ASPIRE – to excel

Our ASPIRE programme can help you excel at Customer Care

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 –We see our customers as invited guests to a party, and we are the hosts. It’s our job every day to make every important aspect of the customer experience a little bit better — Jeff Bezos, Executive Chair, AMAZON

Background

Traditionally in the hospitality industry, tangibles and intangibles were key factors that influenced the customer. 

  • Tangibles were the physical aspects of a service that customers could see, touch, or experience directly:
  • Clean, pleasant facilities and environment, food and beverages and employee appearance 
  • Intangibles were the non-physical elements that shape the overall guest experience and emotional connection, factors which often determine customer loyalty and satisfaction:
  • Customer service quality, efficiency and convenience, guest emotions and experiences, personalisation and brand reputation 

Now the term customer service has been overtaken by customer care, commonly referred to as CX (customer experience), and a whole new dynamic has developed around the business strategy of meeting, and even exceeding, customer expectations. 

Rather than two factors it now comprises three:

  • Product 
  • Service
  • Experiences

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The focus is moving more towards how the customer perceives the experience they have when interacting with a brand.

Our take on this is: 

The customer will remember how you made them feel long after they have forgotten the value.

commercetools recently commissioned Foundry, a research firm, to conduct a study on the current state of CX (customer Experience) . 

They interviewed over 300  business leaders across various industries, to find what’s important to customers today and the strategies they use to meet customer expectations. 

Some key findings:

  • 81% of organisations cite CX as a competitive differentiator
  • 46% of business leaders cited improving customer experience as their top priority, ahead of product and pricing
  • 78% of respondents said they use customer feedback “extensively” to guide their CX strategies
  • 51% of business leaders said they plan to improve CX by enhancing personalisation in the next 24 months.

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 -Customer service is not a department. It’s a philosophy that everyone in an organization must embrace– Shep Hyken

How consumers feel about customer experience today:

  • 73 % of consumers point to customer experience as a key factor in their purchasing decisions
  • 86%of buyers are willing to pay more for a great customer experience
  • 86% of consumers say showing empathy and understanding is powerful in building a strong relationship with a brand

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Harvard Business Review has found that acquiring a new customer is 5 to 7 times more expensive than retaining an existing one.

The consumer’s attitude to CX has been driven by big brands who pioneered customer loyalty as a core business strategy, recognising early on that retaining customers is far more cost-effective than acquiring new ones. 

Some of the key pioneers include  American Airlines, Tesco – Clubcard, Amazon, Starbucks

They have discovered the holy grail of loyalty, and these are some of the benefits:

  • A 5% increase in customer retention can increase profits by 25% to 95% (Bain & Company)
  • 75% of consumers say they favour companies that offer rewards (Bond Brand Loyalty)
  • Loyalty program members spend 12% to 18% more per year than non-members (McKinsey & Co.)
  • Amazon Prime members spend an average of $1,400 per year, compared to $600 by non-members (Consumer Intelligence Research Partners)