We live in the age of the customer. To attract and retain customers, companies must engage current and prospective customers throughout every stage of the buying journey. Learn how to improve your customers’ experience by delivering a clear, compelling and consistent corporate message throughout each stage of the purchasing cycle.

1. PUBLISHED BY: ONMESSAGE, A MESSAGING INFUSION COMPANY
JULY 2014
5 STEPS
TO CREATING A COMPELLING
CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

2. We live in the age of the customer, an age of
self-education and an age in which the customer controls the buying process. In order to attract and retain customers, companies must shift from the outdated sales funnel approach, in which the seller controls the buyers’ journey to an engaging, self-educating approach that acknowledges that
customers are in the drivers’ seat as they move through the sales cycle at their own pace. Because the customer has claimed control of the buying journey, businesses must do what they can to influence a buying decision. This means
delivering clear, compelling and consistent messaging throughout each stage of the buying cycle.
In the Harvard Business Review article, “The Truth About Customer Experience,” the author explains,
“ … organizations able to skillfully manage the entire [customer] experience reap enormous rewards: enhanced customer satisfaction, reduced churn, increased revenue and greater employee satisfaction. They also discover more-effective ways to collaborate across functions and levels, a process that delivers gains throughout the company.” In other words, the customer experience is an “end-to-end journey” in which the cumulative touchpoints throughout the customer journey result in a relationship. How the prospective customer experiences the journey will define the relationship he or she has with the company and is largely determined by messaging continuity, or lack thereof, throughout the process.

3. FIVE STEPS TO CREATING A COMPELLING CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
3
MESSAGING CONTINUITY THROUGHOUT THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
Prospects and customers must experience messaging continuity and consistency as they journey from one phase of the buying journey to the next. The only way to ensure this occurs is to develop and infuse a clear, compelling and consistent message inside and outside of your organization.
A RECENT McKINSEY STUDYIN DELIVERING A SUPERIORIS THE ABILITY TOCUSTOMER EXPERIENCEDEVELOP AND DELIVER#1 TRAITREVEALED THEOF COMPANIES THAT SUCCEEDA CLEAR, CONSISTENTMESSAGE. OF YOUR BRAND PERCEPTIONYOUR CUSTOMERS HAVEIS BASED ON CONVERSATIONSWITH EMPLOYEES. (ENTERPRISE IG)
In order to achieve messaging continuity and deliver a consistently compelling customer experience, marketers must implement the following five steps.
1 DEVELOP AND DELIVER A CLEAR, DIFFERENTIATED CORPORATE MESSAGE.
Corporate messaging equips your entire organization with a single, trusted platform of strategic messaging and storytelling tools that drives continuity throughout the customer experience.
2 TRAIN EMPLOYEES SO THEY CAN BRING YOUR CORPORATE MESSAGE TO LIFE.
Messaging training provides employees at every level with the in-depth knowledge and resources they need to bring your story to life in the customer experience.
FIVE STEPS TO CREATING A COMPELLING CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

4. FIVE STEPS TO CREATING A COMPELLING CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE 4
FIVE STEPS TO CREATING A COMPELLING CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE (continued)
3 PROVIDE SALES WITH ENGAGING MESSAGES, STORIES AND TOOLS.
Sales enablement aligns your strategic messaging with sales tools and selling conversations to create a consistent, compelling buying process that increases business results.
4 EXTEND AND AMPLIFY YOUR STORY WITH COMPELLING CONTENT.
Developing a consistent stream of brand stories that extend and amplify critical elements of your corporate messaging platform so as to engage your customers and prospective customers as they move along the buying journey.
5 INTEGRATE YOUR MESSAGE WITH CAPTIVATING BRAND CREATIVE.
Brand integration blends the narrative and visual brand experience to create maximum engagement throughout the buying process and customer experience.
Customer experience is born out of corporate messaging. Companies that provide a clear, compelling corporate message delivered consistently throughout the entire customer experience — from social media, sales presentations, industry events and customer service phone calls to casual conversations in the hallway — offer customers and prospective customers a cohesive buying journey and a reliable customer experience that builds trust and customer loyalty.
OF VENDOR SELECTION ANDIS BASED ON THE EXPERIENCESALES PROCESS. CUSTOMER SATISFACTIONTHEY HAVE IN THE(CEB)

5. © Copyright OnMessage, Inc. 2014 | All rights reserved.
About OnMessage
It’s more than our name.
It embodies our singular purpose and mission …
To grow our client’s business by helping them deliver a clear, compelling and consistent corporate message throughout the customer experience.
OnMessage is a messaging infusion company with a proven model for helping you develop a clear, compelling and consistent message. Our methodology aligns your company’s strengths and true point of difference with customer needs to create a messaging platform that elicits optimal engagement throughout the customer experience. This methodology, when combined with our employee training, sales enablement, content development and brand integration services, enables you to achieve a higher return on every connection you make.
For more information
For more valuable and informative resources that can help you improve your customer experience go to: www.itsonmessage.com/resource.
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