Factfile 16
The concept of the customer experience
The key to delivering propositions is that they are deployed in such a way that the customer receives, and feels that they receive, the core element of value they expect and anticipate.
In order to ensure this happens successfully, the concept of the customer experience is used. This describes a customers total set of interactions with a company or brand as described through their eyes, rather than by some pre-determined product or organisational construct that relates to the supplying business.
The customer has experiences of a company right along a chain that begins with awareness and ends, in some cases, with the return of a good or service. The elements of the customer experience chain are:
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Awareness
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Selection
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Buying
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Receiving
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Use
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Assistance
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Maintenance
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Resolution
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Return
Defining and understanding the product in this way allows the b2b marketer to:
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Focus attention on improving the overall customer experience.
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Remove product features that do not add value.
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Develop innovative methods of adding greater value to the customer.
The concept of the customer value proposition can be applied to each element of the experience chain in order to enable this process.