Sami Kretz is the Vice President of Project Development at Scorpion. She keeps a sharp eye on the market and the latest developments in tech and customer experience to make sure that they are constantly offering clients the best marketing tools and strategies.

The customer experience is made up of every interaction that takes place between a business and a customer. It’s the job of the business owner or business to have every customer walk away with a positive feeling.

“Something that I like to do when I think of a client experience, is I think of it as a series of touch points. And every touch point has the possibility, you know, of being a green grade, green dot, which means they had a good touch point, or maybe a red one, so that’s a bad touch point… If your string of colored dots at the end of the experience is almost all green, then your customer should be happy, and looking back on their experience in a positive light.”

Sami emphasizes how important it is for business owners and businesses to intentionally take every chance to make every touch point green.

The customer experience is separate from the product or service your customer receives. Even if your customer is satisfied with your product or service, if they hated the process of buying it or had an unpleasant series of interactions, they will be upset and unsatisfied.

Sami offers the illustrative example of when a customer calls a plumber to fix their overflowing sink. Even if the sink is ultimately fixed, the customer will not associate that fact with your business if details like these are part of their experience:

“The customer experience is what brings people back to your business. The customer experience is what makes your customers tell their friends about your business… Your customer experience is everything when it comes to growing your business and winning against your competition.”

An exceptional, memorable customer experience impacts your business financially by increasing your repeat business, referrals, and bottom line.

Sami recommends utilizing surveys, talking to your customers about their needs, and experiencing the customer experience yourself in order to truly understand what your business’s customer experience is like and where to improve. By listening to them and engaging with them, you will gain insight into the little touches and details you can implement that will make your business stand out. If you are only focused on efficiency, your customer experience will not improve.