In this article, I will be sharing one of my experiences with MTN but before then, let's look at what customer experience is and its importance.
Customer Experience is the overall perception that customers have of your brand during the entire buyer's journey. Their perception of your brand is affected, and it has an effect on revenue-related and other bottom-line aspects.
People and products are the two main touch points that shape the consumer experience.
Are you astounded by the product's functionality? Do you appreciate the time a customer service representative takes to listen to you and offer advice?
These are some broad illustrations of the elements that contribute to a positive customer experience.
Any company that wants to enjoy continuous success must provide outstanding customer service and experience. A satisfying customer experience enhances brand advocacy, loyalty, and customer retention.
Today, consumers, not vendors, are in control.
Customers have a wide range of options at their disposal as well as the resources needed to educate themselves and make independent purchases.
Customers are your biggest resource for increasing brand recognition, which is why it's crucial to provide them with a remarkable experience and make them want to keep doing business with you.
A happy customer is more likely to become a loyal one who can help you increase income, therefore a pleasant customer experience is essential to the success of your business.
Some months back, I decided to recharge my Hynetflex since I already depleted the data on my Airtel Mifi. While trying to convert the airtime to data, an error ensued - this has never happened to me.
So I contacted MTN customer care and told everything to the person that attended to me, and she told me the issue has been escalated to their support team and I should wait for 24 hours.
I was in pain but couldn't do anything. I got another data on my main line to finish up what I was working on.
I thought the 24 hours would be as they said but turned to 2 days, then to 3 days and it got me pissed off as they couldn't keep to their promise.
I went ahead to chat with them on Facebook, but it turns out that it's a bot that handles that account - in terms of inbox chatting. Then I decided to make my complaint on one of their posts, and they responded by saying the issue has been logged and I should exercise patience.
But for how long?
While waiting, I made sure I called and chatted with them to place a reminder, and each time I was told to exercise patience.
On the 5th day, I had to call them again and this time they felt the anger in my voice.
The lady that attended to me that day did justice to the case. She was calm and friendly. She relayed the call to the right person in charge of such issues, and the lady too wowed me - the experience was better than other customer representatives that attended to me during my first to the fourth call.
The lady to whom the call was directed, was also calm and professional and the issue was resolved in less than 5 minutes.
Why all these?
The way you attend to your customers matters. The experience before, during, and after purchase will define if they will come back or not.
Also, how fast you resolve their issues will make them refer you.
Which do you prefer? Quick response and solution to your queries or delayed response and no solution.
Well, a friendly service, fast response and a solution to my queries are a go for me.
Give your customers reasons to come back. There are a lot of competitions out there.
It's either you wow your customer, leave them in a state of complacency or leave them in a state of misery.
I believe you have had your share of poor and good customer experiences, especially with service providers.
I would like to hear yours in the comment section and the ways you think they should have done it
