The tip I'll give in this post, although quite obvious, is still not a very common practice among companies.
Managing online reviews is a well-known and widely used practice in the hospitality industry and even in the food service sector.
However, all companies can and should take advantage of the intelligence gained from customer feedback. This is a practice that helps put your customer at the center of your decisions.
Putting the customer at the center of decisions is the only way for companies that truly want to work on the customer experience effectively.
What is customer experience?
Customer experience , also known as Customer Experience (CX), is the complete perception your customers have of their experience with your brand.
This experience is the result of all the interactions a customer has with your brand, from accessing your website to actually using the product or service. Everything you do impacts your customers' perception and their decision to keep returning to your establishment or not.
Why should you care—a lot—about the experience you deliver to your customer?
According to research, 89% of companies compete primarily on the basis of customer experience. However, only 22% of consumers rate their customer service experience as good or very good.
In other words, companies still have a long way to go. And looking at it from a positive perspective, this translates into a great opportunity for your business to increase market share by investing correctly in customer experience.
3 reasons why your business benefits from investing in customer experience
- More satisfied customers and increased loyalty;
- Better word-of-mouth marketing and recommendations;
- Better online reputation and better positions in Google rankings.
1# Better customer experience means greater loyalty
Providing the best customer experience is how you can win loyal customers. Investing in customer loyalty is great business, since a 5% in customer retention means a 25% to 95%, depending on the industry.
And there's more: by investing in customer experience to retain your customers, in addition to increasing your revenue, you spend less money. Because attracting new customers costs 5 times more than retaining existing ones.
In this post we show you how complaints can help you build customer loyalty.
2# Better customer experience increases your word-of-mouth marketing
A good experience results in more positive reviews and more effective word-of-mouth marketing. Satisfied customers leave higher ratings in the comments, and this helps you acquire new customers, reducing your acquisition costs.
As the number of satisfied customers increases, it has an exponential effect on your marketing. According to this research, word-of-mouth has been shown to improve marketing effectiveness by up to [percentage missing] 54%.
3# Better experience means better online reputation and better Google rankings
When a customer writes and posts a review on Google My Business, they contribute to the indexing and ranking of the reviewed business on Google itself.
All the words used in the review (online evaluation) are indexed, and Google uses these words to learn and understand, better and better, the relevance of that site.
And by responding to these reviews, the company is also influencing its ranking. Google will understand that it cares about its customers, considering the company more relevant to its users, and in this way, the company will be better ranked, increasing its online visibility.
The relationship between online reviews and customer experience: How a company retains and attracts more customers using online reviews
What's the 'trick' to winning loyal customers? Working on the customer experience so that you can meet their expectations.
That's precisely why it's so important to understand who your customer is and each stage of their buying journey.
And that's where online reviews come in – as a powerful tool for monitoring customer satisfaction and as a strategy for acquiring new customers.
Online reviews are an excellent way to find out what your customers are saying about your business, so you can correct any shortcomings and continuously improve your service.
And that's not all!
A study by Wunderman argues for focusing on a new factor – 'wantedness'.
Among other things, this study found that 79% of consumers, aged 18 to 65, want companies to prove they care about their customers before they decide to buy their products/services.
Online reviews are an excellent way to demonstrate this. According to research, 45% of consumers say they feel more inclined to choose businesses that respond to their customers.
The way companies communicate with their customers matters a lot!
Maintaining a good brand reputation in the digital world is essential. This fosters a closer relationship with your target audience and, consequently, helps attract more customers to the business.
Properly responding to each online review is fundamental to building effective communication and a good relationship with the public. After all, a brand's reputation is directly linked to the information consumers share online about it and how customer interaction is conducted.
Online reviews are directly linked to the success or failure of your business, as they shape your online reputation.
Knowing how to leverage competitive intelligence, gleaned from spontaneous and freely given opinions based on your customers' experiences with your establishment, will boost your business strategy.
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Watch our webinar on the feedback economy. What is the feedback economy and why should you care?