Buying is not only a 100% rational act-I buy because the product is a quality product and its price is reasonnable-but sentimental- I buy because I like this brand and because it is a source of emotions and memories. UX or User eXperience dictactes buying benhaviours. UX is the feeling a customer experiences when in contact with a company, a product or a service (such as home services) and this feeling is independent from the media (actual physical contact, phone, web). This feeling creates memories the customer will keep and share. The customer expects positive and emotional experiences from the brand that can anticipates their needs
Acquiring and retaining a customer depends on two elements: the product (or service) and the experience. The price has almost become optional. Some studies show that it accounts for only 20% in the customer decision. Satisfied customers who have all they’ve been promised for can leave only because there’s a more attractive offer out there. What threatens or strenghtens customer loyalty isn’t to keep your promises but the very nature of the promise itself.
The customer is in for the product but stays because of the experience.
As a matter of fact, this notion is far from new and Apple has and still is using it and made it their trademark. Recently, some experts such as B.J. Pine (Co-author of The Experience Economy – 2011) describe that instead of creating experiences, most companies simply offer a series of services gravitating around their traditional products. Thanks to Apple, and other UX-focused companies, customers wish to be happily and favorably surprised in the long run.
According to B.J. Pine, » It has been proven that you can expect a 25 to 50% benefit increase if you better cutomer loyalty by 5% ». You build an actual marketing team by creating unconditional fans. They talk about your services and about their experience in a convincing and positive way in their networks and that has much more impact than any advertising campaign. The stakes are high! High enough to get our attention!
Yet another tendency strengthens that trend. According to Brian Solis, digital specialist (main analyst of Altimer Group), the on-demand or access economy is the trend to follow for the next two years rather than the « sharing economy » or the « mobile-first » behaviours. Customers and employees in the digital world act and think differently. They want everything to behave as their favorite apps. They want an instant answer to their needs. Ignore their existence and operating mode and you miss a very promising market. This doesn’t mean you should be 100% digital to resist but you should open a new sales channel and integrate experience in your offer because more and more customers and prospects are expecting to live that experience they already know from other brands.
It is all about adapting because we all know small or big businesses that have disappeared for not having operated their digital mutation. There will always be a need for human beings to perform home services but phone and customer visits for a quotation will not be used anymore in the near future.
As we’ve repeated in this article : UX experience is becoming more important than the product itself. We must now anticipate the way services will better the lives of the users It is a major challenge to exist not only in tomorrow’s economybut in today’s already.
According to the conclusion of «IBM C-Suite Study» (2015 edition), CEOs greatest worry towards the digital is the ever changing competition environment which forces them to change their business practices unless they won’t even forsee the threats coming. They must at least be aware of this. The risk also comes from new competitors or new challengers with a much more important « striking force » than traditional actors. These pure players can position themselves on global UX chains (such as Amazon services for example). In the digital economy your customers are everywhere… but your competitors also.
Instead of reacting like Taxis G7 with Uber or the Accord group with Airbnb, it’s all about anticipating and going forward to look for innovation where it lies and often this is outside the company.
[av_dropcap1]« If you’re not an experience you won’t be a brand anymore… If you are not a platform you won’t be an experience anymore.».[/av_dropcap1]
It’s not only about uberization (or platformization), no need to get afraid. There is value migration due to service intermediation. The service only is not enough, that’s a fact. The experience economy is on the way and no area will be spared. Whatever your business you will certainly find a 100% digital competitor? So, how will you surf that wave ?
Sources :
http://www.frenchweb.fr/les-entreprises-aveugles-face-a-la-concurrence-digitale/223437
http://www.frenchweb.fr/les-26-tendances-a-suivre-dans-les-deux-prochaines-annees-selon-brian-solis/225493
http://www.duperrin.com/2015/06/08/le-fosse-entre-marques-et-consommateurs-se-creuse/
http://www.lepoint.fr/economie/l-experience-client-l-avenir-du-marketing-28-03-2013-1646836_28.php
http://www.frenchweb.fr/uber-tesla-xiaomi-comment-devenir-un-nouveau-game-changer/216937
