In a digital age dominated by a new generation with the attention span of a gnat, it is hardly surprising that customer engagement is the subject of endless research and scientific analysis. Every decision to purchase we make is designed to be an end-to-end journey to satisfaction and providing a best-in-class experience is pivotal to success in any industry. But you only have only a few seconds to grab your audience, and if you don’t get your message right the first time, your journey to making sales won’t even leave the station. This is no time for cutting corners.

Market consultancy firm Gartner says that 64% of people think that the customer experience is more important than price in their choice of brand, and that by 2020, customer experience will be the key brand differentiator.

If you get your website, communication and business correspondence translated by an impossible deadline at a minuscule rate or enlist the free services of your mate who spent a GAP year in Wolverhampton, you will ruin chances of building a brand and providing the customer experience.

The cheapest option seems like a bargain until you consider the real impact and transcendence of your written materials on the customer experience. If you translate your website with the help of a neighbour or get it done at a knock-down rate from the lowest bidder, your customers will understand the words, but those words may not enhance your image may even harm the customer experience.

The reason why you should choose professionals and respect their contribution to your success is evident. Imagine that a neighbour offers you €5 to clean his car. You think it’s a liberty, but you need the money, so you get out your bucket and sponge and do it as quickly as you can. It might be streaky when it dries, but if he complains, well that’s what you get for €5. You are unhappy, your neighbour is miserable, and the customer experience is terrible. Now imagine that that same neighbour offers you €30 to clean the car. Now you’ll be happy to spend as long as necessary, polishing the chrome, hoovering the mats and cleaning the windows until they gleam. Your neighbour will be happy, so will you, and based on mutual satisfaction and the great customer experience, he’s likely to ask you to do it again.

Need I say more? The obsession with the customer experience may turn out to be a win-win situation for us all.