There are 3 key pillars when it comes to delivering great Customer Experiences; Respect, Delight and Connect. We’ve previously covered Delight and Connect – we’d now like to share more with you on ‘Respect’.

When customers can so easily change their preferences and loyalty, based on good and bad experiences, it’s critical that you show respect at every part of the customer journey.

Below are 3 ways you can respect your customers:

1. Respect their time
Deliver on a frictionless experience. If a customer wants to make a purchase, quite often in today’s time-pressured world, they want it to be fast, efficient (and of course effective) – while still being pleasant.

A recent example I came across was Timely. An online booking system being adopted by over 10,000 salons and there’s good reason for it. It’s the most frictionless system I’ve ever used for booking spa, hair and beauty treatments. Gone are the days of having to ring a salon and having a lengthy discussion about requirements. With Timely, in just a couple of taps, you can choose when, what and who you want to have your treatment with (and you can book the treatment when it suits you).

2. Make them feel special
If a customer has chosen you for their purchase, it’s critical that you make sure they’re happy with their choice. Go above and beyond to deliver that warm and fuzzy feeling that will leave them wanting to tell their friends and family about your business.

Warmly welcome your customers (it’s amazing the difference a smile can make), listen to them (you’ll fully understand what their needs are and how they’re feeling), and thank them (it’s incredible the difference these 2 words can make to someone’s day).

3. Treat them as individuals
Understand their needs and cater towards these. Use your data to support this process. For example, customise your digital comms based on what you know about each of your customers. This is the winning formula that’s worked so successfully for Amazon.

These 3 steps can go a long way towards achieving customer advocacy and loyalty.

We can’t wait to see more examples of business going the extra mile when it comes to respecting their customers.