Customer- a person who holds the power of either, bringing down or flourishing a company. He or she is an individual that businesses value, cherish, and mourn the loss of, for they can directly affect its growth. A customer is, essentially, akin to the air that human breathe. Similar to air, it is essential and fundamental. Any business plan or idea needs customers and their needs as the seed that will grow into a tree of opportunity. As such, ensuring their satisfaction is essential, but a herculean task for companies, one that involves a lot of nurturing and proactive actions. The results of such efforts from enterprises to keep their consumers happy and loyal are rich Customer Experience.
But, what comes under Customer Experience?
Customer experience, in layman terms, is the impression you leave on your consumers after the rendering of your services. The image formed in the minds of the customers of a brand depends on the quality of exchange they had with the company and the outcome of the same. More often, than not, customer experience is confused with customer service.
The two, essentially, focus on the same thing—customer satisfaction. However, the two function differently and the latter is a mere part of the former. Where customer experience is proactive and is the result of all the interactions between the consumer and the brand, customer service is reactive with the communication depending on the problems faced by an individual.
In short, we can say that effective and excellent customer service or support can contribute to a satisfactory experience for the consumers.
Similarly, the marketing and sales departments play a vital role in creating the best customer experience, one that will evoke loyalty. Both divisions’ help by providing the date that support team requires to connect with the consumers. Moreover, through multichannel branding and marketing, the two teams are, also, reaching out to the customer base and creating a digital presence.
In the current age of internet and social media, a well-established and active digital presence can increase the number of channels through which a customer can connect with the brand, thereby improving the customer experience.
Therefore, it would not be far-fetched to claim that customer experience is a bike run by sales, marketing, and customer support. It would be justified to say that customer experience is essential for a brand as far as growth and marketing ROI are concerned.
