CX Redefined #08
Measuring Customer Experience, AI transforming CX
Welcome to the July 1st edition of CX Redefined, the Holy guide to customer experience. We apologize for not being able to publish our last edition as we were still working on finalizing the article and conducting extensive research. However, this current edition more than makes up for the missing post, offering a collection of the best articles and insights.
Get ready to delve deeper into the world of exceptional customer experiences and discover strategies that will redefine your approach to CX.
In today’s edition, we have for you
From author’s table - A Comprehesive Guide on measuring Customer Experience
A tweet on the true CX metric
A short read on how AI is transforming CX
From the desk of author
How to Measure Customer Experience: A Comprehensive Guide
Why is measuring customer experience essential? It's because numbers don't lie. According to a recent study by Deloitte, 80% of companies that prioritize customer experience outperform their competitors.
Now, picture this: you're running an online store, right? And you're doing pretty well, but you could always do better. So, you decide to measure customer experience and what do you find out? Your checkout process is a total nightmare! It's confusing, time-consuming, and customers are just straight-up bouncing out of there. But hey, you're not one to back down from a challenge. Armed with this intel, you roll up your sleeves, revamp that checkout process, and make it as smooth as silk. And guess what? Cart abandonment takes a nosedive and your sales shoot through the roof!
Is CEM (Customer Experience Mangement) same as CRM(Customer Relationship Management)?
No. It is not.
A CRM is like a sales funnel, focusing on all the transactions and stuff. But CEM? It's all about the touchpoints. These touchpoints are the moments when a customer interacts with a brand from start to finish. We're talking about things like buying stuff, paying bills, or even chatting with customer support peeps. CRM is all about the nitty-gritty details of customer transactions, while CEM zooms out to look at the bigger picture. It's all about understanding customer behavior and making sure they're satisfied as a whole. In a nutshell, CRM manages the customer, but CEM empowers them!
First off, CEM captures and distributes what customers think about a company, while CRM does the same but from the company's point of view.
CEM is all about capturing customer opinions at the touchpoints. It's like getting a feel for the moment. CEM relies on surveys, studies, and even the good ol' "voice of the customer" research. CEM data is used by the business leaders and functional heads. They use it to make sure they meet customer expectations and create better experiences with their products and services.
CRM comes into play after a customer interaction has been recorded. It's like looking back on what went down. CRM uses data from point-of-sales, market research, website clicks, and even automated tracking of sales. It's like getting insights from different angles to really understand what's going on. CRM data is used by the customer-facing teams like sales, marketing, field service, and customer service who use the info to make their operations more efficient and effective.
Last but not least, let's talk about how these two are relevant to future performance. CEM is like the ultimate detective, finding gaps between expectations and experiences to figure out where new offerings can be added. It's all about staying ahead of the game. On the other hand, CRM focuses on cross-selling by bundling products that people actually want with ones that aren't in high demand. It's like putting them together and saying, "Hey, check out this awesome bundle deal!"
Ok. Tell me how to measure CEM?
Measure the entire journey
First and foremost, the secret to measuring customer experience effectively lies in focusing on the entire journey, rather than just individual touchpoints or overall satisfaction. It's like zooming out and looking at the big picture!
But where do you start? Well, first things first, get your top executives together to agree on one main metric that's gonna be your guiding light. This is like your North Star, guiding your whole organization towards constant improvement.
Once you've got that sorted, it's time to break it down even further. This is where you define all the different layers of your measurement game. Most importantly, you wanna identify the specific customer journeys that really matter. You know, those journeys that drive over 80 percent of customer satisfaction. Get to know 'em inside and out.
But here's the thing, don't get too caught up in your own little bubble. Look beyond your own performance and those pesky little pain points. Take some time to see how you measure up against the big guns in your industry. I'm talking about the companies who are rockin' it in customer experience, both in your sector and outside of it. This little exercise can help you come up with some seriously awesome ideas to kick your customer service up a notch.
Technology is your secret weapon
Secondly, investing in cutting-edge technology that can gather customer feedback from different channels on a daily basis is crucial. Imagine a high-tech dashboard that combines survey results, social media posts, and operational data all in one place. It's like having a superpower that gives you a complete understanding of your customers' needs and desires.
But if you want to create a customer-focused culture that truly rocks, don't waste your money on a system that doesn't have the right capabilities. The name of the game is a system that can collect, analyze, and act on customer feedback in real time. And let's not forget about the power of advanced analytics to diagnose the root causes of any issues and predict their impact on future customer behaviors. Thankfully, many of the big players in the measurement-system industry have made serious investments in this area.
Now, it's crucial to evaluate these systems based on how well they can bring your measurement strategy to life. But wait, there's more! There are three strategic criteria that you should also consider:
1. Flexibility: Some system providers can make changes to survey questions and dashboards faster than a speeding bullet, while others might take ages or simply leave you to figure it all out on your own. So, think long and hard about how often you'll want to make changes and whether you have the resources to do it yourself.
2. Scalability: Are you a globetrotter in the business world, operating in different regions or countries? Do you serve customers who speak multiple languages or have a distributed workforce? If so, you'll need a system that has been put to the test in complex multinational environments and can scale to meet your organization's needs.
3. Cost: We all know that budget pressures can be intense. Sometimes, companies even have a penny-pinching culture that leads them to adopt a do-it-yourself mentality. But if you're serious about customer experience, beware of those flashy measurement systems that claim to have it all at a fraction of the cost. Instead, focus on the return on investment and the desired impact.
Last most important - it is in the mindest
But here's the real game-changer: organizations need to adopt a mindset of continuous improvement. It's all about constantly striving to be better than before. So, picture this – frontline workers actively seeking feedback from customers and using that valuable data to reshape and enhance the entire customer experience process.
Even if we have the best measurement system in place, it might not be enough to change the way an organization thinks. However, there are a few key steps that can greatly increase the chances of success.
Firstly, it's important to appoint journey "owners" and give them the power to make things happen. These owners are crucial in bringing together different teams from various functions within the organization, all working towards a common goal of improving customer satisfaction in a specific journey. To make sure these owners can overcome any resistance within the organization, they should have direct access to top-level executives who can make decisions quickly. Additionally, they should be given a budget to make necessary changes to the customer journeys they oversee.
Another important step is the implementation of journey dashboards. These dashboards serve the purpose of providing a clear and concise overview of the performance of each journey. This further reinforces the shared goal of the cross-functional teams and allows the executive team to provide support when certain journeys are not meeting expectations. Journey owners should be able to easily analyze satisfaction metrics at different touchpoints and identify the root causes of any issues within their journeys. For instance, if the owner of a journey focused on resolving technical issues sees that overall satisfaction is low, they should be able to quickly determine if it's due to a specific touchpoint or driver, such as the number of technician visits required to solve the problem.
All the best to all of you in measuring your customer experience!
A tweet
Retention is your true experience metric
A short read
A short read on how AI has transformed the way customer experience is measured and delivered. A short read on cmswire
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