Customer experience is a key and essential element of marketing. It is an integral part of any product that is marketed or promoted whose essence cannot be overemphasized. The experience is what determines the level of satisfaction that is to be felt by the customer who, consequently, determines subsequent demand and purchase of the same product by the same customer.
Experience definitely exceeds offering the product or service. It boils down to offering customers services that leave them with a positive feeling concerning the business. Either way, they will always share their views and comments with others. This makes it important to create and maintain a good customer experience.
I will discuss the key concepts of experience with illustrations from two personal experiences; one being positive and the other one poor. Both experiences happened within the hotel industry though in two different restaurants.
The negative customer experience happened when I ordered for donuts online from one of the restaurant not far from my aboard. This was convenient at the time since they offered home delivery as well. The challenges set in when the delivery took longer than the stipulated time. Not only did it take long but also upon arrival, some of the flavors that I had ordered had been switched without prior information. A call to the restaurant was answered by the manager who was less apologetic and more defensive. The weekend offer indicated on their website was not on as well.
The positive experience on the other hand happened during my visit to a newly launched restaurant within the neighborhood. On arrival I was met by a jovial staff that was quite hospitable. The variety of what they offered was amazing and the manager herself came over to ask for my views on how I had been treated and elaborated further on the kind of services they offered including the extras. The level of personalization was a notch higher compared to the previous encounter.
Significance of customer experience
Pine and Gilmore (1999) view experiences as a unique concept of marketing in both theoretical and practical aspects. The major concept of customer experience is the creation of experiential value which is responsible for the creation of the different types of experiences according to “state of the art literature on experience marketing,” Gentile et al., (2007, p. 397). This is to say that services or products offered to customers should go over and beyond the original offer to create a feeling that is good about the business. A positive experience ought to be lasting, thus, has to be unique and distinctive. The distinction between ordinary and extraordinary experiences lies within the elements therein which have to be determined and put into consideration. Understanding consumer experiences is therefore, a core task for businesses which has to be done diligently then amplified. One of the most fundamental concepts of experience marketing is that value does not only reside in the object of consumption (products and services), and in seeking out and processing information about such objects; value also lies in the experience of consumption.
Proto-persona diagram for the poor experience
Alex
Pain points
Poor quality of donuts
No reimbursement
Long delivery time
Facts
Poor quality products
Incompetent staff
Unreachable customer service
Needs " solutions
Fast delivery of orders
Address customer grievances
As illustrated in the diagram, it is elaborate how poor the experience really was as opposed to the high expectation of quality service that I had anticipated from the restaurant. The two main ‘pain’ points were the fact that there was no value for money and that there wasn’t any form of regret message from the management of the restaurant.
Customer expectation
One particular concept of CEM that was bypassed by the management of the restaurant was the fact that they did not know what I expected from them as a customer. Kishka (2003) views expectations by customers as sets of interaction between customers and products. Their priority could have been to create experience for me which begins with the donuts and goes even beyond. Unfortunately, the experience turned out to be unpleasant in the process. They could have first of all ensured that the donuts are packaged accordingly and delivered on time. On calling the restaurant to launch an official complain, the customer service wasn’t receptive and this communicates how less concerned they were.
Reviews and feedback
According to Kishka (2003), management of experience is viewed as a systematic approach whereby customer reviews are measured and managed. The failure in this instance resulted from the fact that they were not keen on getting my reviews and feedback on the experience that I had as a customer: whether I was satisfied or not. It is therefore important for customer views to be taken to determine whether their experiences were positive or negative. Positive experiences should be maintained and even exceeded while means and ways should be sought to minimize the negative ones.
Proto-persona diagram for the positive experience
Alex
Behaviors
Making orders online
Active on social media
Value opinions
Facts
Keen on food quality
Love authenticity
Values quality
Needs " goals
Want order to be delivered faster and in good condition
The positive experience encountered in the restaurant was as a result of mixed components ranging from the reception I received up to the moment I was leaving the restaurant. The welcome was quite professional and elegant in that it inspired some sense of serenity and comfort. This is in agreement with Pine and Gilmore (1999) who refer to experiences as events that engage people in ways that are personal. The waiters and managers were well groomed and within a short period I was aware of the huge variety of delicacies that they offer including home deliveries for customers who live within their stipulate range. In addition, the manager was readily available to assist in case of any clarification that was needed.
Emotional connection
Holbrook and Hirschman (1982) highlighted the essence of having an emotional connection with customers, thus, in my case the customer experience was good due to the emotional connection that was initiated by the customer service. The personnel first of all developed an interest in knowing what it was that I wanted by first listening before giving detailed descriptions on what was available to offer. Listening portrays a sense of care which can be used as a tool to find out the concerns or needs of customers. This makes customers feel valued therefore, connect easily with those that serve.
Customer perspective
The ambience and kind of reception that I received created a perspective in me that definitely I was in the right place and that was what I wanted. Through attentive listening, it was easy for the personnel in charge to be able to know my perspective as well. This helped them in building upon the same such that only the positivity of the place is what I could see. Customer perspective plays a huge role in connecting with the customer as well (C. W. Park, 2005).
Comparison of the poor and positive customer experiences
The failure exhibited by the poor experience offered by the first restaurant seems to be systemic in the sense that the desire and urge to create customer value lacks. On the contrary, according to Gentile et al., (2007, p. 397), the positive experience offered by the other one is initiated by displaying the extent of their value towards their customers beyond the products and services that they offer which makes it more important for any organization to be concerned even more with the mindset and perspective that is formulated by the customer in the course of service delivery.
Conclusion
The difference between the poor and positive experiences points towards the rating of the services as conducted by the customer based on the quality of services received. However, it is more important for service providers to connect with consumers and if possible personalize the experience to create customer value whereby the customer will feel highly valued and motivated to continue doing business with them. Therefore, there is need to go an extra mile to understand what it is the customers really want and as well find out what they think of the business including the services being offered therein. All this should be done in an effort to create an image that is positive as well as a lifetime value for the customers.
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