As customer experience has increasingly become the key differentiator across industries, there has been debate about which approach is the best way forward: frictionless or memorable experiences. But what’s the right customer experience for your brand?
The reality is that there is no one right way to manage the customer experience.
HBR (2021)
HBR is elaborating on the different approaches, differentiating between a fricitionless or memorable path for your brand. Do you want to create a smooth experience, with no „hick-ups“ on the way? Where there are no problems, just solutions to your customers needs and questions? Or do you you target for a most memorable experience with your brand. With experiences your customer will never forget? Both is a valid path!
Different approaches will be more appropriate to different brands depending upon how they currently compete. Regardless, no company should forget that managing the customer experience is equivalent to managing customers for growth.
By incorporating a brand’s market share and how customers perceive their experiences with the brand, you can place the brand into one of four categories, as shown in the “Customer Experience Matrix.” It categorizes by the type of experience: fricitionless or memorable and the size of market share. This way your get 4 different options for brands and the recommended customer experience: Mass-market brands, Gravity brands, Convenience brands and Boutique brands.
The path to winning in business has remained constant even if the strategies for achieving it over time have changed: Make certain that your customers want to keep coming back.
So what’s the right customer experience for your brand? You will figure out!
Read the full article from HBR here or download the full article as pdf here.
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