4Cs of Interaction Thinking: Conversation

We've all been there. On that website to do a quick job.

Except you don't remember your password. So you hit 'Forgot password'.

You get through that just to be greeted by two-step authentication.

Then, when you get to where you need to be, you're told to download yet another app, only for your phone to suggest deleting it for underuse.

It's maddening.

I didn't forget my password, it's just every site needs me to have an account, and I have no idea what your particular rules are for password creation.

I didn't forget my username, it's just I don't remember if it's my account number, which email it could be or something I had to make up.

I don't need two-factor authentication just to look at running shoes.

I'm not alone in my frustrations with websites and apps. How can I be? You are too?

These annoyances could be easily addressed with simple copy changes.

Get your Content Experience Architect to look at login pages so they can write a line about what the sign-in requirements are before anyone has typed anything into any boxes.

You can spend hundreds of thousands on ad spend and digital marketing, only for people to immediately turn off when they get to the critical bit - buying something or servicing their account.

There is no point shelling out on SaaS to reduce the number of people calling in with simple requests, if they then have to call in because the journey is broken or worse, use a chatbot, that's equally maddening as it doesn't understand basic requests or nuance in language.

A Content Experience Architect can make sure the right message in the right place to guide people through a SaaS logged-in journey.

Managing people's expectations and communicating effectively is all it takes to turn swearing into cheering.

This isn't the end - it's the start

This part of the journey is often considered the bottom of the funnel, the final part of the decision-making process.

This is a mistake.

You may have existing customers who will come straight to you to service their account, service or product. In which case, your functionality and customer service need to be top-notch.

So they'll come straight to you. But in this highly competitive climate, it doesn't mean they'll stay if every interaction is frustrating.

But there may be prospects who are aware of your brand. They'll come straight to this part of the journey without seeing any of the Capture or Choice content you've got on your website or any other channel.

You don't want to lose your brand personality, and you want them to make the right decision; otherwise, it'll cost you in angry calls, constant complaints and possibly lawsuits, so you need a journey that serves content that highlights what the product/service is, answers any questions to avoid taking them away from that journey, what happens next and the opportunity to learn more.

These shouldn't be buried in the Ts&Cs.

Of course, there will be a lot of people who are there because they've either passively consumed social media, email or paid media content.

And those who are actively engaged in your brand but haven't yet become customers, so they've seen everything.

The Conversation part of the journey must cater for all the people who have varying knowledge of your brand and products/services.

It must affirm what they know about you by not losing the reason as to why they chose you.

The fix isn't more data. It's not investing in expensive tech. It doesn't need management consultants to state the obvious.

It needs Content Experience Architects who will build Connection at every customer interaction.