Customer expectations have evolved fast in the wake of the global pandemic. Whether you’re selling to businesses or consumers, buyers want speedier, more convenient, friction-free service from any brand they interact with.

That means organisations have had to up their game, making use of the technology available to them to automate processes, digitise workflows and ultimately deliver interactions that add value to keep their customers loyal.

What is CX?  

CX or Customer Experience simply refers to the way in which a brand engages with its customers at each phase of the buyer journey. An overall customer experience is built as a sum of all the interactions a customer might have with your organisation, and the sentiment towards your brand after those interactions.

According to a study by PWC in the US, almost 80% of consumers claimed that speed, convenience, knowledgeable help and friendly service were the more important aspects of a positive customer experience.

That means businesses have to think outside the box to deliver an exceptional customer journey. Building a better customer experience is about more than just improving your sales initiatives. It encompasses your marketing campaigns, lead generation endeavours, after-sales and customer service functions as well.

Because CX is, in essence, an emotional response between your customers and your brand, it requires a tangible, solid strategy that you can build into every touchpoint along your customer journey.

How the sales cycle contributes to customer experience

While business leaders must think about CX holistically, and build a strategy that aligns all departments, it’s wise to start with sales. Your sales cycle is an integral element in building a customer experience that drives loyalty.

It’s important to break the siloes to effectively analyse the efficiency of your sales cycle, working with other departments to establish a plan for building a better customer experience. Communication, openness, and customer feedback are very important when it comes to reviewing the sales cycle. For example, if customers have a bad experience at the point of aftersales or customer support, this can be extremely damaging for your sales endeavours moving forward and would need to be addressed. Reviewing your customer’s full journey from beginning to end is a good place to start.

Be aware that the cause of a ropey sales cycle might be a result of dissatisfaction at the point of lead generation too. If you’re establishing and connecting with new leads in a way that prospects might find intrusive or irritating- you’re adversely impacting your customer experience from the off. Likewise, if the way you connect with existing customers displays a lack of personalisation or insufficient knowledge of the historical interactions with your brand you could be damaging the longevity of that client.

With processes in place that enable your team to review customer context at a glance and gain new leads in a more effective way, you’ll find there’s better scope for engaged, satisfied customers in the long run.

Building a sales cycle that drives trust 

As we mentioned earlier, trust is the key to a better customer experience. Implementing processes and practices that let your customers know that you know them, and value them will stand you in good stead for more trusting, long-lasting customer relations. That means the speed, convenience, and levels of service that your customers expect in the new digital revolution must be addressed.

Keep the team aligned: 

It’s best to make sure that your team are on board. Outlining your strategy for a better customer experience and sharing it is very important. It’s also wise to set out clearly defined goals for all departments. It’s good practice to involve all staff as if they are customer-facing, building a culture that cares about your customers is the key.

Concentrate on convenience:

Now is time to home in on how convenient your processes are for your customers. With so many distractions and so much competition, businesses now need to meet customers where they are. If it’s difficult for a customer to find you, make contact, make a purchase, chances are, they probably won’t. That means you must streamline the journey at every touchpoint. Make sure your social media campaigns are reaching the right people, give customers the option to contact you via their social channels of choice, ensure your website layout makes sense for a first-time visitor, and that back-end purchasing processes are glitch-free.

Customise your communications:

Your customers don’t want to feel that they’re incessantly being sent sales messages. On the flip side though, they may not want complete radio silence. It’s important to find the right balance for customer communications in terms of frequency. But it’s also very important to personalise your communications as best you can. Whether it’s a bi-weekly e-shot, a phone call to check-in, or a targeted social media campaign, you’ll see much better results by customising your communications with products you know your customers will love. The best way to achieve that is by building better data insights.

Harness better data 

The easiest way to gather more accurate, insightful information about your customers, is by harnessing your data and building a data-driven mindset. With the right analytics and metrics tools and processes in place, sales teams can provide more personalised, targeted experiences for their customers, which in turn drives trust in the brand, and long term advocacy of your service and your products.

Driving trust in your brand with Toucan’s sales tools 

Toucan’s dedicated sales tools are designed to provide better intelligent insights for Sales Managers and their team members. With valuable insights on customer behaviour all at their fingertips, sales teams are able to build more impactful, digital, friction-free experiences for customers, keeping them engaged and loyal for longer.

For more info on how you could harness your analytics to drive better sales success, take a tour of our comprehensive digital sales solutions, or to experience Toucan Sales Analytics first hand, click here to request a demo.