Ever since the internet became popular, it appears like the world has begun spinning faster. Behaviors, expectations, and offerings are changing at a fast pace – too soon for many businesses to keep up.
One such behavior shift has been from customer service to customer experience.
Customer service is what you provide after a customer reaches out to your business. Customer experience is about how they feel when they engage with your brand at various touchpoints. Thus, while customer service is reactive, customer experience is proactive.
According to Walker Consulting, customer experience will be the key differentiator for businesses by 2020.
Customer Experience Quotes
Here are five customer experience quotes that will change the way you think about the concept and engage with your customers.
#1. “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” – Maya Angelou
In the age of transparency, actions speak so loudly that they drown out words.
Jeff Bezos defines a brand as what people say about you when you’re not in the room. This means your actions build the perception of your brand in your customers’ minds. When customers engage with your brand, they gauge whether it keeps the promises it made.
When your brand keeps its promises, existing customers feel that you care about their needs. As a result, they stick with you for long.
#2. “A customer is not dependent on us. We are dependent on him. He is not an interruption in our work. He is the purpose of it. He is not an outsider in our business. He is a part of it. We are not doing him a favor by serving him. He is doing us a favor by allowing us to do so.” –Mahatma Gandhi
Peter Drucker had said that the purpose of a business is to create a customer.
A business doesn’t exist because of the product, the people, or the process. It exists to serve a customer satisfaction. When you focus on fulfilling customer needs, you refine methods, enable people to make better decisions, and sell products that address their pain points.
Everyone’s paycheck – even that of the entrepreneur – comes from the customer. No wonder “Customer is king” is one of the most famous sayings in the business world.
#3. “Make your product easier to buy than the competition, or you will find your customers buying from them.” – Mark Cuban
Customers don’t want delight; they want easy.
In a survey, 89% of customer service heads said that exceeding customer expectations was their primary strategy. But 84% of customers in the same poll said that their expectations had not been exceeded in a recent interaction.
Delight means different things to different people, and it’s impossible to provide for everyone. Ease of doing business is a more straightforward metric to track and improve so that your customers stick with you.
Customers always look for minimum effort when they engage with a brand. If your competition offers a more relaxed experience, they will quietly jump ship and take their business with them.
#4. “Make the customer the hero of your story.” – Ann Handley
Your customers care about how the product improves the quality of their lives.
But many businesses and brands get so engrossed in explaining features and benefits to customers that they ignore this important aspect. The result is that customers either compare products based on price (leading to a price war) or choose a product that addresses their pressing needs.
Don’t sell a product; sell a way of life. If you sell consulting, show your customers how it helps them improve their business. If you sell a car, show them how it will increase their convenience.
When you help customers achieve their goals, they will help you achieve yours.
#5. “If we consistently exceed the expectations of employees, they will consistently exceed the expectations of customers.” – Shep Hyken
As a leader, your job is to empower your people to fulfill their roles in order to provide a positive customer experience.
Your people will only pay attention to your customers if you lead by example. Let every decision focus on providing a positive customer experience. Address your people’s concerns, enable them to make better decisions, and help them learn at work.
When your people have a positive experience at work, they will do their best to repay your faith in them by providing your customers with a positive experience.
Summing Up
The most important metrics for customers when they choose a product are whether it improves the quality of their lives in some way and how much effort it takes to engage with a brand.
Design your business model around providing positive and consistent customer experience, and you will get rewarded with long-term loyalty, profitability, and the means to scale your business sustainably.
3 Comments
Very well said Customer Experience is hottest referral for every business
Hello there! I could have sworn I’ve been to this site before but after going through a few of the articles I realized it’s new to me.
Anyhow, I’m definitely pleased I discovered it and I’ll be book-marking it and checking back regularly!
I am glad to hear this from you. Thank you for your review