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"You have to start with the customer experience and work your way back to the technology, not the other way around." Steve Jobs
Diving into the field of customer experience for the first time can be both exciting and confusing. Constantly evolving technologies, agile new business models, trends, geopolitical uncertainties and the ongoing need to deliver value can seem like a lot to handle. This introductory article is designed to serve as a compass among the vast amount of information already available on the Internet in this field, and to guide you on your journey towards customer experience.
It requires a combination of understanding customer psychology, effective use of data and technology, and continuous improvement in every aspect of the customer journey. It's not necessarily complex science, as you'll see, but it does require curiosity and a desire for constant improvement.
What is customer experience?
Customer experience (CX) refers to the overall perception a customer or potential customer has of a brand, based on interactions across all touchpoints, from awareness to post-purchase and support. This perception is the result of ongoing engagements between the customer/potential customer and the brand, and is non-linear.
Why is customer experience important?
A positive customer experience can lead to increased loyalty, higher customer lifetime value (the amount someone spends with the brand over time) and positive word-of-mouth, while a negative experience can drive customers away and have a serious impact on a company's bottom line.
Main components and principles
- Customer journey: The complete journey a customer follows when interacting with a brand, from discovery to loyalty. Mapping this journey helps identify opportunities for improvement, as well as what delights customers with the current experience offered by the brand.
- Touch points: Any point of interaction between the customer and the brand, whether online, in-store, via customer service, or through other marketing communications and engagement activities.
- Emotional impact: The feelings and emotions experienced by customers during their interactions with the brand. Although we think we rationalize every purchasing decision, it's emotions that determine most of our behavior. Successful CX strategies focus on both creating positive emotional connections and eliminating negative emotions.
- Empathy: Understanding and sharing your customers' feelings during/after their interaction with the brand. This enables you to design experiences that truly resonate with your audience.
- Consistency: Ensure a seamless experience across all touchpoints to reinforce trust and brand identity.
How is the customer experience measured?
Here are some of the metrics most commonly used by brands, both at the macro and the individual level:
- Net Promoter Score (NPS): Measures customer loyalty by asking how likely they are to recommend your brand to others.
- Customer satisfaction (CSAT): Measures satisfaction with a specific interaction or with the overall experience.
- Customer Effort Score (CES): Measures the ease with which customers can achieve their objectives when interacting with your company.
There are other CX metrics that look at the ROI of implemented CX initiatives, customer churn rates, or earned growth rates. The most important element here is the action that flows from this data, not simply its measurement.
A solid CX program needs to take into account not only CX metrics, but also operational metrics (complaints volumes, in-store footfall, website bounce rates, etc.), corporate financial metrics and additional research to understand the overall brand experience.
Enabling tools and technologies
This part is constantly evolving, and CX technologies have grown considerably in the last five years. Here are two types of facilitator:
- CRM systems: Tools that help track and manage customer interactions, and orchestrate the 360-degree customer experience. The biggest player in this field is Salesforce, with its numerous modules.
- Voice of the customer programs: through them, companies collect customer feedback via surveys, interviews, social network listening, AI analysis and provide the company with actionable insights. This information is used by the company to improve the overall customer journey, a single point of contact, or to close a loop with an unhappy customer. The biggest technology enablers in this field are Medallia and Qualtrics.
Challenges
- Align internal teams: Ensure that departments work together to deliver a consistent experience and eliminate silos that prevent collaboration.
- Balancing technology and human contact: Finding the right balance between automation and human interaction.
- Maintain consistency across channels: Guarantee a consistent experience across digital and physical channels.
Emerging trends
Artificial intelligence (AI) and automation are the most talked-about trends in CX, and more and more companies are using them to enhance their large-scale personalization efforts, improve customer service or anticipate customer needs.
Sustainability principles and actions are also gaining ground, as customers want to do business with companies that take into account their overall impact on the communities in which they operate and on the environment. Carbon-neutral delivery options, products made from sustainable materials, and communicating these efforts to customers are all investment opportunities worth mentioning here.
Instead of a conclusion
I hope this article has sparked your curiosity about the CX field and that you'll consider diving deeper into the subject with the help of the following resources:
CustomerThink| Customer-Centric Business
CustomerJourney Mapping: A Complete Guide | Salesforce US
Experience Thought LeadershipResources - Medallia
