Customer Experience: Why it Matters

Offering a great customer experience has become a key differentiator for businesses in today's competitive market. More than the price or the quality of the product or service, customers now place more value on their overall experience. In this article, we’ll explore why customer experience matters and how it can be used to achieve goals.

What is customer experience?

Customer experience (CX) is how your brand is perceived by your customers throughout the entire buyer journey. It can start once your customer sets foot in your store for brick-and-mortar establishments. Or the moment a customer service representative answers the phone and says their opening spiel.

Essentially, it takes into account every aspect of a customer's relationship with a company, which can significantly impact how the customer perceives the organization.

Train your teams to deliver great customer experiences with SC Training (formerly EdApp)’s free course library.

The importance of customer experience

Delivering exceptional customer experiences is essential for businesses looking to set themselves apart from the competition. A study by PwC found that 73% of consumers say that customer experience is a critical factor in their purchasing decisions. That’s why, 65% of customers say that they’d switch to a competitor if they had a poor experience with a brand.

On the other hand, a positive customer experience can lead to increased customer loyalty, repeat business, and positive word-of-mouth referrals.

It’s undeniable that customer experience has become a critical factor in business success. In this fast-paced and technologically-driven world, customers today now demand personalized, seamless, and hassle-free experiences. Companies that fall short of meeting these expectations highly risk losing their customers over their competitors.

Improving the customer experience

A major component of a great customer experience is making sure that businesses are meeting the ever-evolving needs of their customers. These needs include not just the product's quality but also factors like ease of purchase, efficient delivery, and accessible customer service. Here are some customer experience examples of how companies are improving customer experience (CX).

• Omnichannel Experience - Companies that offer omnichannel experiences can give customers a cohesive and integrated experience, regardless of the channel they choose. An example is having the option to shop online with the help of your ecommerce call center, in-store, or through a mobile app that offers a consistent experience across all channels.
• Self-help - many customers prefer to solve problems by finding answers on their own rather than wait on hold for a customer service representative. This is why companies that offer self-service options, such as online chatbots, help centers, and knowledge bases, can improve the customer service experience by offering consumers quick and easy solutions.

One good example is an extensive help center that answers FAQs and allows customers to track their orders and manage their accounts.

• Simplified Checkout Processes - Businesses that offer streamlined checkout procedures can enhance CX by offering clients a quick and simple checkout process.

An example is giving customers the option to complete transactions using just a few taps on their mobile devices through one-click ordering. This eliminates the need for customers to re-enter their payment and delivery details every time they make a purchase. Your customers can follow their purchases thanks to the customer facing display on your POS system, using multiple payment methods that are the most convenient for them.

Investing in Continuing Professional Development (CPD)

Employees play a crucial role in delivering exceptional customer experiences. It’s important that organizations empower their employees to go above and beyond in meeting customer needs and expectations. This can be achieved by giving them training, offering incentives for exceptional performance, and creating a supportive work environment.

If you want your customers to have a positive experience, you have to invest in it. One way to do this is to have your employees go through Continuing Professional Development or CPD. CPD refers to the ongoing process of learning and development that people undertake to maintain and enhance their professional skills and knowledge.

CPD can take various forms, including attending conferences and workshops, completing online courses, reading professional journals, and more. The primary objective of CPD is to make sure that employees remain competent and capable of delivering high-quality services in their respective fields.

A great way to implement this is when an employer invests in learning and development programs to help and actively encourages employees to reap the benefits of CPD. One easy way to do this is by investing in a learning platform with courses that your teams can take.

Improve Customer Experiences with SC Training (formerly EdApp)

SC Training (formerly EdApp)'s course library is the perfect go-to place for your team's training needs. With courses to empower customer service agents and customer care training, you'll definitely find something that suits your team's learning goals. Plus, they’re designed by expert instructional designers, making sure that they're not only informative but also engaging and effective.

SC Training (formerly EdApp)’s Creating a Positive Customer Experience is a CPD-certified course that you can deliver to your teams to improve customer experiences. This course gives an overview of how to create a positive customer experience by offering great customer service in the retail industry. It puts emphasis on the role that customer service plays in a customer's overall experience with a brand.

Additionally, it talks about customer service examples, the qualities of good customer service, the different ways to create good first impressions, ways to effectively interact with customers through small talk, and engaging them by using the power of smile, showing empathy, etc. Overall, it teaches why customer experience matters and how to deliver great experiences.

With SC Training (formerly EdApp)’s mission to democratize learning, courses can be edited and customized for free to match your organization’s brand and tone. SC Training (formerly EdApp)'s creator tool is designed to help you create engaging and visually appealing lessons, so your learners can better understand and retain your training content.

It also offers customizable templates, where you can easily create well-designed microlessons that align with your company's training goals and standards. This way, you can rest assured that your learners get a high-quality learning experience that's both effective and enjoyable.