How to Deliver a Better Customer Experience to Your Customers
Organizing and leading a better customer experience across all touch points seems to be a mystery to many marketers. Just do a search on the topic and you’ll find little that’s helpful.
In my opinion, there are two reasons for this. One – marketers are given all the responsibility and blame but none of the authority or, Two – marketers fail to realize every possible way that their business comes into contact with a customer.
Everyone in the company (no matter the department) who comes into contact with a customer, other employees or a prospect must be performing a marketing function of generating awareness, building trust, educating, converting or they’re eroding the business.
Map ALL the Touch Points
One of the most useful and valuable tools your (or any) business can create is a Touch Point Map. The idea behind this tool is to use it to map all the ways your customers or prospects might come into contact with your brand and then go about making sure that each touch point is designed to create a better customer experience.
I’ve put together a list of seven touch points here, but it can vary a lot depending on your business.
- Marketing – Promote your educational articles, tip sheets, how to guides, seminars and benefits instead of products and services. Deliver flowers or cupcakes for no reason. Make asking for referrals a condition of doing business with you.
- Sales – Make the sales process easy and fun by choosing a relaxed environment to sign deals, educating with price guides, comparison sheets, or case studies, employing one-click buy options online or recommending similar products or services online with purchases.
- Service – Create policies and guarantees your customers love and want. Maybe a new customer kit detailing the who, what, when and how of your organization or a way to measure the results customers are getting.
- Educational Content – Why not educate your prospects and customers with videos, workshops or guides on how to better use or get more from their purchase
- Delivery – Create a certificate for your new business relationships. Ship your packages with partner coupons. Deliver your product on bikes or your software on usb drives.
- Follow-up – Have your CEO write hand-written notes of thanks or make it a point to measure the level of service every customer is getting
- Finance – No one likes getting the bill! Dress your receipts or invoices up with key marketing messages, new offers, and positive quotes. Add personal notes, jokes, or let a graphic designer loose to make your invoice a remarkable contact point.
All of the things mentioned above are examples of touch points that could enhance your customer experience and get people talking, but it’s the collective focus on the entire map that really creates remarkable results.
Indispensable Marketing takes a process approach to developing and installing your small business marketing.