Do you remember the battle of the white and gold vs. blue and black dress? In 2015, this battle created so much tension between how our brains work and who saw the right color dress. But in actuality, it all came down to perception and how our brains process information. We can all look at the same thing and come away with different perceptions of that interaction. This is what customer experience is.

Customer experience is about the perception of your customer’s journey with your product, your service, or even your church. The customer experience starts with marketing, through inventory management, to point of sale, to returns, to usage. It ranges from customer interactions to phone calls to click throughs on your website and self-service options. It is the full journey of your customers’ experience.

So, what is your customers’ experience? What is their journey with your product or service? It’s important to understand not just to improve your experience or product, but also because listening to your customers builds brand loyalty.

Vince Lombardi said, “It takes months to find a customer… seconds to lose one.” When a customer has a good experience, they’re likely to become loyal to that product and they will trust your organization and everything else you put out there. And when a customer has a bad experience, not only will they not return…they will tell everyone about that bad experience.

Here are 3 simple ways you can improve your customer experience.

1. Be Intentional.

Customer experience is not an afterthought, so assembling a team that is dedicated to your customer experience journey is critical to your success. This team would be responsible for capturing feedback, leveraging surveys to understand your net promoter score (NPS), and then reaching out to those customers to understand the journey of your product or service. This team would then take that information and make recommendations on areas of the sales process or your service offerings to enhance your customer’s experience.

2. Make it personal.

A 2017 survey revealed that 44% of customers are more likely to buy again if their experience was personal. Maybe that’s including the customer’s name in communication or packaging or simply greeting customers by their first name and remembering them on repeat visits. You can do this through Customer Relationship Management tools (CRM), email management systems, or modifying your check-in process so every time a visitor comes to your organization, you will know their name at check-in and through their entire journey with you.

3. Engagement over interaction.

If you’re going to ask for customer feedback, be intentional about it. If your product is great, but the support is lousy… guess what? That customer will share about the lousy support to others. So instead of simply “thanking customers for feedback,” also take action and let your customers know how you’ll be using their feedback (presenting it to the marketing team, updating the product, fixing a perceived problem the customer shared in their feedback, etc.)

I once purchased a watch band from a new company I had not used before. The day I received the product, I realized the band did not fit my watch even though I had called prior and was guided to which one to order. That same day of receiving the incorrect watch band, I also received one of those survey emails asking, “How was your experience?” I responded saying it was a great band, but it did not fit even thought I had called for assistance. Within a few hours, I received a personal email stating they were sending me the correct band and there was no need to return the other band. This is an example of an intentional engagement over a transaction that could have been a simple, “Thank you for your feedback.” But instead, they took the time to correct the problem, and now every time I tell his story, I am a brand ambassador for them.

When you are dealing with your customers, be intentional with every touchpoint you have. Exceptional customer experience converts shoppers to return customers and loyal brand ambassadors. How will you create brand ambassadors for your organization?

If you need assistance creating an effective customer experience strategy, watch this video on How to Create a Customer Experience Strategy.

Toni Scialanca is a Consultant at The Center Consulting Group. She holds an M.S. in Organizational Leadership from Cairn University and is currently pursuing a Doctorate degree in Strategic Leadership from Regent University. In addition to her work with The Center, Toni also serves as Board VP Chair for a global nonprofit encouraging leadership development in young girls. Toni’s previous work experience included various areas of supply chain, customer experience, and product deployment as well as in church leadership and management. Her consulting expertise includes strategic planning, leadership coaching, team building, and customer experience.

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1. Be Intentional.

2. Make it personal.

3. Engagement over interaction.