But, customers have high expectations and expect the same consistently good service from a local business as they would get from a big brand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While achieving that level of consistency in customer experience can seem daunting, with a robust framework, your business can aim to deliver customer delight every day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In this blog post, we explore the essence of a customer experience strategy to help local businesses serve their customers well and delight across every interaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Table of contents<\/h2>- What is customer experience (CX) strategy?\u00a0<\/a>
- Customer personas<\/a><\/li>
- Customer experience differentiators<\/a><\/li>
- Customer experience metrics\u00a0<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li>
- What are the pillars of customer experience strategy?<\/a>
- Easy to find<\/a><\/li>
- Easy to reach<\/a><\/li>
- Convenience\u00a0<\/a><\/li>
- Personalization<\/a><\/li>
- Omnichannel flexibility\u00a0<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li>
- How do you develop a customer experience strategy? Best practices to follow<\/a>
- Customer experience intent statement\u00a0<\/a><\/li>
- Leverage Customer Data<\/a><\/li>
- Competitive Insights\u00a0<\/a><\/li>
- Invest in collaboration tools\u00a0<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li>
- Challenges in building a customer experience strategy\u00a0<\/a>
- Access to information\u00a0<\/a><\/li>
- Data silos\u00a0<\/a><\/li>
- Lackluster technology\u00a0<\/a><\/li>
- Customer interaction analysis<\/a><\/li>
- Online review monitoring\u00a0<\/a><\/li>
- Surveys\u00a0<\/a><\/li>
- Collecting competitive insights<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li>
- How Hillcrest Animal Hospital improved experience<\/a><\/li>
- Customer Experience Management Software\u00a0<\/a>
- Monitor your Online Reviews\u00a0<\/a><\/li>
- Interact with customers\u00a0<\/a><\/li>
- Easily send customer surveys\u00a0<\/a><\/li>
- Insights with natural language processing\u00a0<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li>
- Frequently asked questions about customer experience strategy<\/a><\/li>
- Start delighting your customers with Birdeye\u00a0<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\n\n\n
What is customer experience (CX) strategy? <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
A customer experience strategy is a framework that consists of actionable plans, measures, and strategies to address all customer experience<\/a> touchpoints of a business. It helps businesses deliver a positive and meaningful experience to customers across all interactions as a whole. <\/p>\n\n\n\nWhat are the components of customer experience strategy? <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Customer experience strategy has four major components that help business succeed, and they are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n- Vision<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Customer personas<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Customer experience differentiators<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Customer experience metrics<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Let us explore these components in detail:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Vision<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Make sure that your customer experience strategy fits in with your business’s overall vision. For example, if you’re a realtor looking to sell clients the homes of their dreams, think about the ways you can tailor your strategy to better accomplish this goal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Customer personas<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
No business is going to satisfy everyone. In order to deliver a great customer experience to your base, write down some characteristics of your target customers. What demographic group are they in? How much money do they make?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Customer experience differentiators<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
What sets your business apart from the competition? Think about your business’s key differentiators. Are you a retailer that goes above and beyond in delivering great customer service? Explore ways that you can base your strategy around your competitive advantage. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Customer experience metrics <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can’t manage what you can’t measure. Think about the metrics that you can use to best measure customer satisfaction and understand your overall customer experience. Once you have these benchmarks, you can focus on customer experience optimization<\/a> to refine each touchpoint and maximize the impact of your strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWhat are the pillars of customer experience strategy? <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Here are five areas that you can focus on to build a great customer experience strategy:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nEasy to find<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Remember, the customer journey starts from the moment of first discovery. Studies show that 61% of customers<\/a> only choose to interact with the top three businesses they see in a Google search. So make sure that your business is easy to find on Google search.<\/p>\n\n\n\nA customer also needs to be able to both find your business and understand how your services align with their desires. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
