How Can Startups Enhance Their Customer Experience

33% of customers will leave a business they love if they had a bad experience. Therefore, the stakes are high for startups to offer a great customer experience from the outset. The problem is that it can take years for companies to create an amazing customer experience. Trial and error are often required to navigate the learning curve. 

So how can startups tilt the odds of success in their favor without years of experience? There are many strategies to implement such as improving your refund process, adding a loyalty program, and tracking the customer journey. Implement one strategy at a time to ensure you don’t stretch yourself too thin. 

Loyalty program

Customers are constantly looking for a great deal and a loyalty program is towards the top of their list. A growing number of brands are offering loyalty programs that increase customer retention whilst improving the experience. 

By choosing to implement a loyalty software system you can easily figure out the profitability of customers. For instance, you can identify the ones that buy premium products as opposed to the bargains hunters that are less profitable. This will, in turn, save you money and allow you to focus all your energy on the right customers, the ones that will keep coming back because they genuinely value your products. You can, therefore, work on improving their experience with your brand, keeping them satisfied and willing to spread the word about your products to other potential customers.

Visitors will usually spend more money when a loyalty system is in place to provide extra rewards. Expect the cost of implementing the loyalty program to pay for itself in extra sales. However, you’ll need to fine-tune the loyalty program, so it’s the perfect match for your audience and brand. 

Track your customer journey

You need to understand the entry points of your customer journey so you can capture attention effectively. For example, a customer entering the sales funnel at the casual research stage will require more information before buying. However, visitors using buying words to find your brand want to see product pages. 

In-depth tracking of your customer journey requires data to assess what’s going on at every stage. The data allows you to assess the parts of the customer journey that have a good conversion rate. You’ll also spot poorly converting parts that could be improved.

Without tracking the customer journey you won’t have a clear picture of how your sales funnel is performing. Working on your customer experience requires you to pinpoint the precise steps where people are leaving your sales funnel. 

Make refunds easier

Creating good customer service as a startup makes the right first impression. Accessible refunds are just one way of achieving that which will go down well with customers. During the refund process customers are usually already not happy because there is a problem. Compounding the issue with a lengthy refund process might make them angry enough to never buy from you again. 

It’s good practice to offer a no questions asked refund policy that lasts for 14 to 90 days. The period you decide on should be clearly written on the product page. You can ask for feedback regarding why they want a refund. It’s useful information into what went wrong with the transaction.

Refunds are a natural part of doing business and you should expect them. However, play your cards right and you can minimize the negative impact of refunds on your startup business. Consider adding refund customers to a separate email list. You could offer them an added incentive to buy from you in the future. It’s a chance to turn a negative experience into a positive one. 

Learn from your competitors

Optimizing the customer experience isn’t that difficult. Countless examples exist which highlight how startups can offer an amazing customer experience while launching their brand. Gaining the loyalty of a customer base from the start is easier than fighting for it after making many mistakes. 

Here are a few examples of startups that offer great customer experiences:

• Zoomcar: This is a car rental company that specializes in self-driving cars. Their team constantly goes through the customer renting journey to identify weak spots in their product. Rigorous product testing is one of the best ways to identify where your customer experience falls short of the promise. It’s better to spot flaws yourself than to wait for customers to do it for you. The latter can lead to backlash and a loss of reputation.
• Kin: The home insurance industry can be confusing for customers that are buying for the first time. Kin seeks to simplify its business model by looking at customer feedback to spot the areas of confusion. Kin uses a huge amount of data to optimize the customer experience. 
• Jitterbit: This software company shares data across multiple departments to improve customer service. The streamlined experience ensures that customers don’t have to ask and answer the same questions when getting transferred between departments. 

Enhancing the customer experience is simple with so many successful blueprints out there. Take a look around your industry for the most relevant hacks that can boost the customer experience with the minimal amount of resources spent. 

Customer relationship management software

The advantages of CRM software go well beyond improving customer service but it’s one of the reasons to invest. CRM software allows companies to store and organize data so that it’s actionable. For example, you can track customer buying preferences and use that data to provide personalized offers. 

Customers love to receive offers that are a good match for what they are interested in buying. Such software also reduces the need for customers to repeat themselves every time they speak to a new member of your customer service team. Customer history information is on the screen, which allows help to be provided faster. 

Microsoft Power Apps is just one of many tools that allows you to create custom-built CRM solutions. Creating a custom solution helps you tackle specific problems for your business. For instance, an inventory management feature would be perfect for avoiding out of stock items.

You can use Microsoft Power Apps development services to get help in building the perfect CRM to improve your customer experience. Such services can also highlight potential problems and help you overcome them. 

Choose a CRM that can integrate with the software you’re already running. Also, make sure it has the features you need to improve the customer experience of your business. With so much choice you need to set parameters for the CRM software selection process. 

Final thoughts

The customer experience impacts the bottom line in more ways than one. It’s easy for startups to overlook customer experience when they are trying to organize other parts of their business. However, make an effort to establish a consistent customer experience early on. Customer loyalty is a real asset that will help your business make it through tough times. 

There are many proven strategies for improving the customer experience but don’t be afraid to experiment. Implementing a fresh approach could be another unique selling point your business needs to compete.