When you create a brand, there is a lot to consider. You want your customers to walk away with a positive impression so that they come back again.
If you’re first impression falls short of your customer’s expectations, those customers are more likely to find another brand to fulfill their needs.
So what’s involved ensuring that your customers equate your brand with their satisfaction? Here are 6 considerations:
Research First
Listening to customer insight is the best way to be efficient with the launch of a product, and to give your business the best opportunity for success. If done correctly, you’ll find out exactly what and how to provide the best and simplest solution. Not only that, but you’ll understand how and where best to reach out to them.
Dropbox is a good example of this. Early on, they adopted Lean Startup principles which allowed them to focus on validating their assumptions on what their users wanted. In 15 months, they went from 100K to 4M registered users.
Create Value
Create meaning and experience throughout the customer journey so that the price that the customer is paying for your product or service is equal or less to the value that they feel they are getting from you.
Contactually provides customers with a free 30 day trial (as most SAAS companies do), but they ensure that you make the most of your trial period. They offer walk-through appointments via phone, send email tips during your trial, and make sure that you know about the online tutorials to make the learning curve easier. By offering help right out of the gate, they provide value and a positive experience. You feel taken care of as a customer, and they’ll most likely get your business in exchange.
Provide Good Service
Raise your hand if you hate punching (or saying) multiple numbers into your phone to a recorded message, right before you’re put on hold for 10 minutes?
Providing a positive experience for the customer when they want to resolve an issues is one of the top reasons why brand loyalty exists today. People have accessibility to shop for another solution (aka: your competitor), and they’ll switch quickly if you make resolving an issue difficult. So, make it pleasant and make it quick.
Zappos is notorious for their excellent customer service. You want to exchange your recently purchased shoes? No problem! They’ll send you a new pair, and you just mail the old pair when you get a chance. How easy is that?
Design Great Products
Make sure your design is well considered. Customer onboarding, brand standards and design, brand messaging, functionality and usability are all important when considering product design. Make sure you create a product that is simple and that customers love to use.
One of personal favorite apps is Instagram. It’s a well designed, simple, and easy to use product, and the messaging is simple and concise:
Capture and share the world’s moments. Instagram is a fast, beautiful and fun way to share your life with friends and family. Take a picture or video, choose a filter to transform its look and feel, then post to Instagram—it’s that easy. You can even share to Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and more. It’s a new way to see the world. Oh yeah, did we mention it’s free?
When you create value and provide good service through a well-design product and/or service by consistently giving people a simple, easy, usable, and delightful interaction, they’ll be happy to come back again.
What do you think? How do you think your customers equate your brand with their satisfaction?
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I would love to hear from you! Please feel free to leave your thoughts, comments, and feedback in the comments below.
~ Christine