Customer Service Week: Lessons for firms on better consumer experience

Brand experience goes beyond customer service as it encompasses all the feelings consumers have before, during and after interacting with a brand. [Istockphoto] The first week of October is a time when businesses celebrate the importance of customer service and the people who serve and support customers. Businesses try to outdo each other by coming up with more innovative ways to excite frontline employees who put a smile on the faces of their clients. They also use the period to endear themselves to customers. From decorating their front desks to offering gifts and rewards, all these activities that take place during the week are aimed at boosting morale and teamwork in organisations. It is a time to reward employees for the significant work they do and to raise awareness of the value of customer service. October is also the time to remind customers of the company's commitment to customer satisfaction. With the customer service week behind us, it is time for business leaders to reflect on the place of customer service in their priorities and those of the broader organisation. But most importantly is how the service can be used to improve the customer experience for a business edge. Brand experience goes beyond customer service as it encompasses all the feelings consumers have before, during and after interacting with a brand. It is a holistic approach that combines elements of user experience, customer experience and brand identity in one wrap. Brands grow when they are bought by more people, more easily and more often. This is not just about growing the customer base, nurturing existing customers, and getting them to use a brand more often, it is also about minimising defection, that is, an outflow of customers that may prefer to use other brands instead. For brands to achieve this, organisations must know precisely how to forge the strongest bonds with customers, whilst ensuring the delivery of prime customer experiences. This will not only enable brands to better retain existing customers but also to better acquire new customers for robust growth. Positive customer experiences improve levels of advocacy, even amongst those with weak desires. Recent studies further demonstrate the importance of good customer experience in building strong relationships. If companies can create a lasting positive impression among potential customers, they can drive sales and set the stage for long-term loyalty. Not only is the delivery of a good customer experience important for driving the brand relationship, but it also provides an opportunity to strengthen the brand. Brands across a spectrum of sectors, including but not limited to market research, services, finance, telecommunications, tech and retail, are now using experience to create spaces for customers and their brands to connect more deeply, to build stronger relationships and ultimately secure long-term profitability. For true competitive advantage today, organisations need to design and deliver experiences that go beyond the transaction. Brand promise One of the key success factors in this is making sure that brand and customer experience resonate by delivering on the brand promise and reinforcing the key values that a brand stands for. When brands consistently fail to deliver on what they promise, customer relationships begin to erode and can fail over time - leading to customer defection and ultimately, fewer people. Conversely, when the experience consistently reinforces the brand promise, perception becomes more grounded, customers grow closer, and they use the brand more frequently. To shape positive memories and outcomes, we need to be aware of the key experiential forces that drive strong and lasting relationships. Our research shows that to drive stronger relationships with customers and reduce the outflow of customers, brands need to deliver on their promises. The signals a brand sends and the experience it offers customers are inextricably linked. If there is a gap between what the brand says and what it does, customer expectations are violated, and attitudinal and behavioural adjustments can follow.

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