Enhauncing Business Success Through Customer Experience

Today’s consumers want more than just competitive prices for the products or services they purchase. They want a rewarding customer experience as well, and if they don’t get it from one company, they’ll go to another. If you think this is an exaggeration, consider that just over 50% of customers will stop doing business with a company after just one negative experience.

Customers define a negative experience in a number of ways, including:

• • Poor customer service

• • Difficult purchasing process

• • Lack of information about products or services

• • Overpriced products

• • Poor quality products

• • Feeling unappreciated as a customer

So as you can see, a negative customer experience can make a significant impact on sales. But a positive customer experience can be a great boon to your ROI as well, when you consider that nearly 65% of consumers consider the customer experience to be more important than the price of a product or service. In fact, consumers are willing to pay more if the customer experience is excellent. And if you’re industry or market is especially competitive, delivering a great customer experience can mean the difference between gaining or losing a strong loyal customer.

Put simply, customer experience is the impression you have of an organization you choose to do business with. As a business owner or manager, it is up to you to ensure that a customer or client has a good customer experience from the beginning of their customer journey to the end, or you risk losing their business forever.

Imagine walking into a store, navigating to the aisle where your product is, purchasing the product at the checkout lane, and then going home. What kind of experience was this? You got exactly what you wanted without any fuss, so it’s safe to say you had an okay experience, but nothing special about it.

But suppose you didn’t know exactly where your product was, and it was hard to find a customer service associate to help you. Or suppose someone did help you but didn’t appear very knowledgeable or friendly. Suppose the cashier was moving very slow, causing you to wait on line for longer than should be necessary. Suppose none of the employees really seemed like they wanted to work there, or the store was dirty, unorganized, and products were overpriced.

Any of the above criteria would probably cause you to have a negative customer experience and make you think twice about shopping there again.

On the other hand, if you were greeted in friendly manner upon entering the store, sales associates were smiling, knowledgeable, and helpful, the store was well-lit and organized, and the cashier was also friendly, you’d have a great customer experience, and likely frequent this store again.

Today, customer experience is everything, and this rule applies to online brands as well as brick and mortar establishments. Businesses of all sizes, in all industries, are striving to improve the customer experience. Many are seeking to push the envelope in order to stand out from their competitors, providing extraordinary customer experiences via VR and AR technologies or by improving product functionality via product configurators.

Why do nearly 70% of marketers devote their focus to improving the customer experience? The answer is fairly simple: satisfied customers remain loyal customers. This definitely isn’t a new, earth-shattering concept by any means, but in recent years, as competition among both brick and mortar stores and the online marketplace has seemed to increase exponentially, customer satisfaction is more important than ever before.

That’s because in a technology-driven world, one customer who has a negative experience can share their story with potentially thousands within seconds, which can be detrimental to a business. On the other hand, customers who have a positive experience can do the same, and often go so far as to promote the business on their own, which makes them both a valued customer and a valuable marketing asset.

Consider some of the other benefits of providing a positive customer experience:

• An increase in brand recognition and brand loyalty

Because today’s consumers base many of their purchase decisions on what they experience throughout their customer journey, delivering a positive experience along the way improves brand recognition and ultimately brand loyalty if the journey concludes in a superior manner.

• Free marketing that potentially increases your customer base

Although it may not always seem like it, according to an American Express study, American consumers post more positive reviews (53%) than negative ones (35%) on social media and review platforms. Consumers often turn to reviews by others before making a purchase decision, so positive reviews by satisfied customers have the potential to convert new prospects. Treat your new customers just as well, and the cycle continues.This can be a critical component to the success of a company — gaining new customers can cost 7 times more than maintaining your existing customer base. But if your satisfied customers are doing the work for you, delivering a positive customer experience has just become significantly more cost-effective.

• You stand out from competitors

It doesn’t matter if you manufacture auto parts or medical equipment, if you provide home improvement or construction services, or if you manage a large industrial plant — chances are you’ve got competition, and lots of it.

In the old days, competitors fought for their share of the target market via price wars, but such tactics are outdated. Today, the customer experience makes all the difference, and what you do for your customers; how you treat them, how you greet them, how you show them that you value them as a customer; can truly separate you from the herd and propel you forward to success.

• Increase your ROI

Providing excellent customer experiences and achieving all of the above will result in a massive increase to your ROI. Why struggle with redundant marketing plans and strategies that don’t deliver optimal benefit when the key is simply making sure your customers are as happy as can be?

