Commentary

5 steps to take retail customer experience to the next level

Andrew Lev, Cybera CEO, explains why retailers not paying attention to every element of the shopping journey will learn a costly lesson. He offers five tips to take customer experience to the next level.

Photo by iStock.com

February 6, 2019

By Andrew Lev, Cybera CEO

As the saying goes, you only get one chance to make a great, first impression and only retailers that fully embrace this mantra, and are determined to make all customer encounters positive in the new year and beyond, will be successful.

Even if retailers offer a stellar product or service, customers don't have the tolerance for a negative experience and they will quickly turn to a competitor to meet their needs. After all, you don't want your competitor to be rewarded with repeat purchases because you didn't fulfill the expectations of the entire shopping experience.

Retailers that are not paying attention to every element of the shopping journey will learn a costly lesson. In fact, a recent report from NewVoiceMedia stated businesses collectively lose $75 billion a year due to poor customer service. Each department in a retailer's business from operations to marketing must have one person in mind for every action: make a memorable connection with each customer.

All energy and resources should lead to that valuable outcome. However, this critical objective requires vision, thoughtful strategy, technology integration, solid business models and above all a fully committed company culture.

With these important elements in place, savvy retailers will rise above their competition and be top-of-mind when a customer seeks its product or service.

Here are five tips to take their customer experience to the next level:

Acknowledge your culture (then shake it up): Be brutally honest. Is staying in your comfort zone holding you back? If you envy the competition's innovation, approach and agility but feel it's not your style, that should be a wake up call.

Empower your team (then get out of the way): While the executive team defines the culture, it's the front-line employees who make it real. Only a fully engaged and motivated team can foster those critical relationships with customers.

Revisit your data (then put it to work): Innovation is not about replacing old systems with shiny new ones. It's about fresh thinking and imaginative execution. Chances are you already have a treasure trove of data so make sure any new investments enhance your existing assets. Take surveys now — and take them often. Then do everything you can to raise the bar. Just remember, increasing customer engagement is your job, not theirs.

Stumble and fall (then learn what happened and fix it): Failure IS an option when it's built into the culture. Avoidance on the other hand can be even riskier if not downright reckless. By its very nature, innovation includes risk and you can manage that. Besides even baby steps are a lot more fun than crawling.

Remember the goal (then retrace your steps): Customer experience management is hard to do, so you must continually remind yourself why you're doing it. So before assuming anything, put yourselves in their shoes and experience their pain. Then commit to making it better — much better. And don't ever stop. Having highly engaged customers is a beautiful thing and if everything you do supports that goal, you're well on your way.

Customer Experience