What’s your Unique Selling Point? Do you have a truly unique product or service? Maybe you created a service that everybody wanted but it didn’t exist? (And nobody has duplicated it yet) Or maybe your market is so niche that you are simply the only player in the game? If so, you would be in the minority!
Gartner predicted that by 2020 90% of brands will compete on customer experience rather than price or product quality. It is 2022 and salesforce found that 80% of customers choose a brand to work with, based on their Customer Experience. Gartner were not far off.
On our courses, we use a concept called ‘sameness’. Sectors such as banking, insurance or utility providers, are mostly hit by the ‘sameness’ within their products and services. The differences in the products can sometimes be so miniscule that it’s extremely hard to decide which to choose. Remember, feelings are more memorable than price or the features of a product. Therefore, customers are more likely to remember how you made them feel, while they were using your service or you were helping them sort out an issue. This is why today’s customers choose based on the next best thing… their experience.
So, how do you differentiate your business from the competition?
Analyse it. Is there a way you can simplify it? Are there unnecessary steps somewhere along the way that could be removed? Is it designed with a clear customer goal?
- Feedback & Customer Input
Do you regularly reach out to your customers and ask for their feedback? Are you sending them surveys, asking for feedback directly on the website or prompting them to rate your app? Are you listening to their complaints, queries and concerns on social media and forums?
Are you ensuring your employees have good working conditions? Do you have regular one to one meetings with them to create real team bonds and strengthen relationships? Are you empowering them to make decisions and create an environment where customers feel taken care of? Remember, you can’t ask your staff to do things for your customers that you won’t do for your staff.
Are the customers able to talk with a human if they are experiencing an issue? Are you using technology to make things simpler for your company or your customers? Are you using it in the right places in their journey? Do you treat the customer as an individual or a number? Do you use data collection to your advantage?
Source: PWC Publication
By differentiating yourself through Customer Experience you can gain a competitive advantage and by striving for CX Excellence, you are creating advocates for your company. It is important because according to PWC, 32% of customers will stop doing business with a brand just after one bad experience. Additionally, 9 out of 10 customers will leave you and not even bother to complain.
Even though customer expectations are rising it’s not too late to differentiate yourself through CX. 54% of customers claim that CX needs to improve in the majority of the businesses. This means that if you start your strategy to achieve excellent Customer Experience today, you have a chance to generate an army of advocates that will spread the word about how great your business is and get ahead of the competition … if they don’t do the same.
To learn more about how you can achieve this, get in touch or check out our Professional Certificate & Diploma Courses.
