User experience(UX) incorporates everything from navigational structure to customer interactions. From the moment someone first interacts with a brand, the experience should be seamless. If they phone the company, the reps should have a record of any previous interactions. Imagine the most top-notch customer serviceand strive for that standard with UX strategies.

Taking users from leads to customers requires a lot of attention to detail. Fortunately, focusing on UX allows businesses to land sales in the now and improve long-term client retentionover decades.

Know the Competition

The National Action Plans on Businessand Human Rights estimates there are approximately 400 million small and medium enterprisesworldwide. For firms to stand out from the competition, they must know the UX strategies their competitors use.

Do a deep dive into the competition, taking notes on any special offers, unique value propositions (UVPs) and what their customers rave about in reviews. Ask if the company meets or exceeds what others excel at. To keep current clients from jumping ship to a different brand, companies must at least match what others do. Ideally, leaders will ensure superiority in at least a handful of areas.

Understand Your Audience

One of the top UX strategies is understanding who clients are and what they want. Dig into internal analytics to build buyer personas for current customers. Send out surveys and ask pertinent questions to figure out what they love and hate about the brand. Fix any ongoing issues that crop up repeatedly.

Make buyer personas for each audience segment. When you have a specific customer in mind, even if they’re made-up, it becomes easier to plan everything from the checkout process to marketing and customer follow-ups. Run any new programs or user experience models through the eyes of the created persona to see how it translates.

Expand to Total Experience (TX)

An excellent UX encompasses far more than just website aesthetics. It takes into account the total experience (TX) for everyone involved. Customer experience (CX) also impacts UX and vice versa, so it’s almost impossible to completely separate the two.

Companies that implement a TX approach tend to outperform their peers. When brands focus on UX and CX as part of a bigger whole, they reach 25% higher satisfactionmetrics. The extra effort to dig into the big picture is worth it in the resulting client retention rates.

Although it might be tempting to break everything down to its smallest counterpart, and improving UX does make a difference, take a step back from time to time and look at the way everything meshes together and impacts the customer.

Adopt Proactive Customer Support

One of the best UX strategies brands can implement is adopting a proactive customer support approach. Customers should feel their needs are met before they themselves fully know what they are. What does a preemptive model look like in practice?

Ideally, a company should consistently test its products for failure. If any errors appear, fix them and send the patches to the customer before they encounter the issue. Let the customer know the businesswas on top of the problem and repaired it before they encountered the trouble.

When clients know a business cares and is on top of things, they’ll be more likely to trust the brand with their purchases in the future.

Improve User Flow

Around 73% of consumerspoint to the user experience as influential in their purchase decisions. However, they can’t pinpoint exactly what makes an excellent UX. Fortunately, something as simple as improving user flow can build in that undefinable edge over the competition.

If a person has ever visited Disney World, they’ve experienced excellent user flow. From the minute one gets on one of their buses, goes through the gates and enters the magical world, every touchpoint is a well thought out part of the day.

Businesses should run in a similar way. Think about every interaction a potential customer has with the brand. What is the first impression? What happens next? Can anything flow more easily or smoother for the customer? Pretend to be the user and go through the system multiple times to pinpoint and fix any issues.

Create Consistency

A consistent brand experience shows clients they can count on the company. Start by creating structured policies but still allow some flexibility. If the business offers 30-day returns with a receipt and someone lost the receipt, what can a customer service rep do to resolve the issue? Looking up a copy to verify the purchase so the customer can return or exchange the item would go a long way toward keeping their future business.

Set a standard greeting and ways to communicate with customers. Chik-fil-A does this when a customer says thank you and they respond, “My pleasure.” The words are consistent across locations and show their attitude toward customer service.

Take the time to figure out the customer service approach and how best to communicate it with clients. At the same time, little details such as brand color palette and voice adds to the overall consistency.

Adopt Standard UX Strategies

When leaders apply UX strategies to a business, it’s crucial to go through a checklist and ensure everything remains consistent over time. When you create a world for clients where they know what to expect at each phase of the buyer's journey and can trust the results, they'll stick with you for the long term. They'll also tell others how much they love the company and help build referralsover time.