Creating innovative, empathetic experiences across omnichannel forges long-lasting relationships with customers. Forrester predicts pandemic to have boosted digital customer service interactions by 40%. Today, business leaders see seamless and ‘aha’ experiences as the bedrock of their growth strategy. To get good at the customer experience (CX) makes eminent sense given the diversity of customer issues that we face today – emergency, utilities, financial, or psychological needs.
In a volatile economy, where every possible micro-landscape (work or business) shifts without notice, all ‘customer-roads’ lead to one value: Purpose. From workers seeking existential meaning, and activists holding lawmakers accountable for far-ranging issues of climate sustainability, equity, diversity, and inclusion, brands are rewiring their marketing and CX functions to reflect purpose in more profound ways. After all, the race to serve, satisfy, and delight customers are genuinely on.
Over a tumultuous 24-month period, while companies have double-downed on money and efforts to create digital and data powerhouses, the tenuous linkage of technology with Digital customer experience must be clarified.
At the heart of CX are three basics – ‘SEE’ – success (did the customer get what he/she came for?), effort (was the process friction-free?), and emotion (did the exchange elevate?). The seemingly effortless elements do not explain that progressive organizations still miss the mark. Global CX trends report that when experiences don’t meet expectations, the collective losses accumulate to as much as $4.7T annually.
Let’s state two basics before elaborating on broader aspects of CX transformation.
- The customer is on 24/7. The businesses also need to.
- User experience journeys are rife with lost opportunities due to empathy. That has to change.
Designing stellar CX Strategic Journeys
A winning CX strategy that brings customer delight must be constructed methodically.
The outside-in perspective begins with awareness. As a customer searches for a brand, product, or service online, brands need to test and create intuitive workflows. The better an organization understands how customers engage, their intentions, and desired outcomes, the more meaningful will be the discovery process. Next in designing a CX strategy comes the critical step of competitor evaluation. After all, we are all comparing all the time.
From profiling points of differentiation across channels, optimizing SEO, managing media, and engaging influencers for the company’s authentic side to shine through, the focus is to win the perception of quality in customers’ minds.
Around this time, a clear definition of success (for example, the customer acquisition costs, conversions, cost to serve) has to be agreed on and communicated across the associated departments of sales, marketing, product, operations, and customer services.
Apart from laying down industry-leading conflict resolution practices, finally, designing a CX strategy necessarily is to work on levers that convert buyers to advocates over time. Fostering customer loyalty and advocacy, primarily through social media, not only nurtures positive brand sentiment but is also about generating valuable real-time insights.
In 2022, focus on these five focal areas for elevating CX.
