Create Your Tribe: How Great CX Makes a Lifestyle Brand
Editor’s Note: This post is part of a series about retail customer experience design during the holiday season. Today we discuss small brands customer communication examples and how they lead to loyalty. See the other posts in the series here and here.
Two weeks ago we talked about the underutilized post-purchase touch point of the customer journey. Brands rarely leverage it. At the end of my CX journey with HelloSpud the CEO used her inventory management challenge to make me a loyal customer. Today, we’re looking at other small businesses that leverage customer experience to gain loyalty and brand power.
Smaller brands cherish every customer they have.
Newcomers to the market realize that their business is only as strong as the growth of their customer base. With that in mind, senior leaders work hard to shorten the distance between them and the customer. The CEO of men’s apparel brand Masorini does this very well. And he is using email, a traditional method of communication, to standout in a crowded market place.
Masorini sends a personal thank you note from the CEO after every purchase. With it the small online store recognizes the value of every customer and every customer’s experience. By doing this, the CEO himself shows his personal commitment to his customers. He inserts himself into the customer journey in a unique and powerful way.
Gratitude Creates Relationships that Promote Brand Goals
With the thank you note, the Masorini CEO accomplishes three goals: create a relationship, build loyalty, and increase sales. The email creates a customer-brand relationship first by thanking the customer, then by asking for feedback. Connecting and listening in this way builds and promotes customer loyalty in the shortened space between brand and customer. Next, the email aims to increase sales by offering 20% off indefinitely, and delivering a memorable customer experience.
Lastly, in a pop up window on the website, the brand welcomes email subscribers to “the Masorini tribe.” Words matter. He has clearly thought through how he wants his customers to feel. Loyal. To their tribe. Buy more. Belong to the tribe.
Brand Culture and Values are more than Ideas
Many brands claim that they have culture and values. Some even paint those value statements on their office walls. Far fewer use them in their hiring and performance management processes. While that is good from internal management perspective, the real differentiator is sharing your mission and values with your customers on their journeys.
This type of brand management requires a deeper dedication to the customer and his/her experience than any other expression of values. Shoes brand Thursday Boot Co. has done this in an exceptional way. It is exceptional, because it is bold. It takes courage for a brand to send its mission statement to every customers who buys a product.
Bold Brand Commitment
What if the customer does not agree with the brand’s belief system? Thursday Boot Co. is not trying to be everything to everyone. The brand knows who they want as a customer and that is who they are talking to. They are not out to get just anyone. This is how a brand has the opportunity to become a lifestyle brand. A brand with loyal followers, repeat purchasers, and loud brand ambassadors. I am one of them. Both my husband and I buy shoes from Thursday Boot Co. Guess what my mother’s Christmas present will be this year?
These are just two examples of great customer experience that were executed well and in a timely manner. Masorini and Thursday Boot Co. managed brand and sales expertly. In so doing, both companies are case studies for the ROI of CX. When brands nurture their customers, customers respond with their wallets.
The value of memorable experiences and well-managed customer journeys is powerful both for the customer and the brand. Aim to build more unique journeys for your customers. If you need help designing memorable touch points on the road, reach out to us. We love ideating and co-creating with brands!
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