With the current state of the economy, it is likely that companies are going to have their budgets cut and that consumers are going to become increasingly more conscious of where they spend their money. Companies will also feel the pinch by way of a lighter flow in new business, which makes retaining existing clients more important than ever. With these economic constraints and limitations in place, how companies manage their existing client’s needs will all boil down to differences in the ways that customer experience is managed.
Standing out from the crowd is no longer about how creative and “edgy” your marketing campaigns are, but rather about how dedicated you are to proving your love for your existing clients. Showing that you are genuinely invested in their happiness and wellbeing is essential to retaining them as customers, but it also goes a long way towards attracting new business via word of mouth. Customer experience should be at the forefront of your priorities this year. If it’s not, then read on.
We take a closer look at the foreseeable trends for customer experience in 2016 and how businesses can use these to their advantage, as well as to the customer’s benefit.
Customer experience should always be at the top of your list of business priorities, but this is ever more prevalent during times where budgets are tight. It’s clear that the economy is not going to make a drastic recovery during 2016, so it’s important that every cent is wisely spent. When you consider that acquiring a new customer can cost up to seven times more than retaining an existing one , it makes logical sense to streamline your focus on retention and improvements in customer experience.
Aside from your natural inclination towards keeping your customers happy, there are a number of reasons why investing in customer experience is a good move:
- Customer satisfaction will improve.
- Enhances customer loyalty, which in turn keeps customers around for a lot longer and encourages repeat customers.
- Your customers will become your best advocates and will refer even more business to you as you become their trusted provider.
- You will naturally gain a competitive advantage over your competition because you’ll be offering something personal and perhaps even unique.
- This in turn will enhance your revenue and sales over the long term.
- Your business will build strong relationships with your customers, which will also result in more longevity in those relationships.
The benefits will only increase with each customer that is treated to a positive experience, specifically when you find that they become your most important and persuasive advocates. This can be via word of mouth, on social networks and also via reviews that are made available to the public.
It has become clear that customer experience is the key to running a successful business in 2016 but the question is, what aspects of your customer experience should you be focusing on? This is the question we answer in our Ebook identifying the top customer experience trends for 2016.