End to end customer experience has become an important aspect of a company’s success in today’s economy. Companies all around the world are investing in their future by funding end to end customer experience optimization because it positively affects their profit margin through organic growth by allowing customer interaction online and offline through a variety of channels. Though companies are investing in end to end customer experience, there is still a severe deficit of objectives. Companies need to have a measurable goal in mind in order to succeed efficiently.
End to end customer satisfaction is an important aspect of the customer experience provided by companies today. The problem is that customers are already reporting high satisfaction levels, which does not give the company a competitive edge. The goal set by companies usually falls along the lines of raising customer satisfaction through the multiple channels and customer lifespan. This causes companies to track customer experience and interaction over all points of contact from physical stores to ecommerce to social media to contact centers and more. Companies acquire an enormous amount of data through every avenue, but it seldom makes any real difference in the overall level of customer satisfaction.
A satisfied customer is valuable to a company, but they are not as valuable as an emotionally connected customer. A customer’s lifetime value increases when there is a deeper connection with the brand or company. Companies should be focusing their efforts and funds towards creating an emotionally connected customer rather than raising satisfaction. When the strategy centers around creating a deeper and longer lasting connection between company and customer, there is a significant upswing for the company’s financials. A customer with a connection buys more, visits the store or website more frequently, spends more, engages in communication, and is less phased by price increases. Emotionally connected customers are a company’s bread and butter.
Omnichannel experiences are integral to creating an emotionally engaged customer, which is a profitable customer. Customers have a difficult time articulating which portion of the customer experience is the most effective, and they even accidentally misreport. Due to this, companies often invest their resources in a less effective area. Through specific data analytics, there is a new strategy of optimizing the customer experience creating emotionally connected, profitable customers.
Companies need to focus their resources towards the most effective points of contact with customers. Directing funds in the right direction means less money wasted and higher returns on investments by creating emotionally connected customers with every interaction.
Creating a comprehensive end to end customer experience is vital yet expensive and arduous for companies. The first step is to create the goal of generating emotionally connected customers.