice provided by the representative of the company to the consumer. Customer service is a direct interaction between buyer and seller, whether that’s via phone call, email or in-store interaction.
What is customer experience management?
One of our services at insight6 is to ensure professional and efficient customer experience management (CEM) is performed. It is a strategy that essentially organises all interactions through the customer journey to ensure the desires and requirements of your customers are met or even exceeded.
We use specialised CEM software to help analyse and collect relevant and necessary customer feedback to identify areas that may require improvement. Then, we are able to provide expert advice on how to improve customer experience through the insights obtained by our software.
What is the difference between customer service and customer experience?
Customer experience encapsulates the customer’s entire buying journey (which includes customer service).
Although customer service is a large part of the experience, it does not go into as much detail as the overall customer experience. To fully understand customer experience, businesses need to consider every step of their customer’s journey.
This begins with discovering and researching the service or product to shopping and buying the product, then using the product/service and finally reviewing their experience with your business afterwards. Every step will be assessed by the customer and their experience will shape their overall opinion of your brand and business.
This is not a ‘one time’ interaction like their customer service experience, it is the encapsulation of all touchpoints through their journey.
What is customer experience transformation?
Customer experience transformation is how a business creates internal structures and systems that impact on the customer and virtually transform the experience.
The transformation typically seeks to identify and improve areas of the customer experience structure.
What is b2b customer experience?
B2b (business to business) is the term given to a business that serves other businesses. Customer experience works the same way between businesses, and whether you are offering consultancy services b2b or serving an individual within a coffee shop, you still want to provide a great customer experience and journey.
What is a customer experience map?
A customer experience map is a visual map that outlines all the experiences and encounters a potential customer could have when interacting with your business’ service and/or product.
These maps are essential for identifying areas where you can improve and understanding how your customers interact with your product or service. The maps can be seen as a framework you can work off to improve your customer’s overall experience of your business.
For more information on customer experience, our customer experience experts are here to help you and your business understand how your customers perceive and interact with your brand. We provide professional advice on how to
improve their customer experience journey, from initial intrigue to purchasing the product or using your service to shaping their overall opinion and review of your business.
For more information on how our CX experts can improve your customer experience, please email or call us on the contact details provided at the top of this page.