How user experience strategy is increasingly important for every company.
Though every industry is different, there is something all companies are dealing with: a quickly changing sales landscape. With the rise of mobile and highly-connected customers, the days of cold calling and “batch-and-blasts” are long gone. Traditional sales methods simply won’t cut it. A new, in-depth user experience strategy is necessary to keep up with savvy customers.
Most buyers are now doing research on their own, some without ever consulting a salesperson in the process. According to Adweek, 81% of shoppers conduct their own online research before purchasing a product. What’s more, about 60% begin their research on a search engine and/or read a product review.
With detailed information about every product or software available at their fingertips, shoppers don’t need to feel beholden to believe every sales pitch. Think about all the various outlets available to the shopper. There are search engines, product reviews, user reviews, buyer’s guides, social media and forums. If something sounds fishy, they can simply look up the facts on a device and verify any dubious claim.
The web has become the single most important place for prospective buyers to visit. As customers become more digitally-experienced, they will look for a familiarity and convenience with your brand regardless of channel. They will be interacting with you on social media, mobile apps, or in-person when they walk into your store.
Creating a Successful User Experience Strategy
Now the question is, how are you meeting these new customer expectations? Are you leading the charge to transform the way your company does business, or are you still reluctant to change what’s already comfortably in place?
If you’re not driving innovation, your current business will sooner or later be susceptible to disruption. In the meantime, your customers will be looking for a satisfying, more personal user experience elsewhere.
As Lisa Arthur, a Forbes contributor, writes: “Our research shows that consumers welcome personalized offers, such as price-matching and loyalty points. Soon, they’ll not only welcome it, they’ll expect it.”
Your company should assess the user experience across all channels and update their digital strategy according to what they find. How does your website communicate what your service or product is about? Is the user experience the same on a smartphone as it is on a laptop? See how the content, layout and web functionalities change when your site is accessed on different devices.
A good digital strategy will bring those interactions together and translate them into a great user experience. And if you’re providing a great user experience to your clients, chances are you’ll earn their trust and keep them coming back for more.