Using the customer cycle to drive customer experience

At Auditdata, we believe that customer intimacy is the key to driving a satisfying customer experience.

The people who visit your practice are more than a one-dimensional problem. They have families, lives, hobbies, stories to tell. Make the effort to engage with them in an unhurried way, showing genuine interest. Use your practice management software to keep notes that will help you remember key details about each client. Bringing up specific details in future consultations facilitates an easy-going conversation that they will remember warmly.

When is a customer a customer?

It can be easy to fall into the trap of thinking that customer experience is something that you provide after the purchase. However, true customer experience that will drive your business success begins well before any money has changed hands.

A strong customer experience strategy focuses on building and maintaining long-term relationships. That means that you need to consider all of the touchpoints that any prospect may have with your business.

Most modern consumers will probably have their first experiences of your business long before they contact you. The customer cycle may look something like this:

• Awareness of your business (Often via online searches or word of mouth)
• Engagement with your business (The first phone call, the welcome when they arrive)
• Testing and recommendations (Your consultation and how you deal with them)
• Fitting period (In-person service)
• Follow-up (Check-ins via phone or email)

If we consider each of those steps separately and understand the customer's psychology and needs at each level, we can focus on delivering elements that will drive them along the process.

Awareness of your business

As we said earlier, many modern prospect customers will have their first experience of your business before you are ever aware of it, and it will likely be online.

It is therefore imperative that your online presence portrays the brand that you wish to be. Your website needs to help drive trust and your authority as a provider. You also need to ensure that you have strong social proof with good testimonials both on your site and on your Google places.

In recent EuroTrak results, hearing aid users said that they trusted only two sources of information: their general practitioner or MD, and existing users of hearing aids. That is why you need strong social proof.

Engagement with your business

You need to handle the first contact with your business carefully. That includes training staff to address common questions and to encourage callers through the process to an appointment. Once your staff books the date, you have the opportunity to provide the prospect with inspirational communications.

In the pre-test phase, for instance, those communications might include explanations of how hearing works, what to expect at the hearing test, or hearing aid technology levels.

These communications tell the prospect what to expect and set the tone and terms of reference for you as a professional, while also allowing you to begin a broader engagement.

Testing and recommendation

When customers come in for tests, your business environment needs to reflect who you are as a brand. Your staff needs to be carefully trained to welcome everyone who enters the business.  Your reception and waiting area should be warm, comfortable and welcoming, with quality furnishings and decoration. The welcome you deliver needs to validate their decision to come and see you.

Asking open, probing questions during your consultation allows you to understand the prospect’s problems, helps you deliver meaningful recommendations, and drive engagement. Open-ended questions and an unhurried nature go a long way toward building customer intimacy

Remember to show empathy and spend time over the prospect’s concerns and problems. Listen to them attentively and  how situations or issues make them feel. Document their problem areas on a C.O.S.I. If the prospect feels that you care and are aware of their problems, it encourages trust. The consultation is one of the most significant parts of the customer experience. Even though it’s a routine part of your day, it’s a big event for them. Don’t lose sight of that fact.

The fitting period

Once a prospect becomes a customer, it is your job to validate their decision using established best practices.

Strong onboarding communications customized for your particular customer experience will help you to confirm their purchase decision while making a deep connection.

Useful onboarding material might include:

• Printouts from the manufacturer software detailing the programmes and specifications of the devices
• A practice branded customer notebook to document outcomes and notes
• A copy of the C.O.S.I to act as a self-report of hearing aid outcomes

These documents have real value and relevance to the customer at this stage. They also have real value for your business because they will drive the customer experience.