Breaking down the formula for a great customer experience

In recent years, there has been an unmistakable shift towards the way contemporary support delivers an experience to a customer.

For example, the average consumer electronics company in the past couple of decades has seen sales rise and soar. But at the same time, many have compromised on their customer support for a better bottom line. This is true across most other industries as well.

As a result, the numbers show a clear divide in terms of loyalty of a customer based on the quality of customer support they receive.

What’s in a name?

Brand value is a weighty ask in today’s digital world. If people remember Apple more often than other consumer electronics brands, it’s because of their excellent customer support operation that backs the superior quality of products.

Unsurprisingly, while consumers are more forgiving when it comes to rookie mistakes, they expect more from a brand as it grows bigger. That’s another factor cementing Apple’s status as a true consumer brand.

Social conversations

One of the most important variables forming the customer satisfaction matrix is customer service. Consumers know when you provide good service. But they remember clearly when it’s bad. Fortunately, it’s the good ones that eventually become the topic of conversation at dinner, or on social platforms.

With instant access to the internet, people can always sound off their opinions on various forums. Keeping a keen eye out for any complaints is a vital responsibility of customer support.

Lifetime Customer Value (LCV)

The value of a customer to a business is a complex equation. Defined in terms of the revenue generated by customer in his or her lifetime, this draws on variables such as purchase cycle and average expenditure per visit. But it also depends heavily on whether you’ve pulled the right crowd to your doors. This is where brand building and reputation can play a major role in your bottomline.

Marketing right

An important message to put across to your base is that you care about them. In this regard, tying together your marketing and customer support teams can make the customer journey more enjoyable and yield unexpected results.

Sustainable customer support also means having a good digital presence – an easily navigable and effective website, meaningful social media interactions, keeping in touch with customers via mails, chat support, sending regular and updated brand information – everything to do with a successful marketing effort.

The final word

With emerging technologies and a rampant startup culture, the options are many for the average consumer. However, acquiring a new customer can cost up to 7 times more than it will to retain one.

The sweet spot for brands is to sustain your LCV while acquiring new customers. If you want to scale fast, make sure that you have the right team in place to support the size of market. If you feel they aren’t ready, you should consider settling for incremental sales while giving your customers a first class experience. After all, the customer’s perception is your reality.

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