Betting on a Better Customer Experience
I’m in Las Vegas at THE Conference on Marketing giving a talk to a gathering of fellow marketers on improving the customer experience across all kinds of industries. It occurred to me that today, customer satisfaction is based on "Big I little t." Just a few years ago, the speeds and feeds of a product (technology) were what made it (and the brand) stand out. Today, it’s actually more about Information we share with and get from our customers.
There’s a great group of presenters lined up to speak at this event and in one way or another, they are all going to talk about how the value of the interaction/Information we offer our customers is what keeps them loyal and gets them to recommend us. For example, Chris Anderson’s “Long Tail” theory suggests that customers are more easily lost to the infinite choices available in a web based world. Fred Reichheld is going to talk about how giving customers better information and providing more value, can transform them into “netpromoters”.
The stakes are high for all companies. It means more than having superior products, it means delivering our information so that it’s personalized, easy to understand, timely and accurate.
Think of all the documents that touch customers…Invoices. Applications. Policies. Manuals. Welcome kits. Re-engineering the way we communicate can reduce service calls, boost customer retention and enhance the brand experience.
It’s the little things that mean the most--the voice on the phone, a willingness to take ownership of a problem, the way your web site is organized, whether your bill shows up on time. Take a touchpoint, learn its impact, adjust your process to enhance the experience people have when they encounter information from your company—I’m not in Las Vegas to gamble, but I bet you improve the overall experience of your customers.
Mike MacDonald
President Global Account and Marketing Operations
Xerox