Chapter 5
PLAN THE EXPERIENCE
Customers today are more empowered than ever before. They have more choices in the marketplace. They are better informed thanks to the Internet and the research they can do easily before making buying decisions. They are collaborating in many new ways—both with each other and with organizations.
They also have higher expectations than ever before. No longer are they willing to settle for mediocre customer experiences. Every touch point a business or consumer has with a brand or organization leaves an impression of that brand and its products and services. That impression is affected by subsequent interactions with that organization, as well as by interactions at other organizations. For example, although I may be an executive for a large high-tech company, my customer experience expectations are created not just through my professional business dealings but also through my experiences as a consumer.
To their detriment, few companies are focused on how their customers experience doing business with them. But they should be; otherwise, they may find out the hard way after they have made a big mistake—and multiple blogs and YouTube videos pick it up and bring widespread attention to it. A study by Forrester Research, an independent technology and market research company, shows there is a high correlation between customer experience and three key metrics of customer loyalty:
1. Willingness to repurchase
2. Reluctance to switch
3. Likelihood to recommend ...
