Customer experience design is one of those fields that’s not for everyone, and even the trained professionals in this science often find it difficult to put into words how to master this, and therefore to provide solid tips for ambitious newcomers to the concept.
Nonetheless, customer experience design, especially in this modern world of spoiled digital customer bases, is a skill that no company worth its salt can be without, for very obvious reasons. So, how can you design a great customer experience that helps to ensure loyalty, customer satisfaction and a solid edge against competition? Well the short answer is “very carefully”, but that alone won’t get you very far.
So, we’re going to try to demystify this a little bit, and provide a few tips to get you started on creating a very solid customer experience that will keep them coming back, and bringing their friends and family with them. Ready? Buckle up, because this is a bit of a tour de force!
#1 – Differences Matter!
The biggest thing to make certain of is that you have a solid sense of what differentiates you from your competition at large. The human mind is a bit of a difference engine, so a large segment of the customer experience is going to be researching your company, and comparing it to the competitors out there.
Make sure your employees know what identifies you in a sea of other services or products like yours, and make sure that your white papers and blogs or other publications paint this explicitly clearly for the customer. Live, eat and breathe your differences from your competitors. Own them.
#2 – Nurturing Values, Always!
What are your company’s values? What is your mission with your product or service? What are your core philosophies? Part of your idtentifying your identity versus your competitor should have outlined these. Now that you know what they are, reinforce them both in your practices, your attitude and those of your employees as well. Uphold them and cultivate them.
#3 – Brand Development! Not Just a Logo!
Yeah, your brand, your identity, is more than just logos, typefaces, signage and other marketing components. Your brand is your product or service, your business philosophy, and your approach to customer relations. Define this, decide who you are and what makes you … you.
#4 – Knowledge is Power for Staff too!
Your staff, everyone from your board of directors down to the guy who changes the toner in your copier, needs to know your services and/or products, your philosophy and your mission like they know their own life story. Educate your staff in everything, regardless of what their daily job is.
#5 – Motivation is Key …
Now that you have identified what makes you different, you’ve established your core values, your brand identity and have educated your staff in what all of these things are, it’s time to motivate them. To empower them to be one step ahead at all times, so they can answer any question a customer has, address any issue they may have, and strive to take customer input and apply it to improving all of these factors of your company and your customer experience in the future.
You want to grow and cultivate an ever improving customer experience. Customer experience design that makes this possible is all about first understanding who you are, so a customer can as well.
