Does Customer Experience (CX) Pay Off?

Nothing is more irritating than a bad customer experience. How many times have you walked into fast food restaurant to find that the self serve counter is arranged: straws | cups | filling station | cover. The customers bottleneck as the ones that forgot a straw now have to cross back through the line. It isn’t hard to see the problem and arrange the line as: cups | filling station | cover | straws. Better yet, why not build the cover and straw into one unit? Why can’t these restaurants solve this simple problem?

We say to ourselves all the time, “when there’s a better alternative, I’m going to that restaurant.” Customers vote with their feet (and keyboards) with less and less loyalty. That’s why companies with loyal customers are more valuable. Checkout this great article by Christof Binder and Dominique M. Hanssens that appeared in the Harvard Business Review on the impact of repeat customers on the value of a business.

When is the last time you talked with your customer? How many times do they complain about your company? Are you listening?