One Third of Customers Will Leave a Business if They Have One Bad Experience. How Should the Smart City Expo World Congress Approach the Customer Experience?

Customer service and customer centricity are values many businesses claim to have, and for good reason—Forbes cited that one third of customers will stop buying from a brand they are loyal to if they have even one bad experience. However, it seems that companies in the Smart City Expo World Congress may be shifting away from the customer experience.

Where is the discussion at the Smart City Expo World Congress headed and why might it be moving away from customer-centricity? Part of the reason may be because smart city companies are focusing too much on the actual technology and their own reputation. But Paul Dohery, CEO of the Digital Group, Inc., says a major part of the value in the smart city industry is the community aspect.

Why should businesses in all sectors, including smart cities, focus on enhancing the customer experience? Carolyn Rodz, CEO and Founder of Hello Alice, explains what the customer experience truly means for businesses and how they can build those relationships.

Carolyn’s Thoughts:

“Hi everyone. I’m Carolyn Rodz. I’m the founder and CEO of Hello Alice. And today I wanted to talk about the importance of showing up with an authentic voice for your customers. We’re living in really uncertain times, and there’s a lot of questions and nervousness across all markets as customers are making decisions about where to purchase and where to spend their dollars.

So now more than ever, you have to show up with an authentic voice that they trust and that they can believe as they’re spending their money, they’re going to turn to the communities that have been supporting them that they think have their best interests in mind. And always building that community, building those relationships and building that one-to-one voice with your customers is critical.

But I’ll say in this market today that we’re living in, it’s even more important. So take time as you’re thinking about your business plan to weave in opportunities for in-person connections to follow up quickly to inquiries that they may have to reach out and let them know you’re thinking about them on days that are important, or big events and things that might be important in their own lives. Build an authentic voice and an authentic line of communication with your customers so that you can be the brand they trust when they’re looking to spend their dollars, particularly as shaky and uncertain market like we’re living in today.”