Perception is Reality: Customer Experience is the New Marketing
Navigating in the experience economy
In the field of Marketing & Customer Experience, two keywords that we grapple with are “Perception” and “Reality”.
A short story to begin with. In Durban 2009, during a test match between SA & Australia, there was this one session in which Dale Steyn, delivered a devastating spell of fast bowling. Mike Hussey during that session, as he writes in his biography “Underneath the Southern Cross”, received blows on the helmet and could not nick the ball. He survives the session!
During the session break, in the player room, Brad Haddin compliments Hussey “Mate, you gutted it out for us, we were absolutely petrified, we didn’t want to go out there. That’s the best Test cricket we’ve ever seen. You fought your way through it.”
Hussey writes “ I thought, You’ve got to be kidding me. I’d felt like a fourth-grade player out there, out of my depth. But the way they saw it, this was Test cricket at its best. Steyn was threatening to wreak absolute havoc and I was surviving for my country, shielding the lower order. I felt the complete opposite, like someone who had failed.
Indeed, “Perception is an amazing thing.”
The moot question, in our realm, is Whose Perception and Whose reality?
To navigate the puzzle of Perception and Reality, we can lean on golden truths, which have come to be established.
1. CX is a Sustainable Differentiator
There are many sources of competitive advantage for a company in an industry. Price, Product, marketplace, quality, brand, channels, distribution, etc. Many are imitable and over the long term are not sustainable. We have seen it in our cutthroat telecom market and so is the case for many industry sectors. It is established that CX is a sustainable source of differentiation. CX differentiation is built on the company’s inherent strengths and means staying obsessed with Consumers and not competition.
2. Consumer Behaviour is like the flight of a Bumblebee
We all use Marketing and CX design frameworks - across B2B and B2C, which cover Explore-Buy-Use-Support-Renew and many such constructs. The frameworks often make us linearly approach the work. Real customer behaviour is anything but linear. The consumer behaviour is like the flight of a Bumblebee.
Just like a bumblebee does not follow a straight line when flying, customers may explore various options, change their minds, and follow a non-linear path before making a purchase decision.
Multiple touchpoints
Bumblebees visit multiple flowers during their flight. Customers interact with various touchpoints (websites, social media, reviews, etc.) in their journey. These Moments of Truth (MoTs) influence their decisions. In our business, across B2B and B2C, we have approximately 20 owned touchpoints/Interaction modes for customers/consumers.
Adaptable
Bumblebees adapt their flight path based on changing conditions and obstacles. Customers adapt their buying behavior based on a multitude of factors like product availability, price changes, competition offers, or new information they encounter.
Exploration
Bumblebees explore their surroundings for the best nectar sources, and customers often explore different options and do research (online or offline) to find the best product or deal that suits their needs.
Cross-Pollination / Advocacy
Bumblebees cross-pollinate flowers as they move between them, benefiting the ecosystem. Similarly, customers can influence others through word-of-mouth, reviews, and recommendations, impacting the choices of others in their network. Advocacy, isn’t it?
To put this in the context …
Research shows that for one negative customer experience, it takes 12 positive moments to turn the tide. On the other extreme, a delighted customer spreads the good word to an average of 9 more people.
Customer behaviour therefore, like the flight of a bumblebee, is a complex and dynamic process with many variables, twists, and turns.
3. CXX drives Business Excellence
Establishing the correlation between CX Excellence and business is definitely possible. Various research and studies are reinforcing the same.
Across 12 industries, analysed by Forrester, improving CX by 1 point can lead to a quantifiable revenue upside. E.g. if mass-market auto manufacturers, improve CX by 1 point it could lead to more than $1 billion in additional revenue on an annual basis.
88% of buyers say experience matters as much as a company's products or services (Salesforce)
80% of consumers are more likely to buy from brands that offer more personalized experiences (Freshworks)
As a community of CX professionals, we need to champion customer obsession and Customer eXperience eXcellence (CXX), for The customer’s perception is your reality.
To borrow a line from Jeff Bezos’ annual letter to shareholders, “Stay divinely discontented with customer experiences …”
#CX #CXX #Vi #ETCXSSummit2023