When building out your next campaign, it is important to plan beyond the sales goals and metrics. It has become evident in recent years that the customer experience has become one of the most significant factors to help turn a potential consumer into a customer, and then transform the customer into a brand advocate. How your customers feel before, during and after the transaction can help, or hinder, future sales.

While sales are what drive your business forward, and help support all your organizational efforts, they can typically only be achieved through positive customer interactions. For years we have called this the customer experience (CX). But what happens when the customer experience becomes so routine and robotic that the human aspect starts to get lost. This is where the human experience (HX) steps in. HX is taking your CX plans and elevating them with strategy and technology to more humanize your efforts.  It's considering the human emotion behind the journey.

As you think about and build your customer journey, consider this key HX principle to help turn your customers into active advocates.

Customers are More Than a Sale

Step One: Personalize It

You must always keep in mind that a sale does not equal a customer, and in the same vein, a customer does not always equal an advocate. A sale is a purchase. A customer is a satisfied repeat purchaser. And an advocate is a customer that actively shares information about the company, product, and/or services on an ongoing basis. An advocate will be actively engaging on your social media, grooming leads, and keeping an eye on new developments in your company. Considering that 91% of customers say they’d provide referrals but only 11% of salespeople are actively asking for them, it’s evident that customers are ready to advocate for a business they believe in.

When thinking about audiences, it's important to remember that personalization has become an increasingly popular marketing tactic and for good reason. Epsilon reports that 80% of consumers are more likely to purchase when a brand from a personalized marketing experience. Even established brands need to convince potential audiences of their company’s value. 89% of highly recognized brands, including Coca-Cola, Fabletics, Netflix, Sephora, USAA, and Wells Fargo are investing in digital personalization. The user experience and the customer journey are on the forefront of marketer’s minds because audiences demand it.

Step Two: Now Add Feeling

This more sophisticated thinking about the emotional aspects of the customer journey combined with the ingenuity of the customer and usefulness of the internet and social media has made the days of the traditional one-way conversation and hard-sell virtually over. Customers can easily utilize the internet to research products and price their needs, instead of relying on information they received directly from a salesperson. So, as customers become savvier and more prepared, personalization has become an industry norm.

Never underestimate how quickly the general public will want the next level added to their experience and interactions. These new humanizing nuances that you bring to the customer journey will equal success, not just in CX, but in advocacy and improved bottom lines. HX takes all the personalization and technology you currently use but enhances their emotional experience, which is more likely to garner quality results

For example, when someone decides to buy a new product, they go through an emotional journey. The scale of that journey depends on what it is and why they are buying it, but no matter the scale of purchase, the positive or negative interaction they have during their journey can cause a heightened emotional response. That heightened emotional response, if positive, creates a long-lasting customer and advocate. If negative, it can cause a customer to leave your brand and advise others to no longer do business with you as well.

In a world where there are so many products to choose from and so much content to digest, we are left with our emotional experiences to guide us.

At the end of the day, people want to be seen–as humans–not as data or leads. Understanding your customer is crucial not only for a successful campaign but to transform your prospects and customers into advocates. Thinking of the human aspect of your customer elevates their experience to new levels, which usually equals them as a repeat customer, and the likelihood of them advocating your business.