Every marketer wants to enhance the “customer experience.” Whether that’s improving customer service or enhancing brand messaging, this all-encompassing term is made up of the countless moments and interactions each person has with your brand. In other words, there’s a never-ending number of ways that marketers can improve the customer experience, and no single tool or strategy will be able to accomplish all of the heavy lifting.
But when aiming to create an optimal customer experience, there are three factors that marketers can always focus on: being quick, clear, and kind. Even if each of these goals are only improved upon by a small margin, they will have a major impact on creating a coveted customer experience.
What is a coveted customer experience? As Jay Baer shared in Magenta Friday, it’s when customers are willing to give you the benefit of the doubt. No brand, and no marketer for that matter, will be able to have a flawless performance 100% of the time. A coveted customer experience denotes a relationship that is so stable and strong that even when there are a few bumps on the road, customers are willing to give brands that rare second chance.
Be Quick
For two-thirds of customers, speed is as important as price. And in this economy, that means a lot. Quickly responding to queries and or helping them troubleshoot—even if that just means telling them to restart or unplug something—is worth its weight in gold to customers. In their eyes, responsiveness equates to respect, motivating them to show the same to the brand.
When brands fail to quickly respond, they risk alienating their customers forever. As an extreme example, Amtrak took 205 days to respond to a customer, Amanda, who was stuck in their elevator.
Though Amanda was able to find her own way out, Amtrak’s accidental and untimely response unfortunately went viral, spotlighting their inability to respond to her in time. Situations like these are challenging to bounce back from, highlighting the paramount need for brands to prioritize being quick with their customers.
Be Clear
For today’s customers, uncertainty breeds anxiety. They’re used to always being in the loop, with everything in real-time and diagramed. As customers have evolved in this way, brands must meet those new needs and close any uncertainty gaps that they see. After all, as the marketer you automatically know more than the customer about the workings of the business and even the product they're purchasing. As a result, it’s marketers’ job to clearly communicate the ins and outs of each product and service.
One of the key ways to close those uncertainty gaps is through content, which today leads most marketers to begin thinking about AI-powered messaging. However, marketers must ensure that they use the same level of thought and care in their messaging, even when they have a tool as powerful as AI on hand; rather than only focusing on efficiency gains, be sure that the AI-powered content is not only quicker to produce, but more valuable to customers. That’s why leaning on proprietary AI that leverages multiple models, both for a better output and to maintain critical ethical standards, is a necessary piece of the puzzle. In short, use marketing messaging to close any uncertainty gaps for customers, and harness AI to make that content as strategic and valuable as possible.
Be Kind
It may seem like a no-brainer to be kind to customers, but in a marketing landscape where in-person connections are few and far between and technology, while an undeniable asset, can act as a barrier between customers and brands, it must be emphasized.
Unfortunately, current customers often expect subpar treatment. Whether it’s preparing to be left on hold only to speak to a machine or expecting brands to forget their preferences, customers often prepare for the worst. Marketers, you have the opportunity to flip the script by surprising and delighting customers with a brand experience that is kind and empathetic.
This should not only govern the hiring process and customer service teams’ training, it should also be noticeable in marketing content. By remembering and celebrating customers’ loyalty progress, sending educational and relevant content, or showing content that is clearly tailor-made for them, marketers can inject a bit of kindness into every touchpoint of their brand ecosystem to create a truly coveted customer experience.
Create a Coveted Customer Experience
By simply being a little more quick, clear, and kind, marketers will be able to drive a customer experience that is inviting, engaging, and drives lasting loyalty. To hear more show-stopping marketing strategies and tactics, be sure to check out all of the Magenta Friday sessions.
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