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Customer Experience: 4 key reasons why it should be high on your digital agenda

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DATE: 25 February, 2016

We live in the digital age; I mean frankly you can’t really avoid it.

Some industries like the Airline or Hotel industries were early adopters of “going digital”, like Booking.com and Expedia. After launching their propositions online, these parties quickly realised that they needed to invest in their omni-channel support to be able to influence and actually improve their overall customer experience.

I mean it’s great you can now buy that flight ticket or new i-pod online, but whom do you speak to when things go bad? Your i-pod is pink instead of white, or you made a spelling error on your very expensive flight booking to Hawaii. These are all relatively simple things to recover, however it can become critical when there is no good customer service infrastructure in place.

SO WHAT IS IT ALL ABOUT

According to the Peppers & Rogers Group, more than 81% of companies with strong capabilities and competencies for delivering customer experience excellence are outperforming their competition.

Meaning, get your act together and make sure you know how your customers experience your service or product and invest in your customer service capability.

THE KEY WORD IS SERVICE

Yes, SERVICE is what essentially either makes us happy or the lack of absolutely drives us up the wall. Despite the convenience of the digital channel, we all still value a bit of human interaction especially when your problem actually gets solved by someone who shows some empathy to your situation.

When developing your Digital Customer Experience Strategy, here are some key things to keep in mind.

1. BUSINESS IS THROUGH ALL THE CHANNELS, 24/7

With everything shifting to online, business these days is round the clock; consumers are constantly browsing the web, reviewing and comparing products and services. The modern consumer is quickly adopting the mobile channel and will quickly judge your brand by your online presence (or the lack there off). It is safe to assume that they will also expect to receive support and be able to sort out any issues they have with your company — no matter the device.

2. THINGS GO VIRAL BEFORE YOU KNOW IT AND THE INTERNET HAS NO MERCY

You’ve probably heard of the Spider that was recently found by a Sydney based woman in a bag of pre-packaged salad. She uploaded the video of the incident; attracting more than 3 million views and 100,000 comments within 12 hours after the video went viral on Facebook.

The retailer in question responded to the incident very promptly, but it goes to show how much can happen over a 12-hour period.

Having a solid customer service strategy in place with omni-channel support, will allow you to be responsive in a timely manner.

3. CUSTOMER SERVICE IS AN OPPORTUNITY TO BUILD YOUR BRAND

Being faced with a dissatisfied customer is often marked as a “customer service” issue but is actually also a great marketing opportunity when handled in the right way. This article by Taylor Moore examines how to practically approach customer service and how to use it as a powerful tool for building and reinforcing your brand. 

4. SELF SERVICE IS KEY TO THE DIGITAL CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

When it comes to customer service, people have very high expectations. With today’s 24/7 digital world, consumers expect to be helped quickly at any point of time for any type of inquiry or issue. We all know the majority of Internet businesses often don’t run on large customer service teams who are ready to handle your inquiry instantly.

Creating a self-service environment through a digital platform would be a step in the right direction, which could benefit both customers as well as the service provider.

So what does the Industry say?

I personally think that a good indication of future trends & developments in the Digital and Technology world are shared by the guys at Gartner. They are constantly pushing the importance of Customer Experience on the digital agenda.

Admittedly, digital is still only one part of the customer experience. But from what we’re learning from companies and their consumers, it’s the one most deserving of immediate attention and investment.

So my advice to you is, put yourself in the shoes of the customer and create an experience on how YOU would like to be treated.