For any business operating in today’s day and age, paying attention to their customer or brand experience has become just as important as caring for the quality of their products or services. Any business owner who is familiar with the current market conditions will vouch for this observation since customers are growing more vocal about supporting businesses that offer a definitive brand experience. To the modern customer, the decision of buying a service or product is not limited to the purchase itself. That’s why brand experience is important to focus on for every business.
This is quite in contrast with how things worked just a decade ago. The average business didn’t focus as much on the overall customer experience itself as it did on its end products and services. But for better or for worse, this has changed dramatically since then. With the emergence of new businesses in almost every segment and an increasing dedication towards providing the best customer experience that they can, even older brands have to focus on this aspect more than ever. Today, this race to deliver a great customer experience has reached the point where a whopping 89 percent of businesses are focused on delivering a better experience to customers, as opposed to just 36 percent in 2010.
These statistics make you think exactly why customer experience is important and what you can do to meet its grueling requirements. To help you understand why brand experience matters to the modern customers and how you can deliver on this aspect, we have put together some information that defines why exactly customers put experience front and center these days. Learning about these details will help you shape your brand for success, and increase its chances of drawing loyal customers on a consistent basis.
1. Customers Care About What They Feel
Gone are the days when a customer’s only intent behind buying a product or service was to fulfill their basic needs and forget about it. Customers now pay immense attention to how a purchase makes them feel, how the company treated them during their transaction, and whether or not they would go back after the experience they had.
Simply put, it all comes down to how they feel after doing business with you. If the overall experience you provided to them leaves a pleasant note to their mood, your business earns brownie points in their book. But if the way you made them feel was anything but positive, then you could bid farewell to their repeat business just like that.
That’s why you should design your retail and online customer experiences in a way that makes your customers feel better about their decision to shop with you. Small changes matter in a big way here, and let you add that hint of joy to your customers’ overall perception towards your business.
Cutting processing times during ordering and service communication, making your customers feel appreciated with loyalty offers and discounts, and contributing to the world by giving back to society are all small changes that help your customers feel good about their decision to select your business for their needs. You could do a quick assessment of your business to understand what would appease your customers the most, and then take relevant actions that go a long way in defining better customer experience.
Learning why brand experience is important to make customers feel pleasant is very crucial to your success. Make sure not to ignore this aspect, and you will be able to see the results yourself.
2. It Helps Customers Distinguish Between Similar Businesses
It is important to learn why customer experience is important because it is one of the most crucial factors that help brands distinguish themselves from each other. With more competition in each business segment, it all comes down to how a business offers an experience that lasts for more than the duration of their purchase.
That is why, it is no surprise when out of the plethora of makeup and lingerie lines, Rihanna’s focuses on inclusivity stands out the most. Among the array of automobile brands, Tesla’s promise of electric cars has become most prominent. And amidst a variety of e-commerce solutions, Amazon still rules the market with its commitment to the fastest shipping in the segment.
All of this contributes to an experience that sets these businesses apart from their direct competitors. No matter how they are doing in terms of actual numbers, the customers swear by the experience they are provided with and leave their competitors in favor of these brands. This increases customer loyalty along with repeat business, and also helps you attract more customers through word of mouth marketing.
Happy customers usually don’t hold back from telling the world how their experience with a particular brand turned their day around – and why their friends and family should give the company a try. All of this goes on to show why brand experience is important, and why it deserves your utmost attention if you are to scale your business consistently.
3. It is the Deciding Factor Between Their Purchase
Overall, customers now look at the act of buying a product or using a service as an opportunity to evaluate their importance to the business. If their needs are being met and if the business’s interaction with them is on par with that they expect, then they will be quite happy with their experience. They will feel pleasant about doing business with your brand. This will also bring them back as a repeat customer, just so they could have a pleasant brand experience all over again.
But if the customer’s needs are neglected or if they are treated rudely, then their experience will turn around for the worse before you are able to do any damage control. They will not only cut their ties with your company, but they will also tell anyone they can about it. With the power of social media at their disposal, this has a more profound effect than sending emails in private conversation. You just have to look at social media practices to understand how customers have turned Twitter into the primary way to complain about a company and receive a better brand experience as a result.
Once again, most of this has to do with the level of competition that has grown around every business segment. Consumers now identify their right to switch to another option if the one they are dealing with isn’t treating them with respect, not appreciating their business, or avoiding the fulfillment of a service in a timely manner. These are some of the most important reasons why customer experience is important to maintain.
It is Crucial for You to Design a Brand Experience
Given that understanding your customers’ basic needs and designing a brand experience around it is not as difficult anymore, making use of this aspect is only prudent. It helps you stand out of the crowd when your potential customers are shopping around. When you actually deliver your services to these customers with an unmistakable focus on their needs, it cements your reputation as a brand that they would like to do business with again and again.
Keeping this in mind, make sure you are paying attention to delivering an optimal experience to your customers and understanding why brand experience is important for them. As a result, you can reap the rewards of this approach for years to come.