6 Key Customer Experience Touchpoints & Why They Matter

When you hear “customer experience,” do you think about how customers feel when using your products?

That’s a common assumption, but the truth is that it goes way back before they ever get their hands on it.

Here, you’ll learn about the interactions and elements that enhance customer experience, from brand encounters to the final delivery.

1. The Website

Customer experience begins when a customer first lands on your website.

After all, if visitors cannot effectively use your site to find your services and products, learn more about what you do, and address any of their questions, it will give a bad impression of your business.

This is why it is important to build a custom website for your business.

To learn more about how your website design affects your business, read this article on business benefits of building a custom website design.

A good website relies on straightforward navigation to help visitors quickly get where they want to go, fast load times to ensure there are no delays in finding what they need, and mobile optimization to ensure they can find it on any device.

2. The Checkout

After your customers find the products they want and decide to buy them, you’d think their money should be as good as yours, right? Not if you have a high shopping cart abandonment rate.

This is a problem that costs many businesses a lot of money, and it can happen for a variety of reasons.

One is that you have hidden shipping costs that aren’t communicated in advance, causing the price to suddenly increase when customers go to checkout.

Another is a lack of payment options, reducing your potential customer base. Follow this link to learn about the best ways to accept payments for your business.

3. The Shipping

Once your customer has ordered their delivery, the next major hurdle is how promptly it can be delivered.

Many businesses underestimate the importance of flexible logistics, especially during heavy sales periods like the holidays.

Suppose you cannot expand and shrink your logistics at will or not manage your inventory effectively.

In that case, you may need to outsource it to a shipping warehouse so you can focus on your business’s other aspects.

Otherwise, late and missing deliveries can become a frequent customer complaint, significantly damaging your business reputation.

4. The Communication

Just as important as being able to deliver your items to your customers on time is your capacity to inform them of the condition of their orders.

Working with delivery providers can help you give a more accurate estimate of the time it will take for packages to arrive.

However, telematics can also track individual deliveries and provide live updates to customers.

This way, they can come online and see where their orders are at any stage, preventing them from getting impatient and frustrated.

Good customer communication is one of the 5 cost-effective way to boost customer retention.

5. The Support

Even if your site, checkout, delivery, and order tracking all work as expected, your customers will likely encounter issues.

At least one customer will be unable to find the information they need or will miss a delivery they expected a day ago.

Making sure that you’re able to be present and provide support, such as through live chat software on your website, can help you and your team address those complaints rather than letting them fester and ferment into frustration.

Read: Emerging Technology You Should Look to Adapt For Your Business

6. The Packaging

While it might not seem as big a deal as the other points addressed above, don’t underestimate the impact good packaging can have.

Of course, the most important thing is ensuring that your packaging is reliable and sturdy enough to help the goods arrive safely at your customers’ doorsteps.

However, using custom-branded packaging and including personal touches like a thank you note can enhance the customer experience.

After all, it’s about improving their journey with you rather than just preventing problems.

Read this article to get insightful ideas on How to Make Your Packaging Stand Out.

End Note

If you want to ensure that your customers are satisfied and that their concerns are addressed, you need to start looking at what happens long before they receive your product.

Using these tips will enable you build customer trust and satisfaction for your business. Check out this article on how you can encourage customer trust and satisfaction for more insights.

With these tips, you can ensure that you’re providing an excellent customer experience every step of the way, increasing your chances of converting them initially and your hopes of retaining them for future sales.