Why Brand, Employee, and Client Experiences Matter in Today's Economy

As we transition out of the age of technology and into the age of experience, it will be increasingly important for businesses to focus on nurturing and growing several essential experiences to remain competitive in the market.

These essential experiences include:

• A strong brand experience driven by guiding principles that define the purpose, mission, vision, and values for the organization.
• A comprehensive employee experience built to attract and retain top talent through initiatives that promote respect, teamwork, and community.
• A consistently superior client experience that delights and goes beyond the customer’s expectations, leaving them excited and wanting more.

Importantly, these three experiences feed off of one another to create a flywheel effect that propels growth over time and improves stability and endurance in the face of disruption and adversity.

By carefully and strategically improving each of these three pillars, you can build a more sustainable business model that sees growth year over year, no matter the state of the broader market.

Three essential experiences that propel growth

Almost ten years ago, as branding consultants, we saw that the client and employee experience would soon overtake price as the way to gain market share and attract talent in the evolving business ecosystem.

In our work with B2B firms from across the country, we found that those who placed a higher value on these elements grew faster than their competitors and were more resilient in the face of outside disruption.

The Age of Experience is here, and it’s increasingly important for businesses to focus on nurturing and growing key experiences to remain competitive in the market.

Brand experience

Your brand is not your logo or tagline. Instead, your brand is made up of the thoughts, feelings, beliefs, and behaviors that clients, employees, partners and others experience as they interact with your firm.

Today, your brand is more important than ever as a key differentiator in the marketplace, and we believe it starts with revisiting and refining your guiding principles (purpose, vision, mission, core values). These foundational elements define your brand promise and signal what others can expect when interacting with your firm. Consistently delivering on this promise at every touchpoint will help attract and retain the employees and clients, and ultimately, sustainable growth for your firm.

Employee experience

More than competitive pay and benefits packages, strong guiding principles that are widely communicated throughout your organization are essential to a compelling employee experience.

Research from McKinsey shows that 89% of US employees are seeking a sense of purpose in their work and employment that aligns with their values and career goals. Additionally, building a culture of recognition is shown by Gallup to increase engagement and reduce turnover when employees can see a path to growth within their company.

A strong brand experience defines a strong employee experience, and ultimately powers a superior client experience.

Client experience

Our research indicates firms that are focused on continuously elevating the client experience are better able to build, retain, and deepen relationships – even in the face of market headwinds. In fact, it is one of the central factors that predicts organizational success.

The client experience encompasses every aspect of a company’s offering, from the cadence of communication to the final delivered product or service to the ongoing engagement as a trusted advisor. Clients want to feel that you understand their needs in a more personalized way and that you consistently deliver on your brand promise.

Why experiences matter today

Best in class experiences possess real business value. For example, the net promoter score — frequently used to measure a company’s client experience – is shown to explain “roughly 20% to 60% of the variation in organic growth rates among competitors” in most industries.

We see that the convergence of the brand, employee and client experiences is a key component to engaging what Jim Collins calls the flywheel effect that takes a company from good to great. Companies that deliver at the highest level across these experiences, and consistently exhibit nine key traits, are what we term best in class.*

Having an appreciation for experience is no longer optional in today’s Age of Experience. Organizations need an intense focus on all three essential experiences to stand out from the pack, attract and retain key talent, and build loyal customer relationships that can drive growth in both the short- and long-term.

*To learn more about our recent research about best in class companies, view the webinar.