Good Stuff Happens in 1:1 Meetings: Why you need them and how to do them well
5 Essentials of Customer Experience Management
1. 5 Essentials of Customer Experience Management
There are times when your customers complain of delayed service, miscommunication, no one
taking responsibility for a mistake or long wait time for getting their issues resolved. Customer
experience management is vital for planning and organizing the things that count for a pleasant
customer experience. It will help you in understanding your customers’ expectations and come
up with solutions for impending issues that your customers are likely to encounter. Having
empathetic and emotionally intelligent staff onboard will help you in managing the customer
experience more meticulously since understanding the customers’ mindset and relating to their
situation is the first and foremost element of customer experience management. Have a look
at the five essentials of smart customer experience management!
Put Yourself in the Customers’ Shoes
Without knowing and understanding your customers’ needs, expectations and state of mind
you cannot really offer them the very best. So the first thing that you need to focus on while
managing the experience is to put yourself in the customers’ shoes. Understanding your
customers’ expectations would help you modify the experience accordingly. If you have a
diverse customer base, do a bit of research on their demographics and psychographics. This will
give you valuable information that can be used to understand their buying behavior. Knowing
your customers’ preferences would give you an added advantage, you can work on making your
service more prompt, better, personalized and friendly.
Accept Your Mistakes and Fix Things in Minimum Time
A positive and helping attitude is vital for managing customer experience. For instance if you
own a home accessories store and a customer walks in with a defective product, instead of
giving excuses such as, “ it is the salesman’s fault or let me forward your complaint to the
concerned department”, own your mistake and apologize for it. You should teach all your
customer service staff to take responsibility for things and be proactive in resolving issues. A
customer should not be made to wait for an annoying time when it comes to a complaint or an
issue. A really bad customer experience can be turned into a memorable one if you have the
right attitude and willingness to set things right.
Communicate with Your Customers Proactively
Taking the lead in managing your customers’ experience involves interactive communication.
Keep your customers posted about any changes in your business hours, prices and store
locations. Send them e-mails before your new product launch. Inform them about your
upcoming ventures, sales, discount deals and other offers. If there is a service issue, you should
let your customers know beforehand. Managing the experience based on your customers’
feedback would get you more happy and contented customers. Ask your customers about their
shopping experience with you and take their suggestions for improving it, this way you will be
able to enhance it for new and existing customers.
2. Keep a Track of Your Social Media Pages
Your customer experience management should include keeping a check of your social media
pages regularly. There would be customers talking about the flaws of your service all over social
media without notifying you that they left unhappy. For instance, a customer posts on your
Facebook page that the CSR was rude and he/she left without buying anything, you can rectify
that negative customer experience and check on your staff’s attitude. Keeping a track of the
comments and tweets on your social media profiles is important for evaluating your brand’s
image. Moreover, social media channels can be utilized in building personal connections with
customers and improving PR.
Make Yourself Available to Customers at all Times
If a customer wants to make changes to his/her online order and has to fill a form and wait for
hours until someone gets back to him/her, that customer is not likely to shop from such a brand
again. Customers prefer easily accessible businesses, so that they can talk about their concerns
and share their thoughts whenever they want. For effective customer experience management
you need to make yourself available to your customers around the clock. You should give your
customers the convenience to contact you anytime whether they want to know about the
features of your new product, change their appointment time or delivery location. Efficient
customer support is likely to make the experience memorable for customers, so make it an
essential part of Customer Experience Management.