Client experience is the relationship between a company and its clients. It is important because it boosts client lifetime value, increases retention, builds brand loyalty, impacts brand reputability, and gives companies a competitive advantage.
What is client experience?
Client experience focuses on the relationship between a business and its clients. It includes everything that affects a client’s perception and feelings about the business and every interaction a client has over the life of the relationship with that company. Therefore, it is important that the client experience is enjoyable from the client’s point of view.
More businesses are realizing that client experience is their best chance to stand out from their competitors. A good service, product, or competitive price is no longer enough to increase loyalty, retention, and value—a personalized client experience is a differentiator.
Companies that provide a seamless, effective client experience attract and retain their clients. A bad client experience can create the opposite impact. For example, 50% of customers will switch to a competitor after one bad experience, and the number snowballs to 80% after more than one bad experience.
Why is client experience important?
When companies personalize the client experience and ensure that each client feels special and unique, it sends a positive message that they are essential to the business. This builds feelings of trust and loyalty, which contribute to valuable, long-lasting relationships and creates a community of advocates to impact a company’s brand reputability.
Word of mouth is one of the most powerful tools to build an organization. By creating an enjoyable client experience, companies are making an advocate out of every client. This is extremely important when people are touched by hundreds of brands and advertisements daily.
Client experience needs to be tailored to the company’s ideal client; it is not a one-size-fits-all. By creating an experience that is personalized and enjoyable from the client’s point of view, companies can differentiate themselves from their competitors, fill their pipeline, and retain clients.