Why Customer Experience Matters

Last year my wife and I were looking to buy a new TV stand. We shopped around to a few spots, and finally found one we really liked. There was a display model set up in the store for us to look at. We assumed that in order to purchase it, we would need an associate to grab one from the stock room for us.

We looked around for several minutes. No associate to be found. We wandered around the store a little to see if we could find an associate from a different department. Finally, we found one. A lady wearing a name tag clearly identified that she was an employee of the store and was currently on eduty. She was off to the side, tapping away at a computer. We approached patiently waiting for her to acknowledge us. About thirty seconds went by, and my wife (assuming the associate didn't notice us) politely said, "excuse me, can you help us?"

There was no response, not even a glace up from the computer screen, from the associate. She continued doing whatever she was doing. Because of my line of work as a customer experience consultant, I was curious to see just how long this associate would let us wait.

Ten minutes. And probably even longer. We waited for ten full minutes before we gave up and left the store.

Sure, we could have been more forward and sought out the help of another associate, but we shouldn't have to. We're in a store with the intention of buying something. It is the job of every employee of that store to ensure we leave with everything we came for. That's how successful stores make money.

Needless to say, we bought our TV stand somewhere else. Not only that, neither I nor my wife have ever set foot in that store again.

This is a great example of why a great customer experience is crucial to your business' success. A bad experience loses you a sale. But even worse, it loses you the potential of future sales. Conversely, a positive experience will score you that sale. It will also likely produce future sales from that customer. A really great experience will generate referral business. All from one great experience. If you are able to provide that great experience every single day, you'll have a very healthy business.

Here at Fortress, we've seen businesses completely change their trajectory solely because they made a commitment to improving their customer experience. What can we help you do to grow your bottom line through a superior customer experience?