If a customer is looking for an \u201cItalian restaurant,\u201d it\u2019s important that you both claim your listings across the Internet to make sure that they can find your business. It\u2019s also important to collect reviews, so they can see social proof that you\u2019re providing quality services.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Pro Tip: According to Google Diamond expert Ben Fisher, service category and reviews on Google Business Profile are two of the four critical ranking factors on Google local search. Businesses can become easy to find and reach a higher volume of customers by focusing on these factors.\n\nKnow more about growing on Google<\/a> with our insightful Birdeye View session. \n<\/pre>\n\n\n\n\nEasy to reach<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
After the customer does some digging, chances are that they\u2019ll find a couple of businesses that fit their needs. So how do you stand out and become the business they decide to go with?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The businesses that win are the businesses that offer easy options to get in touch. Studies show that 30% of business phone calls<\/a> go unanswered, and customers truly prefer a business that is easily accessible.<\/p>\n\n\n\nMake sure that your team is monitoring channels like livechat, text messaging, and Facebook Messenger. That way, you can get in contact with all of the prospects trying to reach your business. <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Related read: A guide to omnichannel customer experience management<\/a> \n<\/pre>\n\n\n\n\nConvenience <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Next, make sure that your business is offering convenience throughout the entire experience. In today\u2019s digital era, customers have grown accustomed to seamless experiences and don\u2019t want to deal with unnecessary frustrations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Keep an eye on customer feedback so you can see if there are any obstacles that are making your customer journey too hard to complete. Removing these obstacles can make your overall customer experience far smoother. <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\nPersonalization<\/h3>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n\nPersonalization can help you build a stronger emotional connection with your customers. In fact, a Birdeye study<\/a> found that over 36% of marketers use personalized SMS to reach their customers. <\/p>\n\n\n\nIn order to personalize customer experiences, it\u2019s important to keep a record of previous customer interactions. For example, if you\u2019re a dental practice and one of your patients is due for an appointment, you can send a message that says something like this:
- Customer personas<\/a><\/li>
- Customer experience differentiators<\/a><\/li>
- Customer experience metrics\u00a0<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li>
- What are the pillars of customer experience strategy?<\/a>
- Easy to find<\/a><\/li>
- Easy to reach<\/a><\/li>
- Convenience\u00a0<\/a><\/li>
- Personalization<\/a><\/li>
- Omnichannel flexibility\u00a0<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li>
- How do you develop a customer experience strategy? Best practices to follow<\/a>
- Customer experience intent statement\u00a0<\/a><\/li>
- Leverage Customer Data<\/a><\/li>
- Competitive Insights\u00a0<\/a><\/li>
- Invest in collaboration tools\u00a0<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li>
- Challenges in building a customer experience strategy\u00a0<\/a>
- Access to information\u00a0<\/a><\/li>
- Data silos\u00a0<\/a><\/li>
- Lackluster technology\u00a0<\/a><\/li>
- Customer interaction analysis<\/a><\/li>
- Online review monitoring\u00a0<\/a><\/li>
- Surveys\u00a0<\/a><\/li>
- Collecting competitive insights<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li>
- How Hillcrest Animal Hospital improved experience<\/a><\/li>
- Customer Experience Management Software\u00a0<\/a>
- Monitor your Online Reviews\u00a0<\/a><\/li>
- Interact with customers\u00a0<\/a><\/li>
- Easily send customer surveys\u00a0<\/a><\/li>
- Insights with natural language processing\u00a0<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li>
- Frequently asked questions about customer experience strategy<\/a><\/li>
- Start delighting your customers with Birdeye\u00a0<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\n\n\n
What is customer experience (CX) strategy? <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
A customer experience strategy is a framework that consists of actionable plans, measures, and strategies to address all customer experience<\/a> touchpoints of a business. It helps businesses deliver a positive and meaningful experience to customers across all interactions as a whole. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
What are the components of customer experience strategy? <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Customer experience strategy has four major components that help business succeed, and they are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- \n
- Vision<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Customer personas<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Customer experience differentiators<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Customer experience metrics<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Let us explore these components in detail:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Vision<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Make sure that your customer experience strategy fits in with your business’s overall vision. For example, if you’re a realtor looking to sell clients the homes of their dreams, think about the ways you can tailor your strategy to better accomplish this goal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Customer personas<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
