Yaron Morgenstern is the CEO of Glassbox , a leading provider of digital experience analytics for web and mobile applications. getty Business leaders are always encouraged to “think big,” but when it comes to making customers happy online, every company should think small . Even the smallest mistakes—from website glitches to buried contact forms—make a big impact on the customer experience, directly affecting revenue and long-term retention.
Consumers are quick to judge a brand’s credibility based on its website. A 2022 e-commerce report revealed that in the past two years, businesses lost 10% in revenue due to website performance issues. Amazon Web Services statistics show that 88% of online consumers won’t return to a website after a bad experience.
For many misguided businesses, small errors and customer experience oversights have led to large losses. Here are five seemingly small mistakes I’ve seen companies make—and ways business leaders can avoid them. 1. Ignoring Glitches On Digital Platforms
To major companies, a small error or a broken link on a website may seem like a low-priority item, but technical issues can lead to substantial financial losses. For example, if customers are unable to click the “Find Hotels” on a leading hotel chain’s websites and apps, the company could easily lose hundreds of thousands of dollars per month. If not addressed quickly, revenue losses could reach the multi-millions, especially during peak travel times.
The revenue losses do not capture the impact the broken link will have on brand reputation and customer retention. Customers may not return to the hotel chain’s site to book again after encountering the technical glitch; they would likely move to a competitor that offers a more seamless experience.
To minimize the impact of web/mobile technical errors, companies need to be constantly analyzing every online interaction. AI-powered solutions can capture and analyze every step of the customer journey across digital platforms, immediately alerting teams to anomalies and glitches of all sizes.
Teams can leverage those insights to determine priorities and address errors in real time. Through vigilance and collaboration, businesses can ensure that no issue is overlooked and that the customer experience remains as frictionless as possible. 2. Making Assumptions
It’s easy for business leaders to assume they know what their customers want and who their audience is, especially if they’ve been selling the same product or service successfully for years. Small assumptions can have major consequences, though, often in the form of missed opportunities and misguided strategies.
It’s also dangerous for companies to make assumptions about where their problems are within digital platforms. Technical glitches are easier to identify, but what about confusing layouts or misleading images?
Businesses must constantly monitor customer behavior, using all tools at their disposal to understand their audience and experience pain points. Teams must regularly iterate digital platforms to accommodate shifting customer profiles, expectations and needs. 3. Not Prioritizing Customer Privacy
In today’s landscape, companies cannot afford to make privacy and security an afterthought. As little as five years ago, businesses would put privacy on the back burner to focus on other customer journey elements. Now, with the rise of cyberattacks and data leaks, customers expect companies to protect their data. According to a McKinsey study , “87% of consumers will not do business with a company if they have concerns about its security practices.”
The ways in which companies handle customer data and security have become differentiators. To capitalize on this shift in customer preferences, businesses must prioritize privacy and security throughout the customer experience, incorporating secure features into the design and functionality in ways big and small. This includes designing websites and apps with privacy in mind and radically enhancing transparency around how customer data is used and protected. 4. Underestimating Native Mobile Apps
Companies that have successful websites might feel comfortable dedicating the majority of resources to maintaining their website, but that would mean ignoring the enormous opportunity and advantage of native mobile apps.
Unlike web apps, native apps are built for a specific platform like iOS, downloaded from the app store and have access to system functions such as GPS and the camera. These apps have become the rising star of customer service, especially in certain industries such as banking, travel and hospitality.
Native apps serve as a hyper-convenient one-stop shop for customers, providing access to everything they might be looking for, along with seamless customer service features—searchable FAQs, smart assistants, live chat, etc. Companies that aren’t building or investing in native apps will be quickly outpaced by competitors. 5. Hiding Self-Service Options
Today’s empowered consumers want to take […]
source Small Mistakes Lose Big Money: How To Avoid Common Errors On Digital Platforms
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