At a time when hyper-competition between brands is exacerbated and “Deliver me everything on-Demand” is becoming the norm for customers, companies need to change their CX strategy in the near future and this according to 2 major axes highlighted by the very good study proposed by Trendwatching:
1) « Saving Attention »: save the attention of customers when possible
Your customer is already benefiting from brands that utilize relevant data to deploy hidden intelligence and recommend (or make) decisions on their behalf. This frees up attention in the customer journey, from discovery to purchase, to maintenance and beyond.
Companies must facilitate the decision-making processes of their customers, and thereby drastically reduce the amount of low value or repetitive attention. This “economy” of attention will be perceived by customers as a better understanding of their needs. This task is articulated around 3 major challenges:
- Making decisions in the customer’s place (Thinking outsourced)
Life in 2017 means an avalanche of daily micro-decisions. If you can allow consumers to outsource some of them – however small – you’ll earn some love.
- Simplify the customer journey (Customer Journeys: Shortened)
Think about all the tasks presented to consumers when they engage with you. How can you eliminate as many as possible? Grocery deliveries are fine, but who is going to put all that food in the fridge?
- Eliminate the points of difficulty of the customer journey (Pain Points: Eradicated)
New digital services can take the pain out of a host of ordinary lifestyle tasks. Such as choosing a gift for that hard-to-please friend or relative. In May 2017, L’Oréal launched the Beauty Gifter chatbot in Canada. The AI-powered Facebook Messenger bot acts as an interface between those giving presents and those receiving them.
2) « Seizing attention »: capture customer’s attention only when it is relevant
Your customers are masters at collecting experiences. Only the best deserve their attention. With skyrocketing digital media consumption and growing choice in (almost) every marketplace, attention is scarce. To get consumers to engage, brands have been breaking loose from their vertical to pop up in surprising places and delight new customers.
There are 3 great ways to capture the attention of customers without sacrificing more precious time than ever before:
- Create amazing and memorable customer experiences (Shock and Awe)
The desire for playful, one of a kind, unexpected experiences is real. Brave brands will experiment at every touchpoint and redefine expectations.
- Propose experiences associated with a form of personal development (Self-Improvement Stories)
Once they’ve met lower-level needs, humans crave self-improvement. This urge spread across the emerging global middle class and collided with the Experience Economy. Today, hard-to-impress clientele seek self-actualization and a colorful story to share with peers.
- Create real theaters of experience where the brand is performing in front of the audience of its customers (Experience Theaters)
May 2017 marked the worldwide debut of Apple’s free educational sessions, through the Today at Apple program, offered at all 495 of the company’s stores. Highly-skilled Apple employees and other experts host events focusing on a range of topics – including photography, coding, music, art, design and business
Source : The Future of Customer Experience, Trendwatching.com, July 2017
