So, what’s the deal with CX?
No matter where you are in your business journey, it’s likely you’ve heard that nailing your customer experience (CX) is what sets you apart from your competition.
Put simply, CX is about every interaction a customer has with your brand – from seeing your marketing on the side of a city bus to your post-purchase support. It goes far beyond just offering a decent product or service. CX is about crafting a holistic journey that leaves your customers feeling understood and appreciated.
To truly jump into the CX mindset, you need to put yourself in the customer’s shoes. Delve into their wants, needs, desires and pain points. Once you have the roadmap, you can begin to make sure your business exceeds their expectations.
An unreal CX boosts loyalty, keeps customers coming back for more and gets people talking about how great your business is. Dive in as we discuss why a CX strategy should be at the top of every startup’s to-do list and how to level-up yours!
Why is CX so important?
CX is now just as important – if not more – than your business offering. Engaging your customers on an emotional level can help you:
- Stand-out from the crowd – 81% of brands view CX as the ultimate competitive differentiator.
- Improve your digital experience – through personalisation, automation and 24/7 support systems you can streamline the customer journey and foster feelings of value and respect.
- Engage your employees – motivate your employees to create better customer opportunities and proactively seek feedback on their performance.
- Boost revenue and customer satisfaction – an effective CX strategy means your customers are more likely to return to your business and reinvest in your offerings. And guess what? Satisfied customers are natural-born cheerleaders!
Creating your CX map
When it comes to tech startups, executing your CX is the secret to success. Taking the time to research and map out how potential customers will interact with your brand will set you apart from the competition and keep your users engaged.
4 steps to CX mapping for startups
1. Plot the journey
For your CX map, you need to understand how a customer engages with your brand from beginning to end.
It can be handy to categorise a customer’s actions into large categories using the typical buyer’s journey stages such as awareness, consideration and decision making. Remember – this process is designed to encapsulate the variety of pathways customers may take through your company.
For this part of CX mapping, you want to pull data from all relevant sources such as customer personas, feedback surveys, behaviour analytic tools and target market research.
2. Find out what they’re thinking and feeling
With a journey framework set out, you’re now ready to add the emotion.
When a customer engages with your brand, they’re looking to you to solve a problem. By understanding what they are feeling, you can discover ways to manage their expectations, mitigate pain points and increase their satisfaction.
3. Review your customer touchpoints
Begin by listing all the possible touchpoints customers could have with your business – both digital and physical. Then, based on your research, identify the touchpoints your customers are actually using and the ones you wish they would.
By analysing your touchpoints, you will gain further insight into your customers actions and have a greater understanding of their journey. For example, if you discover that your customers feel worried about taking the leap to purchase, you can insert a touchpoint that’s reassuring and speaks to the benefits of your brand.
4. Segment the stages
In the final stage of your CX mapping, it’s time to take a step back and look at the customer journey as a whole. You’ll probably see stages begin to emerge and be able to identify a start, middle and end.
Ask yourself: are there any stages where your customers are getting stuck in the sales funnel?
These trouble spots are your opportunities for improvements – making your CX mapping more than just a fun activity, but also a killer marketing strategy!
3 way to measure your CX efforts
After you’ve put so much energy into your CX efforts, how do you prove it was worth it? Here’s three ways to measure your CX success:
1. Customer feedback: Invest in tech that captures customer feedback on a daily basis and integrates the responses for actionable insights. These may include post-purchase surveys, social media interactions and operational data.
2. Relevant KPIs: taking stock of your revenue growth, customer retention, upsell amounts and customer service costs after implementing your CX strategy can be a great way to measure the benefits.
3. Satisfaction measures: looking at your website visits, time spent on pages and your conversion rates can indicate how customers are feeling about your brand.
Bring your CX strategy to life with INFIX
As a multi-disciplinary storytelling studio, the team at INFIX know how to turn a moment into magic. Let us transform your digital touchpoints with our expertise in content strategy, copywriting and website development – and give your customers the online experience they deserve.
Book your complimentary consultation with INFIX today.