Does your small business currently offer a digital customer experience? If it doesn’t, then you’re missing out on an excellent way of boosting your revenue! Advances in technology are now making it almost a requirement to provide a digital customer experience, so you’ll want to adapt if you want to thrive. In the rest of this article, we’ll cover just how important a digital customer experience is in 2019!

Technology Drives How You Do Business

Think back to the last time you went out in public. Try to remember the people that passed you by. Chances are, at least half of them were using their phone. If most of them were relatively young, this number would only grow. Whether smartphones were actually designed to be used as much as they actually are is up for debate, but the reality is that people are on their phones all the time.

People do still use phones to call and text, but a majority of the time is spent using the internet to do things like browse social media, listen to music, watch videos, send emails, and search for information. Even when people aren’t on their phone, they’re often still connected to the internet on a computer or laptop. Access to the internet is available like never before, literally just fingertips away.

One thing you probably know about business is that how it is conducted is constantly evolving. The basic principles may remain the same, but best practices and acceptable behavior change to follow trends in society. One of the biggest driving forces behind change is technology.

For a business to successfully gain and maintain customers, they must be capable of meeting their needs. Technology naturally changes what customers will want and need, which can make your techniques and strategy outdated if you don’t keep up with them.

Now that many of your potential customers have access to the internet, their needs will naturally include a way of accessing your business through the internet. For businesses that sell products, this shouldn’t require a second thought, but for others, it may be tougher to see a benefit.

Offering a digital experience goes a long way in providing value for your customers which will, in turn, help you retain happy customers willing to refer friends to you. Customer referrals are fantastic for helping your business passively boost revenue.

How it Helps Your Company

A digital customer experience can be viewed as a marketing strategy. The purpose of any marketing strategy is to get more customers, which is something a digital customer experience is perfect for. Adding a digital customer experience when you don’t already have one is like seeing life in color for the first time. You’ll now have avenues to contact and be contacted through, which will inevitably help your business flourish.

Here are the two reasons why you’ll want a digital customer experience:

  • It keeps your current customers happy – The easiest customers are the ones you already have. They already know about your product or service and like it enough to buy it over someone else’s. Your current customers might not be dissatisfied, but giving them an extra reason to feel valued makes it simple to continue doing business with you. Customers won’t look for alternatives if they’re happy with what they already have!
  • It makes it easier for new customers to find and work with you – When you decide to go digital, you’re also making yourself accessible to the rest of the world. Without a digital customer experience, you can only work with customers in your physical locale. If you aren’t digital, customers cannot find and/or work with you unless they travel to where you are. With a digital customer experience, customers now have a convenient way to communicate with you and access your products or services regardless of where they are located in the world.
What Does a Digital Customer Experience Entail?

Keeping your current customers happy and making yourself accessible to potential ones is definitely important. These are both responsible for driving growth, which ultimately decides how much revenue your business will generate. Without a question, having a digital customer experience will make your business more successful in the long run.

One thing to know about a digital customer experience is that one size does not fit all. There are many different ways to offer a digital customer experience, but not all of them are effective. Your digital customer experience doesn’t need to look a specific way but instead should be designed with a few key principles in mind:

  • Unambiguous – You should aim to make your digital customer experience as clear as you possibly can. Anything you need to communicate should be easy to understand. Furthermore, pertinent information should be readily available with obvious ways to locate them. Simply having a digital customer experience means nothing if none of your customers can use it!
  • Simple – Beyond making your digital customer experience crystal clear, you’ll also want to make it simple for your customer. Anything that requires significant amounts of time, effort, or mental strain will create natural obstacles for your customers. Your goal should be to make your experience cause the least amount of inconvenience, if any, possible.
Shaping a Successful Digital Customer Experience

With society’s fascination with technology only seeming to grow, the need for offering a digital customer experience has never been greater. Making the transformation to digital will allow your business to create extra value. This will keep any current customers you have happy, while also making you an attractive option for any prospective customers. However you decide on implementing a digital customer experience, try to make it unambiguous and simple to increase engagement.

If you’re not sure of what to include in your digital customer experience or want help formulating a strategy, get in touch with an accountant at Evergreen CPAs! With decades of experience adapting to change in the accounting industry, we understand what it means to go digital. The last thing your business needs is stagnation, something that a digital customer experience will help you avoid! Reach out to us today and see how we can help!