If you had to name the top priority for marketers today, what would it be? Some might say creating engaging content or making social media. Surprisingly though, that wouldn’t be the right answer.
If you said creating a positive Customer Experience (CX), that would be the right answer. Sure, everybody wants to increase sales, but without a good customer experience, that’s very difficult, if not impossible, to do.
CX is your customers’ perception of how you treat them and what it’s like to do business with you. CX is influenced by everything, from the types of marketing your company engages in to your willingness to honor their channel preferences to how salespeople inside the store treat them.
To understand just how vital CX really is, SuperOffice recently surveyed nearly 2,000 marketers, asking them to identify the top priority for their businesses in the next five years. Surprisingly to no one, CX came out on top. It even beat out products and pricing. See for yourself below:
- Customer experience (46%)
- Products (34%)
- Pricing (21%)
But why is this? Any good business expert understands that there’s a reason for everything, and when you look deeper, you can see why.
A study by PricewaterhouseCoopers, for example, found that 86% of buyers are willing to pay more for great CX. That means the more expensive the item, the more they are willing to pay for it if it means they get an overall good customer experience.
For example, customers are willing to pay a price premium of up to 13% for luxury and indulgence services simply by receiving a great CX. Customers are so willing, in fact, that if those services wanted to slowly increase their prices over time by maintaining such a great CX they could because people would know they would be getting what they’re paying for.
Improving Your CX Experience
Hearing all of this may make you wonder: How can you improve your CX? It’s simple, really: make every interaction matter.
This means that every time you interact with your customer, whether it be online or in-person, it needs to do something for them. It needs to make your customer not only love your experience but also always come back for more of your product or service.
Some examples in your marketing you could employ include:
- Creating a consistent brand experience from one channel to another. Ensure that your brand colors, images, and messaging are consistent, regardless of whether they are interacting with you through print, email, social media, mobile, or the web. It should be so consistent that anytime a customer sees those things, they immediately recognize it’s you.
- Personalize your mailings to ensure that your communications are relevant and exciting. Offer incentives, coupons, or some interesting fact that will intrigue your customers. And definitely use each person’s individual name — don’t just keep it general so you can send it anywhere.
- Use highlight color and great design to make it easy to find critical information, such as contact numbers, payment information, and addresses. You only have a short period of time to keep your customers’ attention, so make it count.
- Ask customers about their channel preferences for communications. They know what they like. Then honor them.
- Use high-quality materials for your print communications. Make each contact feel like a luxury experience. Use color, special coatings, and high-quality papers that make customers feel special — that way, if they want to save it for later, it will last.
We Can Help
Most importantly, the professionals here at PMI are here to help you create a killer CX. We’re experts in our field, and we know a thing or two due to our extensive and detailed partnership with businesses just like yours.
Creating a positive customer experience has never been more important. Marketing communications can be an essential component of achieving this goal. Let us help you not only achieve that goal but also surpass it with our impactful Bay Area Fulfillment Services.
Reach out today for more information.