Page 74 - Delivering Authentic Customer Experiences

Principle 5 Delivering Authentic Customer Experiences

Virtual experiences

The world is becoming digital by default. This means that
accessing services, not necessarily through choice, will often be of
the virtual variety via an app, an online platform, or a website.
More and more companies now have a policy to deliver services
digitally as it allows them to keep their costs down in comparison
to using more traditional service channels such as telephone and
face-to-face. Increasingly, Multi or Omni-channel experiences are
offered, providing access to services over more than one delivery
pathway. There are many business benefits for creating digital
channels to communicate and interact with your customer, but if
your target market isn’t online, or you make it an onerous
experience, don’t expect them to be happy.

Using digital technology more effectively is a way to do more for
less. It’s far more cost effective than more traditional methods like
the telephone, post or face-to-face and presents an opportunity
to create services that are more responsive to customer needs
and convenient to use. Being able to access services online at any
time of the day or night, can be a real benefit. This is only true,
however, if they are designed with your customer in mind and are
so straightforward that anyone who can use them, will chose to
do so, and those who can’t are given the support they need.
If your business processes have been developed to make life
easier for you, without due consideration for your customer, you
may be inadvertently creating frustrating, time-consuming and
difficult experiences that may turn prospects and existing clients
away. If you want sustainable success, you must create consistent,
multi-channel experiences that work for the customer, enable
them to interact with you positively and use your services easily.

Your business’ primary presence may be at a physical location like
a shop or office, or perhaps you interact with customers remotely
online, using this as your main route to market. Getting this

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