customers are looking for stories they can star in

There is a reason that in UX and agile we use terms like user stories and customer journeys: it’s to make it personal.

The goal of any business is to connect with customers on an emotional level and build a rich, deep relationship. Every business values the repeat customer and the advocate. So how does engagement deepen a customer’s experience with a brand, and take them from passive to a champion who is out front doing your marketing for you?

In the age of social media, the economy of trust is paramount, and a brand’s personal connection with each customer is how that trust is built.

We tell our children bedtime stories: structured journeys with a beginning, middle and end that can take a child’s imagination from bed to catching tigers in the jungle or meeting fantastical beasts.

Small, digestible stories play out with customers every day. A customer hears about a product, researches it online, reads reviews and compares prices, then walks into a store and hopefully buys. Each of those moments leads into the next, and together they tell a story that is either positive or negative.

Digital gives businesses the greatest opportunity to craft these stories. It lets us understand the customer at each touch point and, where possible, remember their choices and preferences to improve the next stage of the journey. A seamless, effortless transition between those spaces is the ultimate goal.

Controlled collision

What’s amazing about customer experience is that it’s an organic, ever-changing story. It starts with the first chapter, an opportunity, and with the right data you can set the story’s theme. Is it a lullaby, an action adventure or a horror story?

As the story plays out, the customer’s impact, how adaptive you can be, and how smoothly the customer moves from one channel to the next all keep it moving forward.

Get it right, and the best part is that customers become engaged and start writing their own choose-your-own-adventure through reviews and recommendations, all of which widen the reach of your business’s story.

Remember: fantasy and fiction are all well and good, but if your story isn’t authentic it won’t resonate with customers or earn repeat business.

Craft your stories so that your customers come away feeling as well cared for as a child being gently read to at bedtime.