What makes a good customer experience?
March 2008
Customers that have a positive experience are four times more likely to recommend a company or renew an existing relationship
US consulting firm ServiceXRG has released a report that examines how the web is changing the way businesses engage with customers and the impact on-line interactions have on shaping customer perceptions of companies.
While companies generally agree that a good experience is something to strive for and a bad experience is something to avoid, they find it’s not always easy to provide the experience customers need or expect.
Key findings and observations from the study include:
As more customer interactions shift to the web, a company’s opportunity to influence customer perceptions about its brand, its products and its services increasingly occurs on-line.
Customers know what they want to accomplish on-line, but do not always know how to achieve their desired outcome. A positive on-line experience typically occurs when a site helps a customer firmly establish what they want (e.g., a product to buy or technical assistance for a product they own) and then provides the guidance and resources to help them achieve this goal.
As self-service transactions replace personal interaction, the burden for the quality of the customer experience shifts to on-line tools and content. Lack of good content or hard-to-find resources quickly undermine the opportunity to offer a positive experience. Effective tools and content are essential to lead customers to their desired outcome.
When customers and prospects cannot find what they are looking for on a site, there’s a good chance they will look for it elsewhere on-line. If a company can’t satisfy its customers, there’s a good chance its competitor will get the opportunity to do so. Not only does the company risk losing customers and prospects to other sources of content, it also loses the ability to control the on-line experience and influence customer actions and behaviours.
Content is king; it is the main reasons customers go on-line for technical support, product research, and shopping. Today, many customers report that the content they need does not exist, or if they do find it, the quality is less than they expect.
This article is written by Marcus Austin and sourced from www.internetretailing.net
