Customer Experience Perception Enhances Service Quality

The subjective impression formed through all the touchpoints a customer has with a company, its representatives, products, and services is called customer experience (CX). More and more customers are moving beyond simply evaluating the bottom line and focusing on the experience they receive. By creating an excellent experience that sparks positive emotions and leaves a lasting impression, companies can build loyal, satisfied, and emotionally connected customers who are likely to expand their engagement and even recommend the company to others.

Conversely, when customers struggle to receive quality service, whether it’s due to difficulty contacting someone again, unresponsive representatives, or long wait times, a negative experience is created. This can deter them from returning, even if they ultimately receive the desired product or service.

1. Understanding Customer Needs and Expectations: The key to crafting a quality customer experience lies in understanding the customers themselves. This includes their needs, desires, and especially their expectations. These expectations can vary depending on the type of business, the customer’s perception of it, and their past experiences. To gain this vital information, companies should implement mechanisms for collecting and analyzing customer feedback. This can take various forms, from satisfaction surveys and phone calls to simple one-question polls like “How likely are you to recommend this company to friends?” As expectations are subjective and constantly evolving, collecting and analyzing feedback should be an ongoing process.
   
2. Mapping the Customer Journey: The next step is to map the customer journey, identifying the various touchpoints they have with the company from initial discovery to final interaction (or, hopefully, becoming a loyal repeat customer). This includes everything from advertising and website interactions to customer service encounters and service quality. To gain a truly valuable perspective, it’s crucial to map this journey from the customer’s viewpoint, not the company’s. Touchpoints across various communication channels can be numerous and diverse, ranging from searching for answers on the company website to scheduling maintenance visits, interacting with service providers, and receiving invoices. Each touchpoint and the associated customer expectations should be carefully characterized, and the experience tailored accordingly.
   
3. Distinguishing Your Product Through Superior CX: By designing a positive customer experience, companies can differentiate their product from competitors offering similar solutions. According to SalesForce (2023 State of Service Report), by Salesforce Research a remarkable 88% of customers consider a company’s customer experience equally important as its products or services. This trend has led leaders in large organizations to prioritize CX as a prime competitive advantage.

Quality service shouldn’t be relegated to just the customer service department; it should be a company-wide language and code of conduct. Organizations seeking to create lasting change need to cultivate a culture of professionalism, availability, and swiftness throughout all units and departments. This requires seamless integration between teams, pleasant communication with customers, and minimal disruption during service delivery. Ultimately, it all starts with tailoring service packages to individual customer needs and prioritizing their expectations. Electra FM is constantly refining and improving its customer experience, adapting to market fluctuations and evolving customer preferences. Customer experience is a critical factor in achieving success in today’s business world. By understanding and meeting the needs and expectations of their customers, companies can create a positive and memorable experience that fosters loyalty, satisfaction, and word-of-mouth recommendations. Embracing a customer-centric approach and investing in excellent CX can pay off significantly, setting your company apart and driving long-term success.