Your Company Could Be Losing More Opportunities For Growth Than You Realize, Thanks To Your Own Customers

In 2022’s market, there are countless influences that impact whether or not a consumer will purchase a good, service or experience from one brand over another. While brand marketing, messaging, social advocacy, culture and community can all impact buyer behavior, there is one other key factor that will likely dictate customer choices: another customer.

Word of mouth, though seemingly antiquated in the age of targeted ads and podcast commercial breaks, has more power now than it ever has before. One bad website review, social media post, or conversation with a neighbor can kill a company’s window of opportunity–not just with one potential buyer, but a whole demographic’s worth of people that goes beyond the scope of the Internet.

The hive mind is a very real thing, especially when it comes to consumer buying habits. Maybe our parents grew up on certain brands, and so we’ve followed suit, never deviating from the tried and true. Perhaps our best friend’s skin care routine is incredible, and so we've adopted their cosmetic shopping habits. It might be that we only buy one brand of toothpaste, use a specific type of pasta over another, or stand firm on one side of the iPhone vs. Android debate. Whatever the case may be, we have all developed an allegiance to brands that we like. But some of this allegiance is, albeit, blind. Many of us stick to the tried and true without question, until we find a reason not to.

A negative customer experience is that reason. Depending on the severity of the circumstances, customers are even prepared to jump ship in terms of brand loyalty–CCW’s 2022 June Market Study: CX Trends, Challenges, & Opportunities notes that 60% of consumers say they would switch to a competitor after just one or two bad experiences. In fact, 63% of consumers are prepared to share a negative encounter with their close personal contacts and social media followers.

But regardless of whether or not a company loses a buyer from a negative first-hand experience, that interaction will now influence the buying behavior of anyone who is on the receiving end of such a story. Before someone has even gone to your website, searched your Instagram account, or even held your product in their hands, they may have already made a definitive decision on whether or not they will buy into what your company is selling. Such a chain reaction dictates that many more people will catch wind of that one negative encounter and swear off a brand—maybe for good.

In the world of customer experience, it is the very same consumers companies wish to attract that can potentially be their downfall. Long wait times, no option for a live agent, limited support hours, and repetitive questions are just some of the pain points customers express, but at the heart of it, consumers are feeling that agents don’t actually care about their experience or their problems. That’s why only 14% of consumers feel the majority of their brand experiences are personalized.

However, by downloading CCW’s Digital June 2022 Trends Market Study, you’ll have real-time knowledge at your disposal. With our market study, you’ll get an inside look at what customer concerns are in today’s CX landscape, learn how to personalize your brand’s customer experience, and be able to understand your consumers’ unique needs. In a rapidly changing industry, companies need a game plan that starts with customer centricity. It’s a surefire way to make sure that a positive encounter is the one that gets around to your customers’ social circles.

Photo by Mircea via Pixabay