We’ve all been there — a popup comes up on the screen, blocking your peaceful browsing while you’re shopping. Encountering a frozen page is more than likely not a novelty to you, either. Have you ever started hating your own name after filling it out three times, with the form crashing every time? We know we have. The list of web-related grievances is endless. Feeling frustrated yet? Your client is, too.
Great customer experience strategy goes beyond providing great service. In fact, the customer experience starts on (and is often determined by) your website. Every time a client interacts with your website, that experience affects the outcome of your entire relationship. How do you expect the client to trust your financial advice if the face of your brand, the website, betrays his or her trust? If your digital customer experience is not top-notch, you might as well be shutting the door in the client’s face.
What is A Digital Customer Experience?
Your clients are human, which means they appreciate simplicity, intuitiveness, personalization and, at the end of the day, getting what they want quickly. Getting distracted is human, too. We are all susceptible to them. It’s a battle that digital marketers have to fight, as anything that distracts the client from smoothly getting to the goal may be considered a bad customer experience. Embrace the features your clients want, skip the distractions, and you’re on your way to achieving an excellent digital customer experience.
Visitors are on your site for one of a few reasons — they’re just browsing local offerings, they’re interested in general financial services, or they’re seeking you out for a specific service. Either way, you want the highest level of engagement for a great customer experience. And that comes with a bit of planning.
You need an excellent digital customer experience strategy. Crafting a compelling digital customer experience strategy requires at least three components: mapping out the client journey, getting constant feedback, and diagnosing and fixing web problems as they emerge. Browse the tips from our top experts on how to do it right.
Tip #1 Map Out the Client Journey
The key to getting real insights about your clients is knowing what questions to ask — and when to ask them. Join your visitor on the journey of navigating your business on the web. Are there areas of your website where the visitors are relishing in the experience? Do a few of them seem to get stuck in the same place? For customers who have interacted with your business on various platforms (ad click, desktop site, mobile, etc), seek out persistent pain points across several web outlets. These are the clients that have shown a high level of engagement already, and it should be your goal to ensure that you understand their journey across all channels.
Tip #2 Utilize Customer Feedback Solutions
Client feedback should be at the crux of building a digital customer experience strategy. You won’t know how your visitors feel if you don’t ask — so make sure they have an easily accessible outlet for feedback. Try not to see view this stage as negative criticism, but as a solid strategy for improving the customer experience. Consider incorporating a feedback tab or a chat function. The information you receive will not only improve the overall experience of the site, but build a trust-based relationship with your clients.
Tip #3 Track and Diagnose Problems on Your Site
When you’ve recognized your client journeys and heard feedback, it’s crucial to make a diagnosis within your digital performance. Your site will never be perfect, but you can get pretty darn close. It’s great to take note of what is resonating with your visitors so you can keep up a strong customer experience strategy. At this stage, your website updates should aim to capture metrics like the goal of your visitors, the general performance of the site during the visit, as well as the likelihood of the visitor to recommend your financial services based on the web experience. You’ll want to establish baseline metrics so you can measure and assess the performance of your efforts over time.
