In Holland, a recent study found that half of the 'faulty' new electronic products returned to retailers, actually work perfectly well. The buyers simply could not figure out how to use their new mobile phone or entertainment system, and assumed it was broken.
Worse still, an American research suggests that around 10% of consumers damage or even destroy their high tech gadgets out of frustration. In one case, it was discovered that a restaurant manager had thrown his laptop into the deep fryer, ruining both the laptop and deep fryer.
It isn't just high-tech products that cause this rage. The BBC reports that 90 percent of people feel angry and frustrated after dealing with a call centre. I felt this last year when I was moving house and getting my phone switched to the new address took nine phone calls over two days, totalling 167 minutes on the phone.
What astounds me is that organisations spend so much on advertising a product or service, and so little on ensuring that it is easy to use. In the end, if a consumer has had a bad experience with a product, no amount of advertising will tempt them to buy that brand again.
Companies instead should focus on improving a customers experience. This involves things such as recognizing and understanding the customers expectations and improving the quality of their interactions across all aspects of the company and its products and services.
In order to understand the expectations, we must first need to know what customers want to do and how they would like to be treated. As each individual is different, these expectations are going to be entirely different; depending on the context of the situation. A customer that calls in for support may have different needs to one that looks online at the website for a product. Customer expectations will vary as they will be driven by word-of-mouth, advertising and the customers own personal experiences.
In this day and age, companies and organisations now offer various ways to interact with them. Mediums such as email, call centres, websites and even local branches all need to make sure they give out the same information appropriate to the constraints of that medium. Different people are persuaded by technology in different ways, and some channels are just more suited for some interactions than others.
If a company can't provide an adequate customer experience, angry customers, an eroding brand and lost revenue are sure to be the result. On the flipside, if an organisation or company can get its customer experience right, the benefits will include an increase in customer satisfaction, which leads to more sales. A differentiation in product/service will create a valuable competitive advantage, and improved brand perception will result in an increase in market share. - 15246
Worse still, an American research suggests that around 10% of consumers damage or even destroy their high tech gadgets out of frustration. In one case, it was discovered that a restaurant manager had thrown his laptop into the deep fryer, ruining both the laptop and deep fryer.
It isn't just high-tech products that cause this rage. The BBC reports that 90 percent of people feel angry and frustrated after dealing with a call centre. I felt this last year when I was moving house and getting my phone switched to the new address took nine phone calls over two days, totalling 167 minutes on the phone.
What astounds me is that organisations spend so much on advertising a product or service, and so little on ensuring that it is easy to use. In the end, if a consumer has had a bad experience with a product, no amount of advertising will tempt them to buy that brand again.
Companies instead should focus on improving a customers experience. This involves things such as recognizing and understanding the customers expectations and improving the quality of their interactions across all aspects of the company and its products and services.
In order to understand the expectations, we must first need to know what customers want to do and how they would like to be treated. As each individual is different, these expectations are going to be entirely different; depending on the context of the situation. A customer that calls in for support may have different needs to one that looks online at the website for a product. Customer expectations will vary as they will be driven by word-of-mouth, advertising and the customers own personal experiences.
In this day and age, companies and organisations now offer various ways to interact with them. Mediums such as email, call centres, websites and even local branches all need to make sure they give out the same information appropriate to the constraints of that medium. Different people are persuaded by technology in different ways, and some channels are just more suited for some interactions than others.
If a company can't provide an adequate customer experience, angry customers, an eroding brand and lost revenue are sure to be the result. On the flipside, if an organisation or company can get its customer experience right, the benefits will include an increase in customer satisfaction, which leads to more sales. A differentiation in product/service will create a valuable competitive advantage, and improved brand perception will result in an increase in market share. - 15246
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