Start ups – Overcome your challenges with Customer Experience
We have to be mindful of ground challenges that you face as founders and CEOs or leaders of start-ups. As a leader of your start up, it must be intriguing to deal with sales process while bringing in the customer perspective, because it is the customers who make a business whether currently they are paying or not. To add to this are Customer expectations that have enhanced and customers now are interacting, talking, buying through different channels, resources and devices.
To navigate through this complexity, Customer Experience Strategy plays a vital role. Customer Experience defines how the customer is interacting with your organization and draws perceptions around it through all the interaction points. It is a differentiator that makes a customer loyal to you and be an active advocate of your start-up
“Majority of organizations (71%) cite Customer experience as a competitive differentiator”
Customer Experience Strategy in a startup involves much more than just the experience or perception that customer draws but includes everything from the discovery to initial awareness of your offering to buying process, after sales and above all the advocacy of the startup to others.
“84% of organisations working to improve customer experience report an increase in revenue ”
Here are some tips on how you can,
Digital Madness
In today’s wave of digital transformations, omni channel presence, fast moving customer expectations it is a humongous task to draw a fine balance and make an informed decision.
To create your differentiation through Customer Experience Strategy, one view of the customer and a seamless experience is the key. And it would require an understanding of customer, their behaviour and expectations, careful planning to gather knowledge and implement technology to an extent required for your business.
Customer Service: The rush of making money or focusing on revenue only by acquiring new customers could be very fatal in long term. The cost incurred in going out in the market and finding new customers to buy a product or service is always more expensive then retaining a customer that is happy and delighted.
There is a value in keeping your customers with you especially for start-ups because as per research it takes 6X cost to acquire a new one.
It is very important that your Customer Experience Strategy creates mechanisms/processes of retaining customers and monitoring through right set of metrics to measure real time and create accurate picture of business results to drive you towards serving your customers with excellence.
Marketing
In the digital madness today, branding and digital marketing efforts could fall flat if not rightfully applied. In the start up when every effort counts, applying the right strategy for marketing efforts can create a difference.
All this requires an in-depth research through Customer Experience Strategy on market, products acceptance, competition and many other factors that help build a strong foundation. Lot of small businesses ride the same bus without spending enough time on researching the idea , it need and acceptance to the customer before taking it out to the market and thus end up spending large amount of money with no definitive outcomes.
Financial Stability/Funding
No doubt the agenda for CEOs, CXOs is how do they arrange funds and ensure a smooth running of business. There is no way we can undermine it. The fact of the matter is if you have managed to pump some initial funds it is wise to say that with strong Customer Experience Strategy in place that keeps customers on your side ensuring there is reliability and trust built with the product or service in offering, it is only a matter of time when you can start expecting repeat customers, referential selling and hence revenue and growth. It should be able to drive a good story for attracting investors.
To gear up your strategy with latest practices and up the game by focussing on three key principles:
o Understanding your customer and managing customer experience for higher customer retention and acquiring new customers
o Market Research and building growth strategy around it
o Utilising digital presence for branding and outreach with increased visibility
You MUST start your Customer Experience (CX) efforts if you fall in any of the following categories
o If you are looking for expansion and leap in growth
o If you are losing customers and spending more money acquiring new customers
o If you are looking for smart usage of your investments
What is the underlying AIM of Customer Experience?
o Create POSITIVE EMOTIONS
o Generate TRUST
o Lower CUSTOMER EFFORT
o Enable IN TIME and INFORMED Decisions
What is In It for You ?
o You are in sync with industry practices
o Aligning your mission with well thought strategy chasing your revenue goals
o Definitely Improved customer retention marching towards customer loyalty and advocacy
o You have an empowered team that in turn advocates your vision