How do you build the best customer experience?

How do you build the best customer experience?

From a billboard along the highway to stepping into a store, from an email with the latest products to a live chat with customer service, customer experience (CX) is the sum of all interactions a customer has with your company. Because these experiences -- both off-line and digital -- shape a customer’s perception of your brand and their likelihood to tell a friend about your organization, companies that build the best customer experiences are typically leaders in their industry.

Here are a few ways your firm can build the best customer experience.

Create the ideal customer experience

When you understand your customers and you’ve listened to their feedback, design the ideal customer experience. Walk through the entire digital buyer’s journey from start to finish and identify obvious pain points. Then design the ideal customer experience.

Enhance customer experience by going omnichannel

As customers increasingly expect to receive outstanding support across multiple channels, like phone, chat, and social media, one important way to build the best customer experience is to offer omnichannel customer service.

Establish a customer experience management program

Customer experience management (CEM) is the process of designing, managing, monitoring, and refining all customer touchpoints so they are consistent with each other and provide customers with an optimized experience. Creating a CEM program will allow your company to not just build the best customer experience, but regularly review, refine, and improve it going forward.

Know your customers

To build the best customer experience, you must know your customers. Who are they, what are they trying to accomplish, what questions do they have, and what frustrations are they experiencing? Based on putting yourself in their shoes, how can you help?

Let customers help themselves

Most modern customers want to be able to help themselves. After all, would you rather wait in line for an agent to answer your question, or would you rather search for and quickly find an answer? Deliver on your customers’ wishes by making as much information as possible available online. Build out your frequently asked questions (FAQ) page and publish user guides that provide step-by-step instructions.

Listen to your customers

Companies obsessed with customer experience make it easy for customers to provide feedback. And, just as importantly, they review and embrace the feedback provided by customers. To build the best customer experience, regularly review all customer feedback and use it to guide improvements that matter the most to your customers.