“The way we think about this [customer experience] is that it’s not just about customer satisfaction. We live in an experience economy. What that means is that satisfaction is the lowest minimum bar,” Robi Ganguly, Apptentive CEO and Co-founder.
When you think about it, this is a scary quote. What Robi’s saying is that just having content or satisfied customers isn’t enough. Even if your NPS or CSAT scores are looking pristine, you need to be doing more. In 2020, you need to ask yourself and your company how you’re measuring customer experience to go beyond these surface-level evaluations. Once you figure out how to measure CX, then you can start tweaking it and improving it.
But some companies are already way ahead of the game. Here are some of the top examples of companies really understanding the difference (and link) between customer satisfaction and customer experience, and created campaigns designed to improve CX.
Casper
Casper was built on the idea that buying a mattress shouldn’t be a complicated hassle. Their Insomnobot-3000 is the cherry on top of an already customer-centric brand. It creates relationships with sleepless customers and humanizes the brand with humor and personality. They’re providing an experience that boosts loyalty through a personal connection with the brand.
Although it might not be obvious how the Insomnobot-3000 would contribute to Casper’s bottom line, but when brands increase loyalty and retention, they create fans. And when brands create fans, they do the marketing for you.
Glossier
Internally, Glossier actually doesn’t even use the phrase “customer service.” Instead, customer experience is the main focus. The “gTEAM” embraces real, two-way conversations with customers to better understand their needs, desires, and issues. The gTEAM is integrated into the larger marketing department so they can actively take customer feedback and bring it to the rest of the company to help improve loyalty, inform product roadmap, and identify bigger issues.
As a personal anecdote, I recently wanted to return a product I received from them. Instead of some automated system, they ask that you email the gTEAM directly if you want to initiate a return. I received an immediate response back not from a bot, but from an actual person. They actually wanted to understand why I was returning the product and exactly how they could improve it in the future. To top it all off, they asked that I gift the product to a friend and refunded my account for the balance.
They actively seek out feedback to improve their products, increase loyalty, and get their product into more hands organically. As a marketer and someone who markets a CX solution for a living, they won me over as a lifelong customer.
Nordstrom
What would a “best examples of customer experience” list be if it didn’t include Nordstrom? As one of the first companies to value CX at the leadership level, Nordstrom has always paved the way in terms of customer experience.
In the last year or so, we’ve seen retailer after retailer struggle to keep their brick-and-mortar doors open. But never Nordstrom. No, Nordstrom’s success is largely due to their focus on the customer and understanding the need to bridge the digital and physical gap in CX. They provide one seamless experience regardless of if it’s on a mobile device or in-store.
“I think what we hear from our customers is there is not a channel-based customer. There are just customers. And so that is really our approach. We don’t have a channel-based approach. We just have a customer approach. We’re focused on serving customers, not as a store, not as a website, but as a retailer in the local market that they’re living.” – Shea Jensen, senior VP of CX at Nordstrom (via NRF)
Levi’s
Speaking of seamless digital and in-store experiences, Levi’s is another company that paved the way in 2019 with their new app that connects with select Levi’s Tailor Shops. It essentially allows customers to create unique product designs in-app and then use that in-store with the tailors and stylists. This helps customers feel more in-control and Levi employees understand customer needs better.
What do all of these brands have in common? They proactively listen to customers and then use the voice of the customer to drive product roadmaps, loyalty programs, and marketing campaigns. They focus on experience above all, and it’s working.
Did we miss anyone? Who are you watching in 2020 as a leader in the CX space?
Learn more about customer experience in our recently published eBook, The Ultimate Guide to CX.
Read more: Top 5 Packaging Options to Help You Make Your Customer’s Product Experience More Memorable