Sample brief produced for portfolio. 

Customer experience continues to be a major topic of conversation amongst marketers today, both B2B and B2C alike. The advances seen in communication and technology over the last three decades, and the arrival of the digital age, has profoundly changed businesses and customers in ways that we are still adapting to. Yet the core aim of delivering customer experience, in delivering positive interactions and unique memorable instances, remains the same.

In an age increasingly focused on the digital technology and communication, whether it’s social media, digital platforms, or augmented and virtual reality, customer experience has been swallowed up in a net of options. This huge range offers us the ability to better research and delve into the background of the customer and increase our understanding of their interests, challenges, including how they want to be treated within the sphere of customer experience. From this, we can understand what their perception of a good customer experience is, and work towards delivering this. However, in order to do this, we first need to understand what positive customer experience should be in it’s broadest form.

  • Delivering a positive emotional reaction and affirmative experience. The customer should leave the interaction, no matter how large or small, feeling like their needs have been met and understood. Leaving with this mindset, it reassures the customer that they have been valued, and are more likely to return knowing that the business understands them, as an individual, not just as a number.
  • Solving problems, and overcoming any challenges the customer faces. A customer may approach you with a challenge they need help with; it can be as small as finding an item, or as big as helping increase their global profits. The situation should be approached with the same amount of gravitas no matter what. The way in which it is dealt with should always end in the same result – a positive emotional reaction and a memorable experience for the customer.
  • The ‘above and beyond’ approach. This cannot be underestimated in terms of the impact it can have on a customers’ mindset of the business. Whether actual or perceived, when a customer feels that you have done the utmost of your ability to bring them a positive experience, it is difficult to ignore and easy to remember.

These three points should be used flexibly depending on the customer, the service or product, and the level of interaction to which the audience is accustomed. For example, a luxury hotel and restaurant carries a level of expectation in delivering a positive customer experience – their definition of ‘above and beyond’ will be far different from a high street fast food chain.

But how do we continue to deliver a positive customer experience that focuses on physical emotions and feelings in a era dominated by digital communications and interactions? Particularly for B2B companies, who do not necessarily have the traditional avenues of customer experience available to them, communication and account management plays a huge role in delivering this.

The secret here lies in communication, and having a developed and nuanced knowledge of your customers and their expectations, wants, and needs. Social media, email, and digital platforms such as blogs allow us to have constant communication with customers, but we need to consider exactly what they want from us, and how they want to communicate with us.

We need to ensure that the communications and digital interactions we have with our customers retain the same level of impact and positive affirmation as a face to face one would. To do this, there needs to be an increased focus on the meaningfulness of our interactions – don’t shout into the void for the sake of saying something. It is here that we start seeing the value in long form content, in tailoring social media content to accurately reflect the interests and challenges of the audience, and delivering bespoke and personalised emails and newsletters that should excite them to open and read (particularly in light of the GDPR decimation of data lists).

Businesses have recognised the value that digital communication channels can have on improving customer interactions and experiences. Twitter is a particularly valuable social media platform for getting real time customer feedback, and its functionality allows you to respond in kind, helping solve problems quickly. Many companies have dedicated customer support Twitter channels, realising the potential it has for continuing to deliver positive customer experience, but often businesses look to use the social media platforms their customers are on, further showing their understanding of the customer and allowing them quicker and easier channels of communication.

Digital communications should not be seen as separate from face to face interactions simply because of the platform on which they are placed. They still have the power to shape and impact customers, and should not be treated as a second thought or as a sideline activity. Use your digital channels to create a holistic customer experience and demonstrate that your company understand the audience from multiple angles. Create not just a positive feeling, but an excited one. Delivering happiness to the customer is the ultimate goal of business, but it is their own experiences of the company that should keep them coming back.

To ensure a returning and loyal customer base, focus on providing communications and a sense of consistency that continues to build the image of a company who is not just listening, but who is acting and ensuring that they are constantly evolving to their audience. When all your business attentions are tuned to the same goal of delivering a quality customer experience where they leave happy and satisfied, the processes fall into line, no matter if they are digital or traditional.