Local customer experience specialist and Chamber member, Rhian (Ryan) Huxtable offers his views on the outlook for businesses over the next 12 months.
Growing up in South Devon, Rhian, enjoyed a corporate career in retail, healthcare and pharmacy – working initially for Sainsbury’s and culminating at Boots as Head of Retail Operations, where customer experience was his key accountability.
Rhian, how would you view the standard of customer experience being delivered currently?
Businesses have had a tough time over the past couple of years, but unfortunately this trend looks set to get worse not better as we see the impact of the cost of living hitting the economy and customers hard. To survive, and thrive in an increasingly competitive market, businesses need to be investing in their customer experience (CX), as the value of service and the importance of making a human connection with customers has rarely been starker.
What is CX, Rhian?
CX is the overall perception – the thoughts and feeling – a customer gets from interacting with your business. We can all think of positive and negative experiences we have had as customers. Good or bad, these interactions shape our opinions of brands, products, and services we interact with.
Why is it so important for a business to get the customer service experience right?
Delivering a positive customer experience will not only make your customer(s) happy but also
increase the likelihood they will return, remain loyal or recommend you to others. Crucially for businesses, our research tells us that great customer experience will positively impact the bottom-line. Customers are prepared to spend 15% more if they receive a great client experience.
Why is it important to measure how you are doing?
Quite simply you don’t know what you don’t measure! We know that 94% of customers will look at a business’s reviews before they purchase so I always start by asking a client; are you reactive, passive, or proactive in asking customers for feedback? Most will look at me rather blank! Proactively asking for customer feedback and then actively managing the responses – communicating back to customers and making positive changes – is a great place to start on your CX journey. Without quality insight and data, you can’t truly understand how your customers view your business and if you are delivering on the promises you make.
Ask your local CX specialist for some help
If you would like to find out what your customers think about your business or improve your CX strategy, speak to Rhian about insight6’s world-class, feedback, insight and review platform ‘instant insight’ and their industry-leading customer experience reviews. Chamber members will receive a 20% discount.
Contact Rhian on 07810 516887 or via email at rhian.huxtable@insight6.com. Visit www.insight6.com for more details.