Focus instead on customer service and fulfilling the wants and needs of your target market, as well as meeting and exceeding their expectations, and you’ll create a team of consumer advocates that do a significant amount of the marketing for you.

So what is the customer experience like online? Some of the ideals are the same — just as a storefront makes a first impression on a consumer, so too does your website. And just as a customer in a brick and mortar store wants to find the product they are searching for quickly, so too do visitors to your site want to find the information they seek without having to navigate through too many pages.

There are many ways to improve the customer experience online, from always delivering high-quality images, video, and sales tools, to being able to meet consumer demand and bring new products to the market swiftly.

But many of your competitors are likely also already doing this, so what can you do to outdo them, and deliver a superior customer experience that will get new loyal customers talking about you?

Online consumers, and especially the millennial market, place a lot of stock in online engagement. They don’t want to purchase products or services from faceless corporations that don’t seem to place any value on the consumer. Instead, they want to engage with the company on a more personal level, either through social media posts, 3D visualization, and interactive sales tools. All of these help to create great customer experiences and can even be tailored to provide a more personal level of engagement that really resonates with the consumer.

It also serves to build a relationship of trust, another critical component in building a long-lasting relationship.

Consider how you can leverage the ever-advancing technology we have at our disposal today to better connect with your target market, and you’ll maintain a strong edge over your competitors and increase your customer base and your revenue.

In today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape, delivering an exceptional online customer experience has become more critical than ever for businesses seeking to stand out from the competition. While many strategies can enhance the user journey, one tool has emerged as essential for improving customer experience – the 3D online configurator.

Traditionally, websites have aimed to create positive first impressions, provide easy navigation, and deliver high-quality content to attract and retain customers. However, in the age of heightened consumer expectations, simply meeting these standards may not be enough to outshine your competitors and foster customer loyalty.

The new generation of consumers, especially the tech-savvy millennial market, seeks more than just transactional interactions with faceless corporations. They yearn for personal connections and engagements that resonate with their individual preferences and needs. This is where the 3D online configurator comes into play, offering a transformative way to connect with your target audience.

Imagine empowering your customers to interact with your products or services in a virtual environment, where they can customize and visualize their options in real-time. With the 3D configurator, potential buyers can explore various product variations, experiment with colors, features, and specifications, and get an accurate representation of the final result. This level of immersive engagement not only enhances the user experience but also fosters a sense of ownership and emotional attachment to the product.

Furthermore, the 3D configurator fosters a relationship of trust by empowering customers with information and control over their purchasing decisions. By allowing them to see precisely what they are buying and customizing it to their preferences, you create a transparent and empowering buying process.

Beyond its customer-centric benefits, the 3D online configurator also provides valuable insights into consumer preferences and behaviors. By analyzing the data generated through interactions with the configurator, businesses can better understand their customers’ needs and preferences, enabling them to make data-driven decisions that further improve the overall customer experience.

Customer experience has become a crucial element for business success, as today’s consumers seek much more than just competitive prices. A single negative experience can prompt over half of customers to switch to another company. Conversely, a positive customer experience can yield significant ROI benefits. Nearly 65% of consumers consider the customer experience more important than the price of a product or service, and many are willing to pay more for an excellent customer experience. Moreover, delivering a positive experience can lead to increased brand recognition, word-of-mouth promotion, and differentiation from competitors.

A winning approach to enhancing the online customer experience is the 3D configurator. This technology enables virtual interaction with products or services, allowing potential buyers to customize and visualize them in real-time. Through the 3D configurator, customers can explore various product variations, experiment with colors, features, and specifications, obtaining an accurate representation of the final result. This immersive engagement fosters an emotional connection with the product and builds trust with customers, a crucial element in establishing long-term relationships. Additionally, the 3D configurator provides valuable consumer preference data, enabling data-driven decisions to further improve the overall customer experience.

In conclusion, investing in the customer experience is essential for business success. Providing a positive experience not only increases customer loyalty but also generates positive word-of-mouth that can attract new customers. The online 3D configurator represents an innovative and powerful tool to enhance the customer experience, offering engaging and personalized interactions. By leveraging this technology fully, businesses can differentiate themselves from competitors, build trusted relationships, and gain a competitive edge in an increasingly competitive market.