Four major benefits you can use to help build your case
Customer obsession has rapidly risen up the business agenda in recent years, with more than two-thirds of marketers now saying that their business competes solely on the basis of CX. And for good reason, with a recent Adobe report showing that organizations classified as ‘very advanced’ at customer experience are almost three times more likely than their peers to have exceeded their business goals by a significant margin.
“In the Age of the Customer, customer-obsessed businesses have a competitive advantage,” says Maria Martinez, former President of Customer Success Group and Success Cloud at Salesforce. “Now more than ever, it is imperative that customer experience is top of mind: Businesses that do not put the customer first will struggle for relevance in an increasingly competitive market.”
So, what exactly are the benefits of a customer obsession strategy?
Thanks to the internet, customers today have greater choice about the brands they engage with, and the subscription service model that has become so prevalent means that if they’re dissatisfied with any aspect of the service they receive, they aren’t scared to vote with their feet. In fact, according to PwC, one in three consumers (32%) say they will walk away from a brand they love after just one bad experience - meaning there really is no margin for error.
On the flip side, customers who feel well supported and understood by a business are more forgiving, less likely to churn and more likely to spread the word and endorse your brand to others. Research by Qualtrics found that positive experiences correlate strongly with both repurchasing and Net Promoter Score, which measures how likely respondents are to recommend a company.
“Companies today need to create lifetime customers, customers that keep coming back, that become brand advocates,” says Chief Marketing Officer for Oracle CX, Des Cahill. “So, all the experiences from marketing to sales to service to commerce, all those experiences must be integrated and knitted together and personalized, to deliver on the promise of the brand.
Social media and peer review sites mean that consumers today are also more suspicious of the brands they engage with and have the ability to shop around, do their research and look beyond the shiny marketing messages. Brands that show customers that they live up to their promises and do what they say they will, are therefore at a huge advantage, commanding higher spend and, again, that all-important loyalty.
“Customer experience is a company delivering on its brand promise,” explains Cahill. “It's the totality of all the experiences that a customer has, from the moment they start getting advertising from your company to when they buy your product when they use your product and they get service in your product.”
The trust gained through consistently great customer experiences also encourages customers to try out new products, supporting greater experimentation in your business and your offering, something that is critical for companies to remain successful. Furthermore, customers who have confidence in your brand are more open to greater engagement, with 63% of U.S. consumers saying they’d share more information with a company that offers a great experience.
Laurie Aquilante, Director Customer Marketing at Hubspot, says: “We’ve all heard the old adage that it costs more to acquire a new customer than it does to retain an existing one. It is much easier to sell to your existing stall base than it is to go out and get new customers. They already know your brand and trust you. If you’ve delivered a great experience throughout their journey, that becomes a much easier conversation. So now your customers become a source, not only of retention but of additional revenue as well.”
The upshot of all of this, of course, is the impact on the bottom-line, and research shows that customer obsession doesn’t disappoint. PwC estimates that delivering a great customer experience could equate to a 16% price premium on products and services, with 43% of all consumers saying they would pay more for greater convenience and 42% for a friendly, welcoming experience. Qualtrics found that for those with revenues of $1bn, just a modest boost in CX would lead to on average $775 million in new revenue over three years.
Finally, customer obsession can also create its own virtuous circle, by influencing how your employees feel about their role and therefore the quality of service they provide. While a customer-centric culture isn’t possible without happy and engaged employees, empowering employees to deliver a customer-led experience can in itself drive engagement, motivation, and retention, with research finding that companies with above-average CX have 60% more engaged employees. And if your employees are engaged then they’re more likely to deliver a great customer experience, so it’s a win-win.
“We’ve found that employee engagement explains two-thirds of our client experience scores,” says Diane Gherson, Head of HR at IBM. “And if we’re able to increase client satisfaction by five points on an account, we see an extra 20% in revenue, on average.”
It’s easy to see why those organizations that have pioneered customer obsession have reaped the rewards in terms of unwavering brand loyalty, consumer trust and market-leading, sustainable profits. But seamless customer experience is no longer a nice to have, or just for those with big budgets to invest. As competition gets fiercer and customers become ever more discerning, it is critical for business survival.
