Written by Angela Megasko – President and CEO of Market Viewpoint, LLC
What has changed in your business in the last 10 years? Seems like light years away, doesn’t it? (think paper, fax, mailing, advertising)
How different does your business operate than it did 5 years ago? Bet there have been significant changes in that short period too!
From tapping the local pizzeria’s app to place your order to how we purchase cars – Technology has changed the way everyone does business.
Apps, social media, mobile wallets, omnichannel marketing…. These words didn’t even exist a generation ago!
It takes a powerful, forward thinking organization to stay on top of rapidly changing customer expectations and, at the same time, keep their customer’s experiences happy ones.
It’s easy to jump on the latest technological band wagon or develop a forward thinking product – but just because you think it’s a good idea, it doesn’t guarantee that your customer’s experience will be a good one.
Millions of dollars have been spent on development of apps, social media campaigns, websites and physical store changes to impress customers, only to find that the new method of marketing does little to enhance the customer’s experience.
Chik-Fil-A recently introduced a new app on June 1 that is currently the number one most downloaded free app on iTunes. How did they get 1 million downloads in two weeks? Offering of a free chicken sandwich to everyone who downloads their app before June 30 likely helped, but management commissioned a survey prior to development of the app to understand what their ideal customer wanted the app to do.
What made 1 million people download this app?
Most likely, it was a combination of providing their customer the features they told them they wanted.
There are so many channels for you to use to reach your customer, but what worked for Chik-Fil-A may not work for you. Before investing in hundreds of thousands of dollars in customer experience adjustments, new product development and technology changes – listen to your customer:
- Assess your customer’s current experiences. Mystery shopping and customer surveys can provide insight and feedback about what is working now and where there is need for change.
- Envision the future customer experience. Based on what was learned in the assessment stage, ask your customer – in focus groups and surveys if your vision aligns with what they said. Don’t guess! Know and understand what will make your customer experience with your organization easier, better and enticing.
- Engage and Implement. Launch your app, change your menu, set up mobile payments – but ask, ask, ask your customer if it is working through feedback groups, surveys and mystery shopping.
Keep it fresh – but keep it useful! Be a powerful, forward thinking business by interacting with your customer base so you can give them exactly what they want! And when your customer gets what they want, you’ll get what you want – increased sales!