Is it worth it?

This is, of course, the big question for most companies: – is it really worth it to invest time and effort in user/customer experience managment and -activities?

Indeed, companies and corporations often cite the reason of “complexity” and/or “organisational structure” for being reluctant to implement these activities – and this is not wrong; they are those things, and they do demand commitment of time and ressources.

Clearly, they need to be worth all this to be even considered – are they that?

 Well, the short answer is “yes” but I suspect you probably need a bit more than that, so I’ve gathered some information which might interest you…

First of all, certain investigations indicate that as much as 80% of businesses believe they provide a good customer/user experience – this is in stark contrast with the fact that less than 10% of consumers agree. If C/UX (as I’ve just decided to call it for the purpose of this article) is really something that matters, clearly the subject is in need of work here.

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Also, dire stories of loss due to poor understanding of users abound – from Walmart’s ill-fated Project Impact, which actually lost them customers and send both stock value and sales downhill, to Microsoft’s currently unfolding Surface debacle, earning the company a 900 million dollar writedown and a lawsuit.

Furthermore, US studies show that as many as 60-80% of lost customers are due to a bad customer experience, with price point considerations – thought by many to be the most important parameter – accouting for only about 10% (or less, depending on the study).

I suspect you’d like some positive ones too, though, and they also abound – obviously, the biggest one is Apple, going from a >10%-of-the-market computer manufacturer to the world’s most valuable brand by providing an irresistible user experience, but there are many others:

  • Netflix, of course, completely stole the movie market from the likes of Blockbuster by providing an elegant customer experience – then, they bungled it with Qwikster, but showed their understanding of C/UX by listening to their customers and quickly fixing that mistake. Netflix’ stock value has increased more than 400% in the past year alone
  • computer company Gateway was rewarded with a $100 million sales increase in one year after addressing the user experience of their then-new online retail store
  • According to a Harvard Business Review study, companies increasing customer retention by as little as 5% see increases in profits from 25 to 100% – and customer retention is all about the emotional connection with your company
  • Danish broadband provider Fullrate, focusing on a clean user experience and quick and efficient customer service (along with a simple and attractive pricing policy, itself an innovative customer experience consideration in a field where even pricing is usually an obfuscating mess), sold itself for DKK400 million just 5 years after its founding

There are many more such stories – it is, quite simply, a fact that having due consideration for your user/customer, and arranging your company, strategy and behavior accordingly and seriously, can be a very significant avenue for growth and profitability.

Happy stock photo girl on the right there is our goal – and when you think about it, why would you not want to make your customer or user happy? 

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