US Enterprise in general is losing tons of money each fiscal year to faulty buying processes. Product defections and abandoned purchases are to blame for the nearly $83 billion lost by US Enterprise each year due to poor customer experiences. Most companies are focused on the age old CRM mentality which tends to withdraw value from the customer instead of adding value to create a loyal customer that will be more likely to provide repeat business. Worried yet? Don’t be! I have found four simple steps you can take to help improve your customer’s buying experience and turn your sales around starting TODAY!
The first thing you can do is to stop thinking of marketing and sales as two separate entities within your business and start thinking of them as combined in terms of BXM (Buyer Experience Management). BXM focuses on your customer’s buying experience and will help your business to perfect the buying process to turn your customers into supporters and fans of your products instead of one time purchasers that leave your business unhappy with the whole process.
The second step is to ‘take a walk in your customer’s shoes’ to see how your business handles your customers. This will give you a great insight into the areas you need to add value to in order to improve your customer’s experience. This isn’t always easy and will take a little work on your part, as you will have to research what your target market really wants out of their experience and then figure out how to provide that perfect customer experience.
[blockquote style=”style-1″ icon=”none”]Bob estimates that less than 10% of B2B firms truly understand what experience buyers receive, even though virtually all agree that experience is important to revenue performance.[/blockquote]
The third step is to analyze your omnichannel experience (if you have one) to make sure it is very well integrated and easily navigable to provide a positive and ‘seamless’ experience that your potential buyers and customers will remember. Most companies in today’s market claim to be ‘multichannel’ because they automated small parts of their channels. These automated parts are usually not easily navigated and this ends up frustrating customers and by default decreases their overall experience and attitude towards your business.
The fourth step should be ongoing from this day forward and it is to KEEP LEARNING. If you don’t understand marketing you need to hire somebody that does asap and keep learning about your customers and what they like on a day to day basis.There are free classes and tutorials all over the internet that will help improve your understanding of marketing and how to apply it to your target market. You can never learn too much about your target market. Stay up to date and keep you eyes peeled for any new marketing processes that may benefit your customer’s experience; which will increase sales and fill your pockets in the long run. You need to understand the customer experience that you are offering to your customers inside and out, this is the only way that you spot trouble areas and go about improving them.
