Whether or not economists want to call the current economic conditions a true recession or not, one thing is certain: Most industries are feeling some kind of budgetary pressure now that we are officially in 2023. Sky-high inflation, rising interest rates to combat the inflation, and headline-grabbing layoffs by some of tech’s biggest names are making a lot of folks uneasy, and nearly everyone will be looking to pinch more pennies this year.

For most companies, this will probably include at least a portion of your customers. They might be shopping around in hopes of finding a better deal elsewhere; it is contract renewal season, after all. 

So what can truly separate you from your competitors—both established and new? Even if you have the best product and the fairest pricing, there’s really only one thing that truly sets competitors apart: how your customers experience your brand and your product.

Although we can all agree that servicing current customers should be a top priority, if not the top priority at all times, that’s never truer than in a recession. When budgets tighten across the board, you’re not likely to have an influx of new customers banging down on your door, so it’s critical that you keep your current ones happy. Your number one goal? Ensuring you don’t become a line item they “trim.”

We recently conducted a survey of more than 500 sales, marketing, and customer success professionals and found that organizations with the best customer experiences are 2.5 times more likely to report significant growth than all others. That’s huge. 

So how do you give your customers the best possible experience during this uncertain time? Let’s dive in.