CX IS THE NEW “in” word of late. For good reason. At the heart of profitable and sustainable business activities is customer experience (CX). No longer just “nice-to-have”, CX is now a necessity. From 2023 onwards, experts predict that how your customers feel about you and your services will surpass price and product as a differentiator when it comes to consumer choices.
Luckily, everyone is putting more effort into improving their customer experience. More and more organizations bring up customer feedback and take them to the decision-makers in the company. If you seek to up the ante this year, here are some key points from the experts:
1. “Avoid the mistake of ‘make money first’”. Often, the customers rank second place. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see smaller niche companies (but more agile) better meet the needs and expectations of customers versus large, legacy businesses. The “something” here is customer experience. Customers want to feel valued and not thought of as “just” a number in a queue.
2. Value for money goes beyond price and product. Consumers now look for products and services that give the best value for money in terms of end-to-end services. This includes how much it costs to deal with things when something goes wrong.
3. Get personal. The trend is providing personalized and tailored customer experiences. Customers want you to know them. While we have the software and technology to actually gather data and predict customers’ needs, they still want the human touch. They want truly personal experiences via omnichannel experiences.
4. Don’t underestimate company culture. (Yes, this is part of CX!) Plan for transformation. Reflect and experiment. See what kind of atmosphere fosters trust, interdependence, creativity, and discipline. A culture that is lean and agile will definitely benefit your organization in the long run.
5. Customer experiences don’t all begin with the oohs and aahs we see on social media. More often than not, it’s truly about bringing teams within an organization together and getting them to focus on making each experience uncomplicated. If some procedures are more feasible if handed over to a third-party service provider, take that option.
6. Facilitate collaboration across functional areas and business units.
7. Embed the customer experience across all company rituals (from planning, to reviews, capital expenditures, budgeting, hiring, succession, decision-making etc.)
8. Be conscious that CX is not a “passing fad”. It isn’t a short-term campaign. A good customer experience is a lifetime effort and thus, takes time.
9. Customer experience starts with a robust customer-centric culture. This tone is set from an organization’s C-suite level.
10. Rethink how work gets done. Check your internal protocols. Do note that talent shortage will always be an issue. Consistently train. Nurture workers with cross-functional, collaborative, and design skills. Dealing with your customers means equipping your team with the skills and knowledge to do so.
Customer Experience will always be a key driver of growth in companies.
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NEARSOL is a US-based BPO and service company that offers clients custom-design solutions. With major hubs in Manila and Iloilo, it began operations in 2011 and has since gained a strong presence in the Latin American regions, the Caribbean, and the Asia Pacific, winning many awards for quality and service along the way. Most recent of which is its Great Place to Work-Certified™ Recognition, a global accreditation that tells stakeholders what employees think of the company culture.
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