What does engagement mean for the modern empowered customer?

Tweet Danny Rippon of Oracle looks at what businesses can do to ensure high levels of customer experience at a time when customers are more discerning, and powerful, than ever before.In the past, consumers were, comparatively speaking, at the mercy of the marketing and advertising efforts of the brands that served them. The needs of the customer could, in the some cases, come second to the needs of the organisation. A company would often create a product first, and then engineer the market to buy the product, rather than responding to the existing needs of the public. Similarly, organisations could be quite dictatorial when it came to providing channels for the customer to interact with the business.Today’s consumers however, are much more powerful than in the past and are forcing companies to build propositions that more accurately reflect their actual wants and needs. This means that businesses must start doing a lot more to ensure the customer experience lives up to the demands of the modern consumer, both from a product perspective and, importantly, a customer service perspective.Recent Oracle research (2012 CX Index Report Europe) clearly demonstrated how this change is taking root, especially when it comes to the increased power consumers have over their purchasing decisions. While 56% of respondents made clear that the price of a product is still important in buying decisions, other factors such as customer reviews (47%), word of mouth (37%) and reputation for stellar customer experience (34%) are also highly important. In many ways, these last three factors in a purchasing decision are linked. If a company has a great reputation for customer experience, it is also highly likely that they are generating good reviews and good word of mouth buzz. The goal for any organisation should, therefore, be how to get the customer experience part of the equation right.

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