Mary's Experience with Samsung Galaxy
Mary uses a Samsung Galaxy smartphone but has experienced several problems with the smartphone. Mary's experience is painful because Samsung is not customer centric as it failed to satisfy Mary's need for a Smart Phone that has long battery life (Lemon and Verhoef, 2016). The customer's journey mapping is also poorly done as the poor sound quality problems should have been anticipated. As a consequence, the Smartphone deliver a poor customer experience.
Proto Persona Profiles
vs Iphone 6
Name: Joyce
Behaviors and Actions
Uses the internet to get her news.
Uses her phone to get to Facebook, listen to music online.
Demographic and Psychographic details:
University Student
25 Years old.
Works part-time at an news company.
Pain Points and Needs
Good battery life
Fast access to the internet
High quality sound
Touch Points (positive)
Apple iphone is a superior product that rarely disappoints across multiple performance dimensions. Apple ensures their customers of high quality products by Doing Things Right the First Time (DRIFT) Apple commits a lot of resources in developing high quality products that can meet customer expectation across multiple dimensions (Lemon and Verhoef, 2016). In this case, the iphone's superior battery technology is able to support usage of the device for longer than on similar Samsung smart phones. Apple iphones are also able to complement their products by using communication channels to enhance customer experience. Iphone users can access apps from the apple app store and music from itunes further enhancing their customer experience.
Differences between the Customer Experiences
The main difference between Apple and Samsung product experience is that the former focuses on long-term customer relationships and commitment (Watkinson, 2013). According to Meyer and Schwager (2007), Apple is able to satisfy their customers by focusing on the quality of their products. A former Apple CEO once said that Apple will win the war by focusing on the depth and not the breadth of the market. Apple has always insisted that their focus in the market is quality and not quantity. Many technology experts have put Samsung iphons at three of four times the reliability of rivals Samsung. Apps on Apple Appstore also undergo more stringent testing than those that come through from Android's play store. For any app to be published on Appstore it has to follow strict guidelines for development set by Apple. According to Lemon and Verhoef (2016), Apple engineers are required to build products that they would want to use and that go beyond satisfying customers needs.
Apple has also excelled in Doing Things Right the First Time (DRIFT) as seen in many of their new technology products. Apple devices are based on technology that is reliable and safe, and rarely reach into untested territories with consumer products. In contrast, Samsung devices have a number of reliability problems as seen in a case where Smart phones had to be called up because they were exploding. In contrast, Apple introduced a flawless iphone with a touchscreen and has gone on to introduce several generations of the device wiuth new features. The ipad another iconic product went beyond customers expectations of a device that can replace the computer as the choice device for accessing the internet. The ipad exceeded customer's expectations and could perform theneccesary tasks perfectly. The beyond the need philosophy is one of the reasons Apple are better at satisfying their customers than Samsung.
Apple also focuses on long-term customer journey planning to build customer relations based on customer experience. According to Meyer and Schwager (2007), Apple only wants customers to buy their products because they are in love with them and understand them. Apple wants to give each customer that visits their store a memorable and magical experience regardless of whether they will purchase a product. In contrast, Samsung does not have their own store for selling products and thus the store touch point is lacking in the Samsung customer experience journey. On the other hand, Apple emphasizes that it does not sell stuff but instead sells experiences. At the store, customers are encouraged to interact with the products on their own. Apple also has a training program for customers that aim to arouse the creative spirit of its customers. Apple has thus been able to create an in-store customer experience that is unchallenged in the electronics industry. According to Shin (2015), most people will enter an Apple store because it is a place they love. Some Apple store even includes performers who go there to enjoy products and perform for Apple customers. Lemon and Verhoef (2016) points out that there are over 255,000 videos posted on YouTube of people dancing inside Apple's stores. Apple customers are also assured of the quality of products sold directly by Apple store which sharply contrast with Samsung use of distributors to sell products to the customers.
Communication with customers is also different in the two companies. Samsung relies on official communication channels to guide their customers on how to use their products. Many of their communications focus on promoting products, and networking with distributors and network providers (Yulianda and Handayani, 2015). Samsung has also invested heavily in advertising with the aim of attracting more consumers. In contrast, Apple is more adept at communicating with customers using the available communication channels. According to Lemon and Verhoef (2016), Apple uses the audience's language and avoids technical terms such as gigahertz, megahertz and processing power. Instead Apple uses common terms to specify product attributes.
Apple use of communication channels has been able to enhance customer experience greatly. Great customer experience enables apple create positive Word Of Mouth. According to Lemon and Verhoef (2016), 99% of Apple customer recommended the iphone to colleagues and friends. Similar positive recommendations of Apple also follow on social media and TV by various brand ambassadors that are impressed by Apple's customer service. Apple effectiveness in using customer experience means the firm does not need to advertise on TV or through other channels.
Conclusion
Apple provides a superior customer experience than that of rival Samsung although they market similar products. This case study has found two pain points in the Samsung customer experience journey. First, Samsung products are affected by poor battery life and their smart phones do not long as long as those of Apple. Moreover, Samsung devices are unreliable and some of their products were recalled after exploding in use. In contrast Apple's customer experience emphasized Doing Things Right the First Time and their product are of the highest quality in the market. Apple also focuses on building long-term relationships with customers based on superior customer experience. The customer experience begins once a customer enters an Apple store where they are allowed to interact with Apple devices and are sometimes entertained by volunteers. Arguably, the customer experience of Apple customers last for lifetime as every aspect of the customer experience journey is covered.
References
Lemon, K. N., & Verhoef, P. C. (2016). Understanding customer experience throughout the customer journey. Journal of Marketing, 80(6), 69-96.
Meyer, C., & Schwager, A. (2007). Customer experience. Harvard business review, 85(2), 116-126.
Shin, D. H. (2015). Effect of the customer experience on satisfaction with smartphones: Assessing smart satisfaction index with partial least squares. Telecommunications Policy, 39(8), 627-641.
Watkinson, M. (2013). The ten principles behind great customer experiences. Pearson UK.
Yulianda, S., & Handayani, T. (2015). The effect of two aspects-quality products and consumers psychology-toward the purchase decisions of Samsung mobile phone. Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 6(5 S5), 203.
