What Customers Crave: How to Create Relevant and Memorable Experiences at Every Touchpoint by Nicholas Webb

The Host’s Perspective:

These days, the really smart marketing money is being invested in engineering a great customer experience. There is an enormous unmet demand for good customer experiences.

In a Bain & Company study of 362 companies, 80 percent of those companies thought that they were delivering a “superior experience.” In truth, only 8 percent were, according to their customers. And, customer experience is where the profits are, according to “What Customers Crave.”

• 70% of Americans are willing to spend more with companies they believe provide an excellent customer experience.

Plus, keeping your customers is where the big money is:

• The probability of selling to a new prospect is less than 20%, while the probability of selling to an existing customer is 60 to 70 percent.

• On average, loyal customers are worth up to 10 times as much as their first purchase.

OK, so why is customer experience becoming so important to marketing now?

Well, it’s because we’re now in a hyperconnected, hypercompetitive business world.  And everyone has a megaphone – if the experience your customers have with you is a bad one, they will not return. And, they’ll tell the world on social media and review sites how awful you are. But, if your customers have a great experience and you delight them, not only will that be surprising, they will remain loyal customers and tell others.  

And that is the most powerful marketing – studies show that people trust word of mouth recommendations from friends (and even strangers) more than anything else and much more than what a company says about itself. But while engineering a great customer experience is a simple thing to say, it can be a complex process for companies to try and get their arms around.

You’re dealing with digital and non-digital communications, and people from every part of your company. Some companies, when they try to map out the customer journey are finding that it has thousands of touchpoints. What’s most interesting to me about What Customers Crave is the amazing simplicity outlined in the book to engineer a great customer experience.

For instance, Nicholas Webb suggests segmenting your customers with just two simple concepts: what your customers love, and what your customers hate. And instead of trying to map a thousand different touch points throughout your customer’s journey, he shows how you really need just five.

If you want to delight and sell more to your current customers who will then become an army of marketers for your company, this is your book.

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