Enhancing customer experience through business process improvement: An introduction to the Enhanced Customer Experience Framework (ECEF)

Over the last few years, there has been tremendous growth in the diversity of products and services offered to customers across all industries. With this increased choice of products and services, the bargaining power of buyers is rising. The products and services offered by the different companies do not vary much, regardless of which companies are selling them. Customers are in the position where they can choose from an array of products and services from more than one company. This shift of power from company to customer forces companies to focus on customer retention and loyalty through improved customer experience. This paper will introduce a framework for enhancing customer experience through improved business processes. The framework consists of seven stages, with sequential activities taking place in every stage. The Enhanced Customer Experience Framework (ECEF) can help managers to satisfy customer needs. By designing business processes to deliver products and services according to the needs of the customer, companies will be able to enjoy the strategic competitive advantage of customer loyalty.