Customer Experience: an Introduction for Freelancers

Picture courtesy of Silwia Bartyzel for unsplash.com

If you regularly read marketing or business blogs, you’ve certainly come across the concept of Customer Experience. The fact that Customer Experience is so broad makes it hard to define. However, the Business Dictionary defines customer experience as “the entirety of the interactions a customer has with a company and its products”. This means that customer experience encompasses the customer’s relationship with a company and its products before their purchase, during their purchase and (long) after their purchase. It can cover concepts ranging from customer service to digital experience with the company’s website or social media strategy: what kind of support does the business offer to customers, how does it thank loyal customers, etc. ?

What does it mean for us translators? We might not run big companies, but we should always bring the best customer experience to our clients. “That’s a given,” you might tell me. Well, think again. I’m sure you would agree that our customers are our most precious resources. No customer, no translation. No translation, no work! In that sense, it is important to take care of our clients and to show them that we care. Not only will we be bringing them value with our translation, we will also make them feel valued. That’s why doing your best to strengthen the relationship you have with your existing clients (and make it as unbreakable as a lock) in is one of the best strategies for business owners. Because we all know that a happy client is a returning one, right?

Customer experience is a very large topic, one that I couldn’t possibly cover in just one post. That’s why I decided to spread this topic across several blog posts and take this introduction further. In the next few weeks, we’re going discuss:

Why you should offer your customers the best experience possible. In other words, what’s in it for your client, and what’s in it for you?

How big brands do it and how freelancers can take inspiration from them.

How can translators offer a customer experience? This post will be much more practical as I will share some tips that you can start implementing in your business.

This is it for today, but I’ll “see” you next Friday with a number of reasons why you should consider adding a customer experience strategy to your business.