Client Experience the Key to Customer Loyalty

In recent years, the accelerated digitalization that we have witnessed and participated in has brought companies countless benefits and improvements in virtually all sectors, across almost all departments. But at the same time, customers have also been transformed. Thanks to digital platforms, customers now have access to a plethora of products fighting for their attention, as well as a variety of tools and resources that allow them to compare offers and share opinions before making a purchase decision. The power is now on the hands of informed customers.

While brands used to place their product or service at the center of their commercial strategies, highlighting its features and benefits, this model has lost relevance against customer experience. Today's consumers no longer relate to a brand based solely on the satisfaction of their needs; instead, they seek and demand a high quality, personalized experience with an almost immediate response. Some studies reveal that 93% of buyers expect a response from the company in less than 24 hours.

To put the dominant role of this new business strategy into perspective, a Salesforce study found that 88% of customers consider the experience a company provides as important as its products. In exchange for an outstanding shopping experience, they are willing to pay a premium price and even become loyal to a brand. Brand loyalty is increasingly difficult for companies to achieve, considering that 66% of respondents to a Sitecore report said they stopped buying from a brand after just one bad experience.

However, there are several tools available to companies to improve their customer experience. Let's take as an example a process that is traditionally slow and complex: applying for a loan with a banking institution. With digital solutions, such as electronic signature platforms, the applicant's experience changes drastically. Starting with convenience, the applicant does not need to leave their work responsibilities or personal activities to go to a branch office and present important documents. In the digital solution, the process can be completed anytime, from anywhere.

In addition, if the traditional process requires filling out more than one form, the applicants must enter their personal data on each of them. While the electronic signature platform identifies the user and only requires the new and strictly necessary information, which, in addition to a greater convenience, also reduces the time to complete the application and personalizes the experience.

In terms of immediacy, in the traditional application the process is really slow, due to the various identity checks and approvals. Whereas with the e-signature platform, the parties involved in the approval can sign simultaneously, significantly accelerating the process. In fact, 78% of successful transactions performed on one of these platforms, DocuSign, are completed in less than 24 hours. Additionally, all signatories can receive notifications, which contributes to personalizing the customer's experience as they are kept up to date with the progress of their request in near real time.

E-signature platforms also offer integration with various third-party tools, increasing the convenience and comfort of customers, since no matter what brand channel they are in — the banking institution in this example — they can start their application hassle free. In this sense, the bank that implements this type of digital tool stands out among its competitors by offering an efficient, easy and personalized experience.

Prioritizing the customer experience as much, or even more, than the products or services results in a positive perception, which will be reflected in recommendations, whether by word of mouth, reviews or comments. This is of vital importance if we consider that 90% of people are more willing to trust a brand they discover from recommendations, even those from strangers.

In order to offer a good customer experience, it is important to constantly measure the effectiveness of the strategy through surveys, mainly in its essential indicators:

• Satisfaction level (CSAT). How satisfied customers are with the product or service experience.

• Net Promoter Score (NPS). How likely they are to recommend the product or service.

• Customer Effort Score (CES). How easy or difficult it was for customers to use the product or service.

A high-quality customer experience can turn a customer into an ambassador for a brand, product, or service, making it stand out in a market that increasingly offers more alternatives in price or features. The determining purchase factor can be the experience offered. If it is extraordinary, consumers would even be willing to pay extra for a personalized, uncomplicated, and premium treatment.