In the volatile atmosphere that is today’s business climate, a small business simply can’t leave anything to chance. A small business needs every advantage it can possibly get and one of those advantages just may be the employees. But, are your employees helping or hurting your marketing strategy? Sadly, in many cases, they are hurting the bottom line simply because they don’t know enough. Some recent research released by PwC, reveals that the more your employees are in the loop, the stronger your bottom line just may be. The following is taken directly from that published research:
- What truly makes for a good experience? Speed. Convenience. Consistency. Friendliness. And one big connector: human touch—that is, creating real connections by making technology feel more human and giving employees what they need to create better customer experiences. People are increasingly loyal to the retailers, products, brands and devices that consistently provide exceptional value with minimum friction or stress.
- The payoffs for valued, great experiences are tangible: up to a 16% price premium on products and services, plus increased loyalty. In return, among U.S. consumers, there’s a sharp increase in willingness to give up personal data: 63% say they’d share more information with a company that offers a great experience.
- You won’t have many chances to get it right. One in three consumers (32%) say they will walk away from a brand they love after just one bad experience.
- Human interaction matters now—and 82% of U.S. and 74% of non-U.S. consumers want more of it in the future. Regardless, the technology supporting human interaction must be seamless and unobtrusive across platforms.
- What matters most to all generations surveyed holds true for Gen Z, too. But what passes for speed and knowledge to Gen Z might be different. Instant is expected. Convenience—seamless transition from tablet to smartphone to desktop to human—is a baseline expectation.
- 54% of U.S. consumers say customer experience at most companies needs improvement. That’s quite an experience gap.
- 43% of all consumers would pay more for greater convenience; 42% would pay more for a friendly, welcoming experience. And,among U.S. customers, 65% find a positive experience with a brand to be more influential than great advertising.
- 73% of all people point to customer experience as an important factor in their purchasing decisions. Yet only 49% of U.S. consumers say companies provide a good customer experience today.
-Written by Kevin Sawyer
