One bad experience can ruin a lifetime of loyalty
Every marketer covets the loyalty of their consumers, consumers on the other hand want their brand to consistently deliver on what they promise. Often times, situations arise when there is a breach of the consumer expectation and their loyalty becomes tested, which leaves a sour taste in the mouth.
There are many reasons that may lead to failure on the part of a brand to satisfy their customers:
• Operational structure and processes: Internal processes may affect the output of a brand which impacts on the consumer. This could be product quality, unfulfilled orders, poor service delivery amongst many others.
• Ability to customize and individualize: Consumers these days, especially the millenials are asking brands to treat them as individuals and not as part of a bunch of people. I once had a conversation with a millennial and he mentioned he would only get engaged with brand initiatives that recognises him and his individuality.
• Having engaged and empowered employees: An engaged workforce is integral to the satisfaction and service provided to their clients/customers. When employees are not empowered through information, tools and resources, or due to poor attitude or indifference, it will have affect the level of service delivered.
Consumers could take actions when they are aggrieved; they could simply walk away and move to other alternatives, they may stop recommending the brand and they could spread their experience through bad word of mouth. The most common in recent times is bringing this to the public domain through social media. We all know the damage this may do to a brand’s image. A consumer complaint is said to be a gift which must be treasured, as it gives the brand an opportunity to address and rectify issues.
How can brands improve customers’ experience?
1. Go back to the basics: Brands need to build experiences around their customers/consumers. Brands can invite participation from their consumers and make them an integral part of the experience. They should inspire sharing of these experiences and make them viral
2. Change their toolkit: They need to review and revise their implementation toolkit for consumer experiences. Pertinent questions should be asked: what makes their propriety event true to who they are? on which platforms will they interact with users/consumers? How will partner activation look like? How will the brand behave different across culture? Is every employee embodying the brand? Are the right skills available – internally or through agency partners?
3. Look at what connects them: Brands need to clearly map out the experience they want the consumers to enjoy at every point of connection; how the consumers will be treated at every touchpoint? Will it be live experiences (sampling, experiential activation), digital/social or at the point of sale?
4. Listen to them: The channel of communication has changed: It is important to listen to consumers and engage them using appropriate channels as they keep evolving.
5. People as experience drivers: Employees, agency partners and everyone with the task of delivering consumer experiences need to be aware of their roles and responsibilities to deliver a flawless brand experience to their consumers/customers. The implications of their actions or inactions also need to be clearly called out.
Bolajoko Bayo-Ajayi