Excellent Customer Service vs The Overall Customer Experience

Two friends are having a discussion about their experience while shopping online. Each friend tries to outdo the other as they compare the positive and negative experiences they’ve had while shopping for various products. A third friend comes along to join the discussion already in progress and asks if they had ever tried a product that is offered by your company. What type of experience will they relate to each other about purchasing your product? Will they each share delightful reminisces or share tales of woe? 

What is Customer Experience?

Customer experience and customer service are usually mistaken to mean the same thing. Though they are linked, they are by no means the same. Customer experience refers to the thoughts which are foremost in the customer’s mind when it comes to dealing with your product. It is the impression imprinted upon the customer from the moment they seek out your product until they are finally able to use your product. Further, it is defined by the exchanges which occur between your business and the customer and the resulting business relationship which comes into being.

Customer service, on the other hand, only deals with one aspect of the customer experience. To achieve a complete analysis of the customer experience, both the product and the people must be considered. Yet, excellent customer service tends to ensure that the customer experience is a positive one. As a result, your business can gain a repeat and a potentially loyal customer. For this reason, it is increasingly important that your chosen B2B Agency and your business liaise to discuss and share ideas. Considering that customers are willing to pay up to 16% more for a product simply because of the experience they want… Perhaps the customer experience should be given a closer look at steps to improve customer satisfaction.

B2B Customer Experience

It is pertinent to note that you must first plan the experience which you want your potential and current customers alike to have. If you do not anticipate and prepare sufficiently, failure awaits. B2B decision-makers are keenly aware that customer experience provides a clear pathway for business growth. With multiple leaders, the path forward isn’t as clear-cut as it should be.

B2B customer experience is usually hampered by one thing. Once this elephant in the room is addressed, the benefits of B2B agencies prove their true value. Movement in unison – that’s it. In other words, if your business goals and that of your selected B2B agency move in opposite directions, the B2B customer experience will surely suffer. How can we navigate past that hurdle? Glad you asked.

A Collective Effort

The entire organization needs to step up and do its share. Every team and department, from sales, customer support and onwards needs to pitch in. And of course, the executives of each department have to guide their members accordingly. No one was left behind. The fact is that your customers aren’t all total strangers. Some of them are your employees who surf the web in their free time. Feedback is key for creating room for improvement. 

Therefore, regular communication within the organization and between your B2B agency is necessary. Your chosen B2B can sift through online customer surveys to provide useful tips that can help to improve upon both products and services. Also, the departments within your organization can also provide leads which your B2B can follow up and vice versa. 

The Right Set of Tools

The increase in the use of digital technology to achieve tasks has almost made the buying process void of human activity. Customers enjoy being able to select the items of interest and provide the necessary card information and await product arrival. Your website needs to be optimized to provide features that efficiently accommodate this growing digital customer base. 

Live Chat features can prove useful to allow your B2B agency to take care of your customer’s needs. Customers have questions, concerns, and experiences they wish to share. Knowing that an answer is a keystroke away is simply a step in the direction of keeping your customers satisfied.

Cater to Customer Needs

As much as it may be safe to assume that all customers may utilize the same methods to interact with your product, they don’t. Customers may be grouped according to their specific behaviors based on the product or service offered. As such, your company is expected to create packages to suit the customer experience sought. When customers feel that your product or service has been specially designed with them in mind, a personalized experience will surely add value.

‘One-click, ‘analytic’, and ‘solution type customers are just examples of customer types that would require special catering. Each requires increasing sophistication in the approach. However, ‘solution-type customers’ require the most attention to details such as strict security restrictions, great liability risks, and established regulations. With the right, B2B agency at your side catering to your customers’ needs can become a frictionless process to boost customer satisfaction levels.

Customer Experience Management

Remember, before you decide to reach out to clients you must already design the experience you wish them to have. In order to properly manage the customer experience you wish to provide, here are a few things to consider.

Know Who Your Customers Are

How are you going to prepare for an experience if you do not know who you are preparing the experience for? Exactly. So you have to do the research to find out who are the ones who would be interested in your product or service. Thankfully, there is a wealth of information available out there to facilitate this. Therefore, it is important to create an experience that is secure and quick. Time is of the essence. Everyone has a job to do to make the customer experience the best one possible.

Adopt A Customer-Focused Approach

Every piece of information you put out there is a reflection of your product or service. Advertisements online, phone calls, and billboards are a few methods used to generate interest in your product or service. Much care must be given so that your company’s output achieves the desired results instead of keeping the customers you wish to have away. Therefore all employees must be aware of their role in making the customer experience a memorable one. 

Centralize Data

Navigation online isn’t the easiest task for everyone. Have your information in a centralized location. That way your customers can easily access what they need to make informed decisions. Additionally, ensure that useful information is readily available. Thus reducing having to go through a series of emails and correspondences to find out how long an order will be processed. Also, with the right tools, your B2B agency can provide quick responses to any concerns which customers may have.

Be Device Friendly

Access to the internet has been made available through a variety of devices. No longer is one limited to the desktop computer or laptop to access information online. The advent of smartphones has and continues to evolve to encompass great capabilities. However, there are websites that have difficulty opening properly on a mobile device. Design a website with useful information, which is accessible regardless of the device used.

Has your business designed a customer experience for your customers? Have any of our tips helped you in developing new methods to improve the customer experience your company offers? Let us know below.