No business is going to satisfy everyone. In order to deliver a great customer experience to your base, write down some characteristics of your target customers. What demographic group are they in? How much money do they make?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Customer experience differentiators<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
What sets your business apart from the competition? Think about your business’s key differentiators. Are you a retailer that goes above and beyond in delivering great customer service? Explore ways that you can base your strategy around your competitive advantage. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Customer experience metrics <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can’t manage what you can’t measure. Think about the metrics that you can use to best measure customer satisfaction and understand your overall customer experience. Once you have these benchmarks, you can focus on customer experience optimization<\/a> to refine each touchpoint and maximize the impact of your strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What are the pillars of customer experience strategy? <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Here are five areas that you can focus on to build a great customer experience strategy:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nEasy to find<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Remember, the customer journey starts from the moment of first discovery. Studies show that 61% of customers<\/a> only choose to interact with the top three businesses they see in a Google search. So make sure that your business is easy to find on Google search.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A customer also needs to be able to both find your business and understand how your services align with their desires. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
If a customer is looking for an \u201cItalian restaurant,\u201d it\u2019s important that you both claim your listings across the Internet to make sure that they can find your business. It\u2019s also important to collect reviews, so they can see social proof that you\u2019re providing quality services.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Pro Tip: According to Google Diamond expert Ben Fisher, service category and reviews on Google Business Profile are two of the four critical ranking factors on Google local search. Businesses can become easy to find and reach a higher volume of customers by focusing on these factors.\n\nKnow more about growing on Google<\/a> with our insightful Birdeye View session. \n<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
\nEasy to reach<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
After the customer does some digging, chances are that they\u2019ll find a couple of businesses that fit their needs. So how do you stand out and become the business they decide to go with?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The businesses that win are the businesses that offer easy options to get in touch. Studies show that 30% of business phone calls<\/a> go unanswered, and customers truly prefer a business that is easily accessible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Make sure that your team is monitoring channels like livechat, text messaging, and Facebook Messenger. That way, you can get in contact with all of the prospects trying to reach your business. <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Related read: A guide to omnichannel customer experience management<\/a> \n<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
\nConvenience <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Next, make sure that your business is offering convenience throughout the entire experience. In today\u2019s digital era, customers have grown accustomed to seamless experiences and don\u2019t want to deal with unnecessary frustrations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Keep an eye on customer feedback so you can see if there are any obstacles that are making your customer journey too hard to complete. Removing these obstacles can make your overall customer experience far smoother. <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\nPersonalization<\/h3>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\nPersonalization can help you build a stronger emotional connection with your customers. In fact, a Birdeye study<\/a> found that over 36% of marketers use personalized SMS to reach their customers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In order to personalize customer experiences, it\u2019s important to keep a record of previous customer interactions. For example, if you\u2019re a dental practice and one of your patients is due for an appointment, you can send a message that says something like this:
- Interact with customers\u00a0<\/a><\/li>
- Data silos\u00a0<\/a><\/li>
- Leverage Customer Data<\/a><\/li>
- Easy to reach<\/a><\/li>
- Customer experience differentiators<\/a><\/li>
![\"Image](\"https:\/\/birdeye.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Review-monitoring-for-customer-experience-strategy-1024x686.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"Image](\"https:\/\/birdeye.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Surveys-for-customer-experience-strategy-1024x686.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"Image](\"https:\/\/birdeye.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/NPS-survey-for-customer-experience-strategy-1024x686.jpg\")
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<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n![\"Watch](\"https:\/\/birdeye.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/NEW-Watch-Demo-Regular.png\")
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