Brands need to attract and retain customers to grow. But this is easier said than done. In a crowded and commoditised market you’ve got to stand out from the competition. And once you’ve won a new customer, you’ve got to give them a good reason to stick with you.
This is the case for experience-led growth. Every interaction with a product or service creates an experience that is unique to the customer’s context. The experience will either be good or bad and it’s your job to define what a good experience means for your customers.
For example, will I, as a customer, complete the task I need to do quickly and easily? Will it provide the results I’m looking for? Will I feel good about myself afterwards? What are the irrational and emotional factors that will make me like using your brand over others? Context is key here, as the experience I want from a tube ride will be very different to the experience I want from a theme park roller coaster!
Set your goals for experience-led growth
When you start designing the experience around your customer’s context, you should aim for improvements in customer engagement, satisfaction, retention and recommendation – enabling a virtuous circle where loyal customers recommend your service to new prospects, who themselves quickly onboard to become loyal customers and so on.
The best way to do this is to understand your customers. Get out of the building and talk to them. Find out what their needs are and map their journeys. Research the competitive landscape and figure out what your unique angle is.
Employee experience and customer experience
The interactions customers have with your employees at any point in the customer journey will play a major role in how they feel about the experience.
Remember the principle of front stage and back stage. At the theatre the quality of the show is directly related to the enthusiasm and energy of the actors, staff and crew back stage. A poor employee experience impacts customer experience, so you need to consider this in your overall experience design.
For best results, think holistically
Positive experiences during the evaluation and purchase stages will be quickly undermined by a negative experience post-purchase.
So for experience to drive growth, you’ve got to think holistically. This means all stages of the customer lifecycle (awareness, evaluation, purchase, loyalty and advocacy) are working in tandem to be effective, just like the components of a machine.
Thanks for reading 🙂