Why CMOs Should Care About the Post Purchase Experience

In today's competitive business landscape, organisations will be more inclined to invest their marketing budget in customer acquisition, with the utmost focus on pre-purchase engagement and conversion. But a very crucial aspect of the customer journey—the post-purchase process—is certain to lag behind with minimal focus compared to what it actually requires. This overlooking is a massive missed potential for organisations pursuing sustainable growth and competitive leverage. 

Post-purchase experience is all that happens after a customer has made a purchase. It includes order confirmation, shipping notice, packaging, delivery, product usage, customer service, return, exchange, and follow-up communications. Although most conventional marketing efforts are aimed at getting prospects through the sales channel, the post-purchase process is another equally important stage where customer relationships are established or lost.

The Post-Purchase Experience

CMOs who understand the strategic potential of the post-purchase experience are able to convert customers into an extension of the sales team, as they pass on their positive experiences - driving repeat purchase and organic growth. Through their understanding of the fact that this all-too-often-neglected phase of the customer experience and acting deliberately to optimise it has such wonderful potential for marketing leaders to create value for their companies. 

The post-purchase period is also a significant psychological moment for the consumer. With the purchase accomplished, consumers will generally experience what psychologists have labelled "cognitive dissonance"–psychic discomfort which arises from discordant ideas or perceptions. On the path toward buying, it expresses itself in the form of questioning or doubt as to whether or not they really made the right decision. This attitude, or "buyer's remorse," has deep implications for repeat purchase and customer satisfaction.

Creating A Successful Post-Purchase Experience:

Positive post-purchase experience can nullify any negative feelings by making the customers confident in their choice. Properly designed order confirmation, shipment notification, and good packaging are all reinforcement. When customers feel that their decision is reinforced by a positive post-purchase experience, they become more delighted, and they strongly tend to develop brand loyalty. 

For CMOs, seeing this dynamic still reveals post-purchase experience as a value-creating marketing play rather than a simple operations issue. The moment they can view post-purchase touchpoints as an opportunity for constructing brand and relationships, marketing executives can leverage customer passion to fuel organic growth and shape brand reputation.

The customer acquisition vs. customer retention return on investment math is a strong rationale to spend money on the post-purchase experience. Studies repeatedly demonstrate that it costs far more to get new customers than to retain current ones—five or seven times as much, according to some estimates. 

Additionally, raising customer retention by only 5% can boost profits by 25% to 95%, as documented by Frederick Reichheld of Bain & Company. Aside from the simple cash payback of keeping clients, happy customers also spend more in the long run. Customers feel more confident in a brand after receiving a good experience and therefore are more motivated to experiment with other products and services, purchase premium versions of the product, and come back repeatedly without resorting to thorough research or price comparison. The process, alternatively known as customer lifetime value (CLV) development, is one of the strongest revenue drivers directly resulting from excellent post-purchase experience.

The Role Of Data Accumulation:

Customer information gathered during post-purchase gives rich feedback into marketing strategy development. Patterns of usage, support interactions, and feedback reflect nuanced customer preference, pain areas, and behavior. If read appropriately, it can be used to drive product improvements, find cross-sell opportunities, and inform messaging improvements. 

By adding post-purchase data capture to their marketing analytics solution, CMOs can now have a better view of customer drivers and requirements. This knowledge enables more effective targeting and gives power to the marketer to forecast customer needs instead of reacting after the event. The result is better communications, stronger relationships, and content customers.

The Post-Purchase Experience Is A Team Game:

Execution of an effective post-purchase experience strategy requires collaboration of several departments like marketing, sales, operations, customer service, and product development. Cross-functional initiatives are best launched and driven by CMOs, who should be the customer voice in the organisation. By breaking down department silos and creating a collective ownership of customer experience excellence, marketing leaders can drive consistency in all touch points. 

This one effort not only increases customers' levels of satisfaction, but also operational efficiency by equating organizational attention to customer needs. In the field, strengthening the post-purchase process begins with the exercise of customer journey mapping after conversion. This includes charting all touch points, being mindful of what every point needs in order to make the customers satisfied, and knowledge on areas of readjustment. Open order communications, carefully designed packaging, readily accessible customer support, simple return and exchange processes (according to UPS, 66% of shoppers check the returns page before making a purchase), personalized follow-ups, and winning loyalty are some of the most important variables in a successful post-purchase strategy. 

Packaging is a physical expression of values of the brand and an important possibility to create impressions. Well-designed unboxing experiences that surprise customers can fuel social shares and authenticate brand opinion. Similarly, post-purchase communications that appeal to customer likes and purchase history reflect responsiveness and relationship building.

Personalisation Is Key In The Post-Purchase Experience:

Measuring the influence of post-purchase experience optimization for CMOs in particular requires building proper metrics. These can include repeat purchase rates, customer lifetime value, Net Promoter Score (NPS), referral rates, social mentions, review sentiment, and reduction in churn. Monitoring these metrics and correlating gains to specific post-purchase activities helps marketing leaders prove the ROI of investments in customer experience. Post-purchase is when there are distinct opportunities for personalization that render relationships with customers so rich. 

By leveraging purchase history, browsing, and customer interest, companies are able to individualize future communications, product propositions, and service experiences on an individualised basis. This form of personalisation shows empathy and respect for the unique relationship each customer has with the company. Aside from one-on-one conversations, offering custom product recommendations and utilization ideas from prior buying histories lets customers know the brand values their needs and committed to helping them get best use out of purchases. Value added is what gives the perception of the brand a supportive partner rather than a mere transactional merchant.

Post-Purchase Experience In Subscription Models:

As post-purchase experience gains increasing importance as subscription models and recurring revenue become increasingly central to industries, customer retention becomes more and more vital. To firms that operate on such models, customer retention literally translates to fiscal survival and prosperity. Every renewal is a decision point where customers weigh whether the value being offered is worth the investment. 

CMOs managing direct marketing of subscription products and services must realise that post-purchase is actually a consolidation of pre-purchase experiences into one experience every time a bill cycle is reached. Communication, repeated value delivery, usage support, and relationship-building all help in preventing churn and delivering customer lifetime value. As part of an era with ever-changing customer expectations, post-purchase experience is a competitive differentiation opportunity. 

While most innovation focused by most companies will naturally be aimed at product features or pre-purchase promotion, fewer still are focused on strategically redefining what happens after conversion. Leaving a gap of opportunity for early mover brands to differentiate based on exceptional post-purchase experiences.

Conclusion:

Post-purchase experience is a largely untapped but vital source of maximum business growth, brand trustworthiness, and customer loyalty optimisation for CMOs. By broadening the horizon from acquisition to the overall customer experience, marketing executives can unlock tremendous value in the form of greater retention, extended customer lifetime value, and word-of-mouth. 

To have the greatest influence, efforts aimed at enhancing post-purchase experience need to be tackled strategically rather than tactically with well-defined objectives, cross-functional alignment, and robust systems of measurement. CMOs signed up for this combined strategy to marketing—one in which utilising current customer relationships is as valuable as bringing in new ones—will set their companies on the road to long-term success in more competitive environments.

Author Bio: Stuart Cooke is the Digital Marketing Manager at Irish Parcels. They are a courier comparison service that makes finding the best courier partner for your business easy.

Image by StockCake

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