The customer experience makes or breaks buyer relationships

If you think your company's outstanding products and/or services are enough to get your clients to recommend your brand, a new infographic released by Zendesk, a provider of customer service and support ticket software, will prove you wrong. Research shows 55 percent of respondents will tell their friends and colleagues about a company due to its outstanding service instead of its offerings or its prices. Below, you will learn why delivering a stellar experience is the secret to growing your business and your contact list stored in your CRM system.

People will talk

Nearly 4 in 5 customers will tell people about a poor experience with a brand. Two-thirds have even tried to discourage others from purchasing from a company, while 85 percent at least issued a warning to their friends or colleagues before they interacted with the business. You need to realize that people like to talk about their experience with a brand, and this can make or break your growth efforts, despite your marketing campaigns and lead generation strategies.

Only 4 percent of Americans said they can be swayed by the advertisements created by brands. Instead, they listen to the insights of others. Two in 5 respondents said they began their relationship with a company because of its outstanding reputation for customer service. Today's buyers like to know they will be taken care of by a brand. In fact, 85 percent even said they would pay up to 25 percent more if they knew that they would have a top-notch experience.

Become active in the world of mobile

So you know that the customer experience is often the primary driver that leads customers to find new brands or to continue relationships with them, but you don't know what you can do to make sure buyers will enjoy their interaction with the company. The answer could lie in the mobile Web.

Michelle de Haaff, vice president of marketing at turnkey customer feedback solutions provider Medallia, told Biz Report that companies can get feedback in real time if they embrace the potential that comes with engaging nearby shoppers on their smartphones and quickly troubleshooting issues with them on social media platforms.

"The dominance of mobile technologies and social media has created feedback loops that are spontaneous and public – whether it's someone who responds to your SMS survey or writes a negative tweet about your company," de Haaff said. "Acting equally quickly to respond and improve these relationships has become a make-or-break necessity for companies focused on customer experience."

Taking advantage of these growing technologies can allow companies to add the positive experience of customers who felt like their needs were met by a brand. At the same time, companies can perform damage control with other buyers who were less than pleased with the levels of customer service they received. By sending surveys and feedback forms to customers after they interact with the business, you can quickly management relationships with them, good or bad.

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