Want to create a memorable customer experience in 2023? Focus on clean air

If your business handles customers, it will be your top priority to make sure their experience with your business is first-class. It’s the very thing that your success is riding on. It drives sales, word of mouth, brand loyalty – and you’re probably always looking for ways to make it better. Well, let us introduce you to something you might not have considered: clean air.

Customer Experience in 2023 – What’s Changing?

After everything that's gone down in the past few years, it's become crystal clear that customer experience is super important. People have raised the bar when it comes to service, especially face-to-face. Empathy is becoming a key ingredient in building a good relationship between customers and brands.

According to Bain & Company, a global consulting firm, focusing on your customer experience could increase your revenue by 6-8% with many businesses going above and beyond that, increasing their revenue by over 70%.

Customers now expect businesses to provide tailored experiences that are relevant to their individual needs and preferences. This can be achieved through the use of data and technology, such as AI and machine learning, to gather insights about customer behaviour and preferences.

Many customers are still wary about enjoying experiences in person, so businesses have responded by making their service more seamless across all channels, but ensuring that their environments are safer, providing peace of mind to their customers.

Clean air, a game changer for customer experience in 2023!

On a tangible level, good air quality has a direct impact on customer experience, as it affects both the physical comfort and overall wellbeing of customers. Poor air quality can cause health problems such as headaches, eye irritation, and respiratory issues, and can make customers feel uncomfortable and dissatisfied with their experience.

On the other hand, good air quality can provide customers with intangible but meaningful value, contributing to a positive customer experience. This is particularly important in indoor environments, such as shops, restaurants, and hotels, where customers spend a significant amount of time.

Certain air purifiers as well as newer technologies, such as safe UV-C lamps, can specifically rid the air of bacteria and viruses, making the environment safer for its customers, and providing businesses with a unique experience to market to its patrons.

How Can Your Industry Use Clean Air to its Advantage?

Healthcare

Clean air in healthcare is vital. Cross-contamination has been a longstanding plague. Most Research shows that in Europe alone around 3.2 million patients contract a healthcare-associated infection every year (Source: IAAS); up to 20% of them are respiratory infections. This could be drastically reduced if the air was properly cleaned.

Clean air can positively affect the patient experience, reducing the risk of infections by minimising the spread of airborne pathogens, which is particularly important for areas where patients may have compromised immune systems.

And it can also build trust and customer loyalty amongst patients by demonstrating a commitment to providing a safe and healthy environment for patients, staff, and visitors.

And finally, it can provide a better experience to other stakeholders: to the patients' relatives, who accompany them, and also to healthcare personnel.

For example, Physio-On found this out when they became a Pure Air Zone. Nuno Santos, one of the practice’s physiotherapists said about the partnership, “Our goal from offering Pure Air Zone is that the patient has a better experience when it comes to health. By offering Pure Air, I am showing to the patients that I care about their health on all sorts of levels.”

Hospitality

Clean air doesn’t just have to be a functional addition to your services, it could be used as a marketing tool to add to your entire experience. This is the case for many hospitality businesses, where the whole experience is taken into account, not just the food or drink but the atmosphere and service, too.

What if you could put clean air on your menu and give your customers the chance to wine and dine in a way unlike they ever have before?

Michelin-starred restaurant Ora did just that, by pairing their locally-sourced ingredients with a sustainable atmosphere to offer their customers a truly remarkable culinary encounter. The addition of safety is simply a perk.

Sport and gyms

Sports and fitness is another area where clean air is key. Fitness clubs and gyms can really make clean air a USP in their customer experience as it allows their clients to exercise in the purest environment, making their workouts easier and their performance better, which is an amazing thing to offer.

Sporting Milano 3 understands this well. Daniel Degli Esposti, the General Director at Sporting Milano 3, told us, “We have a few champions that train in our club and they were enthusiasts when they saw the technological systems. You can really notice and feel that when you train next to this technology you inhale clean air. It’s easier to perform, you live better and you do the sporting activity more willingly.”

Retail

Perhaps the industry where it’s taken longer to entice customers back is retail. This is where clean air can really play a pivotal role.

When the air is clean, it makes the shopping experience way better, and people are more likely to hang out longer and buy more. Plus, it makes your store stand out and shows that you care about the environment and that you're committing not only to them but also to the planet, which is important to a lot of customers nowadays.

And when people are happy and comfortable, they're going to tell their friends and keep coming back for more: so clean air can increase the number of referrers.

Watch how hair stylist Rubertelli uses clean air is the key to boosting sales and enhancing customer experience.

How clean air indirectly affects CX positively: the untold story

Clean air can have a further multiplying effect on customer experience.

A successful organisation depends on positive CX, which starts with its first customers -- its employees. A lot of research has explored the link between employee experience and customer experience, demonstrating that companies that perform well on employee experience metrics also tend to perform well on customer experience metrics. The striking results from recent research by HBR show that happier employees can increase a company's revenue by up to more than 50%, and profits by nearly as much.

Clean air clearly has an impact on employee’s safety, mental health, productivity and performances. If it’s true that – according to other stats – companies with highly engaged employees outperform their competitors by 147% and clean air has a deep impact on employee satisfaction, this means clean air has a positive indirect impact on customer experience.

Give Your Customers the Experience They Deserve

No matter your industry, especially if your business is customer-facing, clean air can help to take the experience you offer to the next level. Interested in learning more? Find out more about becoming a Pure Air Zone, or book a chat with one of us to discuss your sustainability goals and how we could help.