How to create a customer experience strategy for your biz

No matter its size, when a business approaches me to consult with it, there’s one constant I recommend. If the business has a tight or non-existent marketing budget, the area I get them to focus on is customer experience.

Why? It’s a fantastic marketing with no money strategy. Its value as a key differentiator is recognised by the business world. A Deloitte study found 88 per cent of companies now view customer experience as their biggest competitive lever. Forbes reported customer-centric companies are 60% more profitable than companies which aren’t.

And creating a great customer experience is even more important if a biz is seeking to attract and retain a female consumer. Women have a much higher expectation around customer experience than men.

If you’re able to exceed their already high expectations on customer experience you’ll not only have a very happy customer but will activate her in organic marketing as a ‘micro influencer’ who actively recommends and refers others to you for business.

This is particularly important with the mother market. Research shows that once women become mothers, they’re eight times more likely to talk about brands. Because mums are the go-to gurus for recommendations on anything, they hold incredible influence over the buying decisions of other women in their network as well as their extended family.

Given the increasing number of Millennial and Gen X mothers working in all sorts of industries and positions, your goal should be to have them actively advocating for your business via their social media, their conversations, their connections, their reviews.

There are lots of brands which excel at customer experience. In Australia, a recent list of top performers included Bunnings, Mecca, Chemist Warehouse, The Iconic and Bendigo Bank. But the brand I hold up as my litmus test these days in terms of exceeding customer expectations is July luggage—and I’m not alone.

The Australian company, which has five stores and more in the works, is the official luggage supplier for the Australian Olympic Games team in Paris in, um, July.

I was introduced to the brand via word of mouth from my friend Ros, a senior executive and mum of two. She’s an early adopter of anything in the fashion, homewares and apparel categories and cottoned on early to July (named for the biggest month for travel globally.)

When her luggage was poorly handled by airport staff and arrived on the carousel missing a wheel, Ros took it back to July. It was fitted with a new wheel, pronto and for free. She was impressed that the brand really does back its lifetime warranty and said it gave her “complete confidence” recommending it as a great customer experience.

So despite the premium price tag when compared to my regular Samonsite, I decided with all the travel I do as a speaker and travel lover that I ‘deserved’ grown up, decent luggage.

One afternoon I hit up their head office location in the back blocks of Melbourne’s Collingwood. The assistant who helped me out was knowledgeable about dimensions, features, and durability and I walked away having ordered two limited edition lime green cases that would turn heads and stand out on the carousel.

That was a tick for customer experience, but looking good and having friendly staff isn’t enough to get a gold star from me. So I’ve been relentlessly road testing my July luggage in Europe, Asia, Australia and the US.

Apart from the lifetime warranty which gives customers confidence that the premium price is worth it and the brand story of two travel mad mates who couldn’t find cool, durable luggage, here’s what else the business uses to its advantage. Any biz can do the same to create a memorable, trustworthy customer experience strategy:

—It’s local. Who doesn’t love the feeling of supporting a local Australian business over a global behemoth?

—It feels bespoke. By using limited edition colours that generate excitement and create expectation and demand, July has taken a lesson from the creative sneaker industry.

—Thoughtful product features. Some of the luggage has an external power bank to charge phones and computers on the go, which is great for business travellers and the internal compartments make it easy to pack just carry on for two weeks on the road.

—Personalisation. You have the option of naming your luggage which helps identify it over other luggage of the same brand and also creates a bond with your bag and the brand. Clever.

—Associated travel products. I look forward to their newsletters about new products. Somehow July has made travel luggage as exciting for me as getting new clothes.

—Innovative marketing. The brand actively encourages new luggage owners to share their travel experiences with the brand. How? They include it in a customer service pack when your luggage is delivered. This is smart as Millennials and Gen Z in particular really want to see customer generated content from brands. It acts as important third-party endorsement for the brand.

Bottom line: I’m sold. Yes, the product is good but what sets July apart is the customer experience. It makes something you shove clothes into and haul about the world aspirational. Their customer experience strategy is one any biz should study closely.

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