How to Optimize Your Customer Experience in 6 Steps

Building loyalty with your customers is vital to your business. The deeper each relationship goes, the more more profits per customer. Having great customer relationships gives you the opportunity to stand apart from your competitors. 

At GrowthMaze, we see the customer journey as a core element of creating business growth. Consider these 6 steps to generate more satisfying customer experiences and ultimately, better business growth.

Market Insight and Segmentation

This is what happens when no one is watching. Your business canvas. Your analysis of the market. Addressing things like the total addressable market. The value of a customer. Here, you do testing to understand the exact demographics that you can target. What messaging will convert? Through which channels will you be reaching your customers?

‍

Q: What are your customer’s needs and behaviors? How do you discover those? 

‍

Having a strong grasp on the marketplace sets you apart from your competition. While most will throw a wide net at the market, smart, customer-centric companies will put in due diligence to discover insights about their customers. This enables them to begin to craft the value proposition.  

Value Proposition

Crafting a VP is the most important part of the sales process. Within the context of your VP, a customer will know whether there is true value there for them. A good VP must create excitement, tell your story, and have a clear action forward to how additional value may be generated. Mastering your VP includes understanding what messaging will resonate with the customer. 

‍

Answer the following: What value are we delivering? What problem are we solving?

‍

New Customer Acquisition 

GRIT. Hustle. Follow up. Depending on where a customer is in your marketing funnel, ie cold, warm, hot, relationship standing, the messaging and acquisition process will vary. If you are reaching out to someone cold and proposing value, are you coming across as intelligent, helpful, and confident? 80% of sales close after nearly a dozen points of contact. In getting new customers, you must explain to them, in a direct manner, as to why they should be willing to work with you.  Using the market analysis created thus far, you must go to the marketplace and reach your customers. 

‍

Q: Why do customers need me?

‍

Customer Experience

At all times when selling and serving customers, a brand reputation is being portrayed. Each time they speak to you, your values are being heard. Your transparency should be the most helpful aspect to helping customers understand what is going on with their project. In order to create a great customer experience, a clear set of goals and expectations must be set. If the plan changes, the customer must be updated at all times. The experience of the customer is the most important aspect of your business. Over time, they will either create value for your business through repeat business and referrals, or they will leave you behind forever. You only get one chance, so put the customer’s experience at the forefront of your efforts.  Attention to details in this process are critical to create a cohesive experience full of positive touch points. This is critical because there are parts of projects that are difficult and hard to understand. Building positive rapport will serve you in the long run.  When you deliver results, are you doing so in a way that will demonstrate the value you’ve created? These milestone results throughout the project will give customers a clear view of the value you’re creating. 

‍

Q: Am I doing everything I can to serve the customer?

‍

Trust + Share of Wallet

When you deliver value on what you’ve promised, you have the opportunity to get feedback from your customer. By engaging in direct feedback from your customer, they will know that you are keen on growing your business and providing stellar service. A happy customer that has been served appropriately will genuinely enjoy paying you for your products and services. The entire experience up to this point is leading up to a strong working relationship. Building trust leads to more business. Customers will come back to you if they trust you. Lose that trust, and it can be detrimental to your relationship. Here, proactive communication and transparency are integral to creating the environment for customers to use your product and service and potentially help you grow through word of mouth. 

‍

Q: Is the customer happy to pay for the product/service?

‍

Loyalty

When trust is gained, loyalty attributes itself as a foundational element of the relationship. You call the customer first when something comes up, and vice versa. When customers are trusting and loyal to you and your business, they become a major source of growth. 

The ultimate goal of a customer is to act as follows: 

• A truly loyal customer refers you to their network. 
• Loyal customers actively say positive things about your business to those they come into contact with. 
• Loyal customers go on record about your service through testimony. 
• Loyal customers do more business with you. 
  

How do we reach that point? 

A lot of effort, phone calls, thoughtful gestures, patience, hard work, and delivering strong results. Customer experience design can be the foundation of business growth. If customers are happy and constantly creating new business opportunities, solving the Growth Maze becomes a simple and repeatable process. 

‍

To speak with a member of the GrowthMaze team, email our founder at jas@growthmaze.com.

‍