At Zest Consultancy, one of the most frequently asked questions from our SME clients is, “how can we stand out from our competitors?” The answer is pretty simple really: it’s about how you make your customers feel. You need to give them a customer experience that makes them want to come back time and time again.
Being externally focused
Here is a question for you to think about, “if being customer focused increases turnover and helps businesses achieve loyal customers and employees, why isn’t everyone doing it?” We think the simple reason is that businesses aren’t really sure where to start. They think it takes lots of time and money. The reality is that this is simply not the case. You just need to change the way you think: be less internally focused and more externally focused.
Mapping the customer journey
Try walking in your customer’s shoes, in order to understand their journey. Then ask yourself this question, “how easy are we to do business with?” If the reality is that you aren’t easy to do business with, then re-evaluate your customer journey. Get all the departments involved. Work collaboratively to come up with a better customer journey that has multiple ‘customer touchpoints’ along the way.
What do we mean by ‘customer touchpoints’? It’s simple really, take a look at the number of times throughout the customer journey that you have actual contact with the customer, either by phone, email, face to face meetings or, even, any marketing collateral. These are all customer touchpoints. Ask yourself: Are there enough? Are they appropriate? How do they add value to the customer experience? And what could you do differently to enhance the experience? It doesn’t have to involve big changes. Sometimes, it’s the small things that can have a significant difference.
Importantly, don’t forget to keep the customer at the forefront of your mind throughout this process. Remember it is all about being more externally focused.
This is just one simple step that can help make customer experience your differentiator.
If you are interested in hearing more simple customer experience tips, then contact! www.zestconsultancy.co.uk or [email protected]
Being externally focused
Here is a question for you to think about, “if being customer focused increases turnover and helps businesses achieve loyal customers and employees, why isn’t everyone doing it?” We think the simple reason is that businesses aren’t really sure where to start. They think it takes lots of time and money. The reality is that this is simply not the case. You just need to change the way you think: be less internally focused and more externally focused.
Mapping the customer journey
Try walking in your customer’s shoes, in order to understand their journey. Then ask yourself this question, “how easy are we to do business with?” If the reality is that you aren’t easy to do business with, then re-evaluate your customer journey. Get all the departments involved. Work collaboratively to come up with a better customer journey that has multiple ‘customer touchpoints’ along the way.
What do we mean by ‘customer touchpoints’? It’s simple really, take a look at the number of times throughout the customer journey that you have actual contact with the customer, either by phone, email, face to face meetings or, even, any marketing collateral. These are all customer touchpoints. Ask yourself: Are there enough? Are they appropriate? How do they add value to the customer experience? And what could you do differently to enhance the experience? It doesn’t have to involve big changes. Sometimes, it’s the small things that can have a significant difference.
Importantly, don’t forget to keep the customer at the forefront of your mind throughout this process. Remember it is all about being more externally focused.
This is just one simple step that can help make customer experience your differentiator.
If you are interested in hearing more simple customer experience tips, then contact! www.zestconsultancy.co.uk or [email protected]
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