And while companies have made it extremely easy for people to do business with them, there’s one aspect of business that most companies still struggle with; customer experience after the sale.

I’ve had a few recent experiences that highlight this problem, and it’s something we can all relate to. We make a decision to do business with a company and everything looks good. Then after we make a purchase, we have to interact with the company and the experience is disappointing.

I was doing some spring cleaning and needed a dumpster to throw away a lot of junk that had been accumulating. I researched a few different companies and ordered a dumpster online. It was a seamless experience, until the day came when the dumpster was supposed to be delivered.

They gave me a four-hour delivery window on a Monday and I had everything ready to go. I had started gathering all of the things I was going to throw away and had planned the day to start chipping away at the cleanup. When the four-hour window passed and they hadn’t shown up or called, I called them for an update. I wasn’t able to connect to a live person and ended up leaving a message. They called back a few hours later saying they were waiting on dispatch to send the driver.

Fast forward to this week and I now have a full dumpster that is ready to be picked up. They were supposed to be there Monday to pick it up. They never showed up. Three days later and the dumpster is still there. No call, no email, no update. And this is a prime example of a company not focusing on customer experience after the sale. It’s damaging to the brand and will influence my decision to do business with them again or refer them to someone I know.

There are a few aspects of customer experience that are table stakes. Companies need to focus on the basic things consumers expect in 2024. The good news is that it’s not complicated and it’s not expensive; it only requires effort. Here are a few aspects of customer experience that companies need to be good at.

Communication

Technology has made it very easy for companies to interact with their customers and keep them updated. It’s critical to have a system in place that provides updates to customers throughout the sales process. Things will go wrong, and how you communicate is critical. Worst case, pick up the phone and call the customer. When was the last time that happened?

Reaching a live person

There is nothing worse than calling a company for help and getting stuck in an endless phone queue. Make it easy for your customers to reach a live person and keep your call routing options simple. Everyone I know despises the automated phone attendants that never understand what you say and don’t allow you to connect to a live agent. And please be sure the people answering the phone and supporting your customers speak English.

Feedback after the sale

I love getting a survey after I do business with a company, and I almost always fill it out. Companies should take these responses seriously and ensure they are acting on what their customers tell them. There is nothing more powerful than the voice of a customer, and this feedback is instrumental in helping you perfect the experience people have throughout the sales process.