The Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety has had to do the difficult work of investigating the short comings of the sector. While this has been difficult for many, we now have a mandate to address those shortcomings with new and innovative solutions to enhance the customer experience.
This period is the start of a rebuild toward a safer and more dignified future for customers in aged care, and an opportunity to reposition the customer experience at the centre of the aged care industry. But how are we supposed to think about the customer experience?
To help you get to the work of putting the customer experience back in the driver’s seat, we wanted to share some insights into the way we approach it at hayylo.
25% of customers that leave do so because you are not fulfilling their needs
Before you can create great experiences for your customers, you need to know what a great experience looks like. You will want to think about the connection between your organisation and its customers over the lifetime of that engagement. In simple terms, you will want to outline ALL the points at which you interact with your customers and think about how you can turn these into amazing experiences.
Mapping the customer journey is a crucial starting point for developing your understanding of your customers. It doesn’t even need to be too detailed, but a good customer journey map does require some close attention and thought where possible. Working out your understanding of your customer like this opens up insights as to how your organisation can be more effective in its provision of services, it also informs the message you put out to the community through your marketing initiatives.
Knowing more about your customers, their needs, and especially their ongoing pain points is going to put your organisation in a space where you can work with these considerations to ensure that your services and message remains aligned with what they value.
Customer journey mapping – team playbook
70% of the decision to buy from your organisation has been made before a potential customer even makes contact
At hayylo we understand that the customer experience begins with your brand. Customers in the aged care sector, sometimes their families, are usually decided on their engagement with your organisation before you have any direct contact. Your organisations brand is going to be a big part of what they use to make their decision.
Understanding the relationship between your brand, your customers’ needs, and your organisations goals is going to go a long way toward keeping your business competitive in an increasingly challenging sector. Effectively communicating your organisations understanding of this relationship is what will really separate you from your competition.
Successful Brand Building Process
Build a community not a company
Once you have a foundation of what you think your customers want, and how your brand is going to help you communicate your offering, it is time to work through how you engage with your community and start cultivating your presence on social media and other marketing channels.
Your brand is your story, and due to the work of the Royal Commission, the sector is undergoing a period of drastic change. In a loud and harsh marketing environment, how can you move the needle on your brand awareness and help form the conversation around your organisation and your industry?
We think it’s about telling an authentic story and letting your authenticity define your relationship with your audience and customers. Convey value by sharing not only the successes of your organisation, but also the challenges that you face. The stories that you share with your audience should help them tune into who you are as an organisation, and how you bring value to the aged care experience.
The ultimate guide to create meaningful content
Not all feedback is created equal
The hayylo platform is a solution for providers looking to equip their teams and customers with the tools they need to communicate effectively. We believe that our platform does the work to help providers develop open and effective lines of communication, but it is one type of communication that may trump them all. Feedback!
Feedback is how you stay ahead of the changing needs of your customers and keep a finger on the pulse. Without it you cannot make effective decisions but remember that not all feedback is created equal. We find that feedback is at its most valuable when it aligns to the point of service delivery. We know at hayylo that you don’t complain about a bad coffee a week after you bought it, so why run cyclic surveys to understand your customers.
Tips for building continuous customer feedback
The #1 reported complaint from customers is a lack of communication from providers.
Communication takes the mystery out of complex or uncomfortable situations and clarifies the picture of what is needed to work effectively toward creating elevated customer experiences. With the right channels in place, your teams will know what is required of them, and your customers will know what to expect. Your organisation should be be working to automate low-touch communications like schedule changes and deploy more effective feedback tools that can collect data at the point of service delivery.
At hayylo, we are driven by providing an elevated customer experience, it is what we live and breathe, and it is where our focus stays. We say that ‘the best experiences are the ones you don’t expect’, but staying ahead of your customers expectations takes diligence, planning and careful coordination.
If you or your organisation are looking to enhance your ability to provide quality customer experiences, start by getting in contact below.
