These days, customer experience has become more than a buzz phrase. No matter the industry or the brand, companies have come to the realization that they need to focus on being more proactive, as opposed to reactive, when it comes to engaging with their customers. 

Customers are pivotal to any business. After all, they keep operations flowing, and if they are treated right, they will continue to come back and oftentimes reward you by bringing referrals with them. 

Shopping on a site that is SEO-efficient with world-class content is no longer the only component to consider when launching a new app, website, or software. Customer experience has to be a part of the equation now. Keeping your customers top-of-mind means creating a shopping experience that is prompt and consistent.

In an ideal world, all businesses would offer their customers unforgettable experiences that are harmonious and efficient. However, in practice that is not always the case. Some barriers may be in the way of that. Sometimes it’s technology, other times it is creating a strategy and executing it. 

AnswerLab Principle Bob Berry recently appeared as a guest on AdVic’s Salesforce Simplified Podcast to talk about creating exceptional customer experiences. Bob, who has guided companies such as Google, Amazon, Facebook, and many others to create new optimal online experiences, provided us with the key ingredients to cook up a customer experience like no other. Here’s just a portion of that conversation.

Keys to Creating Exceptional Online Experiences

What are the most important components of creating online experiences that customers will not forget?

Bob: “The first component is realizing that all outcomes that you hope for, that may be included as part of your business goals are based on the customers, prospects, or users deciding on an offering of your product or services. 

“When it comes to achieving business goals, it all boils down to focusing on the customer, centering your technology around their needs, and knowing their narratives. 

The second component is finding, and utilizing the right technology. Whether you are connecting with your customers on the web, social, software, or storefront, it is important to know your customers on a personal level. What are their personas? What are their pain points? And from there you can create an experience that solves their problems, and create a flawless buying experience.” 

What are the golden principles to consider when building a Customer Experience strategy? 

Bob: “Useful: Ease of use. How clear is your platform? Are customers and visitors engaged on your platform without having to jump through hoops to understand your message? In terms of:

“Being Usable: How relevant is your content or platform to your customers? Having unnecessary components adds noise. If it does not align with your customers’ needs or wants, you may want to reconsider it. 

“Being Functional: Functionality plays an important role in your customer experience strategy because after all, you want your technology to function in a way that benefits both your business and customers. Be sure to run a test to ensure connectivity. 

“Being Seamless: Synchronization. When visitors move from web to socials, to the call center it is important to maintain their data on one unified platform. One that is seamless when customers transition from one touchpoint to another. 

“All of these components work together,” Bob continued, “to create an experience that is meaningful to customers, and of benefit to your business. Each component benefits the other, ensuring that you understand your customer, content, and overall business objectives.”

He added, “You might be wondering, after creating and implementing a customer experience strategy, how do I measure my effectiveness? 

“Well, depending on your goals there are multiple ways to measure the effectiveness of customer experience, one being top of the line: conversions, increase in sales, and revenue upticks. On another hand it may be the bottom line: reducing cost, reducing customer frustration, or reducing product frustrations and returns.

“Either way, the goal is to create happy customers. Happy customers return to your business!”

There is a lot more to our conversation about creating exceptional online customer experiences with Bob Berry, which you can hear on our Salesforce Simplified Podcast.

As a Salesforce® Partner, AdVic® is uniquely qualified to provide your business with a scalable architecture so it can not only grow technically, but also create the coveted customer experiences Bob Berry was talking about. So, why not pick a day and time that we can discuss your goals using the form below and then watch how the combination of Salesforce and AdVic can empower your teams to lead your business to VICTORY. 

Related Resources:

B2B Customer Experiences By People, Built For People

How Salesforce and MuleSoft Create a Seamless Customer Experience

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