The Emergence of ‘Always On’ Experiences

The onset of COVID-19 increased internet usage significantly, with a rise of 40% to 100% compared to pre-lockdown levels. Video conferencing services, such as Zoom, have experienced up to a tenfold usage increase, and usage of content delivery services increased by almost 20%. People are more connected than ever, driving the need for an “always-on” brand.

E-commerce companies have worked in a 24/7 environment for many years, but COVID-19 requires that all businesses examine the customer experience through a constantly connected lens. It’s no longer a 9-to-5 economy; our workdays have shifted, our school days have shifted and people are working far more hours. Nearly 70% of professionals who transitioned to remote work due to the pandemic report they work on weekends, and 45% report they regularly work more hours during the week than they did before.

If people are increasingly connected, brands need to transform strategies to align with this shift and rethink business operations.

Deconstructing the linear path to purchase

Brands are beginning to realize that they’ve built a traditional linear path to purchase, but the problem is that customers don’t purchase this way. For example, think about a traditional auto manufacturing facility. Raw material comes in one door, and the car goes out the other. This is how many brands have designed the path to purchase. Operating in an always-on economy requires creating deep and meaningful experiences that foster customer satisfaction, loyalty, and advocacy.
Customers move on their true path, which doesn’t travel in a straight line; they are using a variety of different devices. It’s a combination of brick and click, various forms of delivery, and transactions that are happening at different moments in time. We need to recognize that customers are traveling through different stages of the customer experience life cycle at the same time, and we need to design more personalized one-to-one experiences.

The case for simplified experiences

People are inundated with vast amounts of information, and capturing the attention of customers is harder than ever, which is why less is more.

Imagine that you’re registered for an upcoming event. You complete your registration online and must also call the hotel to make reservations. The company pulls all the data gathered through different interactions (online and phone) into a full electronic picture of the event rather than sending you fragmented email confirmations. This gives you, the customer, the ability to view information quickly and to engage with it however you want.

We live in a finger-touch moment. We touch our screens, our phones, our computers, and our mice. Providing more cohesive and simplified experiences helps customers feel better about your brand. And digitalization is really about helping customers have experiences that make their lives easier.

Borrowing strategies from e-commerce

E-commerce has gotten exceptionally good at serving customers 24/7, and there are strategies that companies can borrow, such as those involved in cart abandonment. The idea behind cart abandonment is to understand why the customer stopped shopping. Was it timing? Was it pricing? Finding the answers helps adjust the overall narrative and messaging and the company’s goals.

Brands can leverage a piece of the cart abandonment strategy to better understand what is driving engagement. What is driving a better customer experience? Finding the answer starts with improving visibility into where the customers are in the customer experience life cycle. Are they ready to purchase? Are they still in the consideration phase? Or are they still in the gaining knowledge phase?

Create a system where the data informs you how to look at the customer to create better interactions. How can you translate experiences online in a way that helps and guides the customer? And this doesn’t necessarily mean guiding the customer to purchase, because if it did, that would be focused on only the transaction. The customer is smart and will sense that. If you’re providing excellent experiences along the journey, the customer is more likely to feel connected and to transact with you.

Taking a deeper dive into measuring success

We often define success as top-line revenue or profitability. And yes, those things matter, but the challenge is that they’re focused too narrowly on the transaction. If you look at the customer experience, you need to find out how people are using the material that your company is creating. Are they using those materials to provide them with knowledge? What does that mean for you as a brand? What does it mean for your customers?

Define what success looks like at every stage of the customer experience life cycle. Follow that down through the operations of a company to better understand how to drive key performance indicators and the impact on customers.
For example, imagine that you had a procedure at a hospital. The nurses were great, the doctors were great and the room was nice. You leave satisfied — until you get the bill. And you’re angry because there are extra line items that shouldn’t be there, and now the experience has transformed into one that is negative.

Every part of the organization affects the customer experience. Aligning success metrics internally for employees will help improve customer satisfaction in an always-on economy.

Why delivering “easy” is hard

People are tired, overtaxed, and stressed out. We’re all burning out at some level, and this is why it’s critical to remember that less is more.

What can you provide that has a greater impact without overloading the customer? Leadership brands make sure the products work, they make sure their service is impeccable and they don’t take shortcuts. They do all the hard work in the background because it’s hard work to deliver an easy experience. But if you do this, you positively influence all stages of the customer experience lifecycle and create more personalized, one-to-one experiences that keep customers coming back for more.