POV

Some modern-day products were well ahead of their time. The personal computer (now branded as desktops) or portable phone (smartphones) are some examples of peerless products that come to our minds. The present versions of these products are nowhere near the original. That is because of the constant evolution of these products, largely due to constant feedback from customers.

Customer feedback is a key element to help companies to improve their product as well as the digital experience for customers. Customer feedback will also enable companies to understand how people view their product and where to plug the gaps in customer satisfaction. In addition, seeking feedback can make customers feel truly valued and possibly help in retaining their loyalty.

Voice of the Customer (VOC) is the process through which data about users’ expectations, preferences, and aversions can be collected through surveys, ratings, and customer reviews. This process, consequently, allows companies to understand their audience.

Customer feedback can be formal, like in the case of VOC, and informal. In informal forms of feedback, a company can gauge the consumer psyche. Feedback one gets from chatbots conversations - thanks to artificial intelligence - and social media conversations are informal forms of feedback.

It is to be noted that the journey towards bettering customer experience involves people, more than the technology itself. Also, remember one aspect of consumer feedback - truth can be disappointing many times. By exploring customer intent from visible actions and information provided by customers, companies can build relevant strategies for better customer experience.

The world of the internet has given companies the opportunity to capture key data points from potential customers. And one way is to track user behavior. This can give you an idea about how people interact with your site, obstacles they experience, performance of particular sections of the website, and what exactly customers seek while browsing through the pages. 

Three key aspects of user activity data can help companies strategize their customer-oriented policies:

• Drivers – Elements encourage users to come to your site.
• Barriers – Elements that encourage users to leave and stay on the site.
• Hooks – Perhaps, the most important element in the process, which helps turns a potential visitor into a customer.

Apart from the usual user behavior analytics, the 5Ws will also help companies to understand their potential customer better -

• Who - Understanding who your consumers are?
• What - What is a consumer searching for and what is driving him or her to do so?
• When - Understanding the time pattern when consumer queries reach their peak
• Where - From where are the consumer searches and queries emanating from? It could be smartphones, laptops, or any other medium too.
• Why - This is a complex 'W' to decipher but adds quality to consumer data gathered by a company.

The ‘why’, more importantly, can provide clues for a customer’s beliefs, needs and their relationship with your brand as well as the motivations for his or her buying behavior.

When all 5Ws are added, we get a composite digital persona of a customer. This will help in understanding different buyer personas and personalize product offerings by enhancing the digital experience.

The importance of constantly evolving the digital experience of a company is also linked to revenue and profits – no prizes for guessing! Providing the best digital experience can help companies retain their old customers while also gaining new ones. Check this out - By boosting client retention by 5%, companies can record a 25% to 95% increase in profits.

But that’s not all. Content too plays a key role in enticing potential customers. If a customer reads or listens to a message which targets their expectations, it will help build loyalty towards a product. However, care must be taken to ensure that the message has a human touch to it, is crisp, is actionable and is memorable for the customer.

According to a Salesforce report, 84% of customers say the digital experience is as important as the products or services a company offers. Hence, keeping digital convenience at core of your customer's digital experience is very important.

In a Covid-19-induced new normal, consumers have been forced to rethink their product choices – largely due to several health restrictions. In such a scenario, along with seamless digital experience, a consumer would also want some surprises while browsing through a website/app.

And here's why the surprise element is important according to a 2020 Mckinsey report: "When consumers are surprised and delighted by new experiences, even long-held beliefs can change, making customers more willing to repeat the behavior". For instance, providing a smooth and enjoyable first-time digital experience to consumers can be counted as a surprise which can entice customers to return.

The formula is simple: create a digital persona of customers + provide seamless digital experience + some surprises = higher probability of positive customer satisfaction. Also, keep a data-driven approach at the center of strategy, learn from the metrics, and keep building on top of that.