Brands are racing for ways to win the customer experience as more of us are looking at brands that take us on a journey. Today’s customer isn’t just price shopping they are willing to pay for experiences and great ones at that.

When customers have a positive experience with your brand they are likely to share it and as well become returning customers. Today it’s not enough to just have a great product or service but every step of the customer’s journey needs to be thought out from the point of view of the customer. We all know our customers are the backbone of any thriving business.

So let’s take a look at how brands can create experiences that matter.

1. Personalize

Customers don’t all want the same thing. Who doesn’t like to have something that no one else does? Though each customer is unique if you’re looking to engage your customers for the long term you need to make this a priority because consumers are demanding that brands make the effort to really get to know their wants and needs. So things such as keeping track of their past purchases, making suggestions of new products based on their purchase history, or even allowing the customer to be part of the creation of products are all ways of personalization.

2. Make The Experience Seamless

Whether it’s online or offline customers want ease. The easier you make the buying process or even the return process the more it enhances the experience. This idea trickles down to your customer service reps as well. When customers get on the phone with someone on your team they expect your team to help solve their problem concisely and quickly.

3. Understanding Your Customers

As brands, we’re always looking at data and sales. But these are only part of the story. You have to also understand who your customer is, not just their HHI, age, level of education etc. Get to know their likes, words or phrases their using to describe a problem your brand solves, and even dedicating someone to actively listen on social media to comments will help you better understand customers’ mindset.

Another way is to create a customer persona, giving a potential customer a name and lifestyle description. This will help your team to understand and recognize who they are dealing with.

4. Customer Feedback

In order to know if your customer experience is a winner or a loser, you’ll need to get feedback. Ideally, you want to capture immediate feedback after an interaction. It’s best to attach feedback to your team members in order to recognize those who are making an impact.