Follow these tips to build a solid foundation for customer experiences that your startup can thrive on.
Editor’s Note: This post was submitted by guest blogger, Roxy James. Enjoy!
When you talk about customer experience, it should include the quality of goods and services, competitive pricing, and fast, convenient deliveries. A report by Oxford Economics found that the top 53% of the world’s best performing companies prioritize customer experience and plan to continue to do so in the future. According to the report, these companies are able to have the strongest profitability and revenue growth due to their deep, personalized customer connections. Great relationships with their customers allow these companies to weather volatility and plan for growth – two things essential for startups.
Improving customer experience should be a priority for every startup looking to succeed. So, here are some of the most effective ways to do so:
Positive Language
Communication is key in customer experience. The way you communicate determines how customers perceive your brand, but don’t get into the habit of using typical generic language. Make sure that the words, and even the phrasing, you use is nuanced to fit your brand and continue to align with your startup message. Use positive language.
Frame your sentences in a way that conveys gratitude. For instance, a customer may come to you with a bad experience regarding your service or product. In this case, you can opt for statements like “Thank you for letting us know. Here’s how we can work towards a resolution…” instead of “Sorry about that. We truly apologize for the inconvenience.” The latter shows regret regarding the customer experience.
This is why you should invest in training your support staff, helping them become better communicators. But for the majority of startups, this training can be too expensive. It may be more practical to enlist the help of answering services like the ones we offer at Sound Telecom instead. This way, not only are you assured that customer communication is always handled in a timely, professional, and courteous manner, you can also be sure that the agents are all expertly trained in solving even the most unique customer experience challenges.
Analytics for a Frictionless Experience
Getting feedback from customers has always been an integral part of business. But as markets and clients are moving more towards the digital realm, you now need data to make sure you’re getting the right feedback and drawing the appropriate insights. Data analytics helps you understand the “why” behind customer responses and lets you build solutions that address these specific needs. Through data analytics, businesses can effectively collate raw data to reveal trends and metrics, which can be used to optimize operations.
Most startups operate with lean teams, so usually startups don’t begin with a dedicated analyst. Fortunately, there are a number of freelance and project-based business analysts you can work with. As it’s one of the fastest-growing careers in business administration – at a rate of 27%, a far greater pace than the average job – it’s no surprise that a lot of data professionals go down this route.
These business analysts use data to create better strategies, leading you to make better, informed decisions. For example, if your business analyst collects data that shows how customers on your site are often looking for reviews, then the analyst would suggest structuring your website to highlight the reviews page. This makes the customer experience frictionless and infinitely more pleasant.
Customer-Centric Company Culture
Your business success is largely dependent on the team you have, but before you start bringing people in, you need to establish the right company culture. In today’s climate, service flow shouldn’t be viewed as a linear task. Instead, everyone in the company needs to understand their role in customer experience, no matter what role they play or how little it may have to do with actual customer interactions.
Have your team think about their job functions as service-oriented rather than tasks that they need to fulfill. And make sure that you have the right people with you, who share the same values. Creating a strong customer-centric and service-oriented company culture from the very start will prove useful and serve as a guide once you scale the business.
It’s extremely important for startups to invest in building a great customer experience in order to earn more profit and also create strong relationships with customers.