In a world where products and services are becoming increasingly commoditized, superior customer experience (CX) sets companies apart from competitors.

Customers choose businesses providing the best quality for their budget.

Would you pay more for something if you knew you’d receive topnotch product quality or outstanding service? 58% of customers say “yes.”

With more than half of customers willing to pay more, you must focus on getting the experience and service piece of your business right.

Just think – who wouldn’t want to hear, “they're a little more expensive, but totally worth it.”

Let’s take a couple of steps back: what is customer experience in marketing, and how do you pull better CX off?

We’re uncovering innovative ideas to improve customer experience, unique customer experience examples, and actionable steps to empower your teams to deliver the high-quality CX customers seek out – at a premium.    

You'll learn:

1. What is the meaning of customer experience?
2. What can you do to improve customer experience?
3. How to improve customer experience on website?
4. How can employees improve customer experience?
5. Focus on CX and EX to scale your business

What is the Meaning of Customer Experience?

So, what is customer experience and why is it important? Customer experience, often abbreviated as CX, refers to the sum of interactions and experiences that a customer has with a business over the duration of their relationship – starting from the initial discovery and research, to purchase and post-purchase experience.

Let’s look at a CX example:

Molly is searching for the perfect hiking boots for her backpacking trip and lands on Hikingshoes.com.

She meticulously combs through various styles, easily finding a pair that catches her eye. However, they're out of stock in her size, without an expected restocking date listed!

Undeterred, Molly reaches out for help by clicking on the live chat and instantly connects with support agent, Jessica.

Jessica offers a solution: pre-order the boots with expedited shipping and 22 days later, Molly’s boots arrive in the nick of time for her backpacking trip.

Thanks to the ease of the website and proactive customer service, Molly's journey with Hikingshoes.com is left on a high note, earning a delighted and loyal customer.

‍Our customer experience strategy examples show how Molly’s seamless and integrated shopping trip on hikingboots.com fosters loyalty and drives repeat business, with the potential to turning Molly into a brand advocate.

On the flipside, a negative customer experience can drive customers away, damaging a brand’s reputation in the process.

What can you do to Improve Customer Experience?

To improve customer experience, you must improve every single touchpoint a customer has with your business. Sound daunting?

Let’s break down proactive strategies to improve CX:

1. Measure Customer Satisfaction

Start by understanding customer pain points. Data holds the key to what customers want and need - and where to focus your CX efforts for ultimate impact.

Review site traffic, conversion rates, and email performance to discover where customers might be disengaging in their journey.

Use surveys, feedback forms, and social media listening to gather more direct customer insights.  

Prioritize quick wins and start a backlog of areas to improve later.

2. Enhance Communication

Improve your communication approach to proactively share information and resolve issues.

Give customers options for how to get information and ensure messaging is clear, concise, and consistent across all channels - website, email, paid, and social content, and customer support.

Always include a strong call to action to guide customers toward desired end goals. If someone reaches out with an issue, respond asap and with empathy.

3. Invest in Quality Media

High-quality visuals and videos highly influence purchasing decisions.

From product images to interactive color swatches, B2B videos, and even AR/VR, high quality media helps customers visualize using your products and services.

It puts them at ease that they’re making an informed buying decision and are comfortable with your offering or team members.

4. Optimize Digital Platforms

This is a big one – websites and other digital interfaces must be secure, user-friendly, and fast.

Slow loading times, broken links, pop-up ads, confusing messaging, confusing navigation, and more, detract from the customer experience by making it hard or frustrating to complete goals.

We go into this further in the next section.

5. Seamless Channel Integration

Finally, make sure customers can effortlessly transition between different channels to avoid friction or inconvenience.

Like Holly’s examples, customers need to be able to interact on any channel they please and receive a consistent and enjoyable experience. If customer service rep Jessica made Holly re-explain her pain points, or couldn’t easily order the shoes, Holly would become frustrated fast.

The key here is to integrate your channels and feed data into a central location (like a customer data platform (CDP), so it’s seamless to switch between channels and carry on the experience.

Moving from broad strategy to specifics, let's take a deeper look into website optimization, a crucial component of your digital customer experience.

How to Improve Customer Experience on Website?

Increasingly, your website is the first and main point of contact for potential customers - making it a critical and continuous investment.

Website optimization is an ongoing process, vital for maintaining an engaging and effective online presence. Your customers are always changing, so your website must evolve to meet new needs, share new information, and give customers a reason to return.

Here are key areas to focus on:

• Structure your navigation and internal links to help customers quickly find relevant content.
• Share helpful content that helps your customers solve problems, learn new information and get to know your offering better.
• Make sure all CTAs and webforms work without frustration.
• Incorporate high-quality images, videos, and user-generated content to boost customer engagement.
• Strengthen website security to protect your business and customers.
• Update your website for accessibility to give all users a great experience.
• Don’t forget mobile – tailor your website's text size, images, and spacing for optimal viewing on mobile and tablet devices.

For a more comprehensive guide, our free Website Must-Have Checklist digs deeper into each of the areas and Google’s Core Web Vitals.

An often-overlooked piece of CX?

The internal customer experience. If your teams aren’t set up for success, they can’t deliver the best experience to every customer.  

How can Employees Improve Customer Experience?

Empowering employees with knowledge, tools, training, and an understanding of your brand’s values is crucial. A positive employee experience translates directly into superior customer experiences.

Consider the interaction between Molly and Jessica from Hikingshoes.com.

Jessica's ability to address Molly’s need swiftly and effectively was not accidental. It was the result of Hikingboots.com equipping their staff with the right technology, data, and training to pick up the conversation where the website left off and remedy Molly’s issue.

The company's recent digital transformation and overhaul of their website DXP and integrated internal tools allowed Jessica to promptly access product SKUs, view stock information, forecast availability, rand more. This seamless process left Molly satisfied, while empowering Jessica to feel competent and valued in her role.

Investing in employee well-being and job satisfaction is not just about creating a positive workplace. It's a strategic approach to improving what we call customer experience in business.

Employees expect modern technology to expedite workflows and enable them to truly focus on delivering value for their customers.

When employees are happy and well-supported, they are more equipped and motivated to provide customers with the kind of service that builds loyalty and drives business success.

Focus on CX and EX to Scale Your Business

It's a fundamental truth - improving CX encompasses everything from optimizing website experiences to equipping your teams with the right tools and resources.

However, navigating this journey is complex, and that's where the expertise of a customer experience agency comes in. At Whereoware, we have two decades of experience helping clients transform their digital experience and improve business systems to empower internal teams.

Have a problem to solve or an ambitious goal? Contact our team at Whereoware.