When people talk about customer service today, it paints a much different picture than what it used to be just some years ago. Choose any of your favorite social media platforms and you’re more likely to see people sharing their negative experiences with companies. Nowadays, consumers are more than eager to share positive experiences to others. A big reason for this is how companies interact with new and long customers online. Some would say that “customer service” evolved into the “customer experience.”
Indeed, many companies now recognize what it means to provide a unique customer experience. They want audiences online to know they are part of something that is distinctly theirs. In doing so, the branded customer experience allows them to stand out in a competitive, often crowded industry that more people will remember.
Defining the Branded Experience
Simply put, the branded customer experience is the impression a brand leaves on people. Different companies mean different experiences; consumers look for certain things in particular industries. What’s important is that they immediately recognize each unique experience. A branded customer experience is focused on functionality, while also tapping into the emotional side of things. The services offered define any business regardless of industry and customers’ expectations are met.
As something uniquely tied to a company, audiences will keep returning while also expecting a high level of unique, consistent service.
Why A Branded Experience?
Branding the customer experience is vital to any business growth. Your customer service teams will be the architects of brand loyalty through positive experiences. We’ve all heard the old saying goes “the customer is always right.” In today’s interactive business environment, it could also mean that “the customer has the power.” The internet has allowed people to interact with brands online globally and can share their experiences on a real-time basis.
Adopting a branded experience can seem daunting. The truth is that yes, it will be a big change for companies to adopt. However, in the long run, it becomes a change for the better. Through a branded customer experience, you are able to tap into real-time brand awareness from customers which you can ensure remains positive.
Here are three key reasons why a branded customer experience is important.
Customer Satisfaction
The key to good customer experience is knowing their expectations and surpassing them. Brands have to deliver in spades when providing the service they guarantee. With a little extra care and support, you may end up surprising your customers.
As stated earlier, people today are more likely to share their positive experiences with a company online than before. Back in 2018, 49% of customers say they would share their positive online experiences on social media. To that effect, customers also said they would be willing to pay more for products and services if it meant getting a better customer experience.
Based on this, good customer experiences have to be consistent across all their needs. It also means their standards should be exceeded. By amplifying the entire customer journey, it ensures more positive experiences on top of superior services offered.
Creating Loyal Customers
A strong branded customer experience is one that is memorable and often impresses people. This can turn into customer loyalty achieved through ensuring consistent, positive customer service. It’s why many are seeing well-trained customer service teams as a valued asset for their business and why they want to have something unique.
Because audiences have real-time access to companies, a customer service team often becomes their first point of contact. It then becomes their responsibility on how they respond to questions or concerns given to them. How these issues are resolved will determine what people will say about them afterward, whether positively or negatively. Therefore, one could say that customer experience can make – or even break – a company’s online reputation.
In a perfect world, companies would receive nothing but positive feedback from their audiences. The reality however is that no company is perfect and negative comments will happen. What’s important is knowing the course of action to take when issues arise. Building a rapport with customers sends a message that they are important to your business, thus creating loyalty.
Staying Competitive in the Industry
With the global reach businesses have today, being different and unique is always going to be a challenge. Being able to differentiate yourself from others who are producing similar content is getting much harder. Nowadays, people not just compare products, services, and pricing when interacting with a company. They also consider their overall experience and the ease of communicating with brands.
Providing a strong, memorable customer experience is one of the ways businesses can stand out. Customer feedback, therefore, has become an invaluable source of success that makes companies more competitive.
Providing the Best Customer Experience
The use of automation is something that is being discussed when talking about the customer experience. Earlier, we mentioned people are now more likely to share more positive brand experiences online. However, a majority of customers said they still prefer to talk to an actual person for their concerns instead of dealing with automated chatbots. This is why quality customer service teams are still important. Automation should coexist with people to help with efficiency and productivity, not replace teams outright. The customer experience is all about authenticity. Customers still look for that authentic experience of interacting with another person for their concerns. When companies provide this, they should also consider making the interaction something that is significantly theirs through the customer experience.
