Customer Experience – A term that is widely spoken today and that has brought many changes in the relationship of brands with their customers is Customer Experience (CX), a strategy that helps achieve higher levels of customer satisfaction, in addition to reducing rejection and increasing company revenue.
The idea of offering the consumer a positive experience therefore becomes an element of differentiation, which strengthens the relationship with the brand and contributes to the success of the business. However, success is no longer the main objective and now takes on a secondary role.
Therefore, there are still many entrepreneurs who have difficulties in putting the CX approach into practice. To help with the implementation of the concept, in this post, we will bring up the main issues related to it:
- What is Customer Experience (CX)?
- What is your relationship with technology?
- How to create your strategy?
- Are there metrics?
- Which companies stand out?
From this content, you will have a broader view on CX and will be able to see in a practical way how this technique can contribute to the results of your company. Liked? So, follow along!
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Table of Contents
What is Customer Experience?
The first step is to understand exactly what this expression means. Many believe that it is synonymous with User Experience (UX), but, as we will see, the concepts are different. So, what is the definition?
The consumer experience represents customer interactions and perceptions of a brand and its products or services. Included here are physical, psychological, emotional and rational sensations. Therefore, it is directly related to the purchase process.
In this way, CX refers to the customer’s purchase journey, which goes from their first contact to the decision to purchase the product or service and after-sales. This covers different important points, such as the purchase of a product or service and critical situations, such as dissatisfaction in an interaction that has taken place.
To understand how relevant this issue is, just look at the data released in LinkedIn article about Twitter. From 2015 to 2017, customer service interactions grew by 250%. Thus, the need to optimize the relationship with consumers and offer a unique experience is visible.
After all, it is this attitude that encourages the customer to make recurring purchases and retain customer loyalty. In addition, an Oracle study, released on Super Office website, clarifies that 74% of the senior executives interviewed believe that the consumer experience impacts their willingness and ability to become a lawyer for a brand, that is, a super client and recommends its products and services to friends and family.
Realize, then, that the idea is to offer a positive influence on consumer behavior. Thus, he manages to have good memories, which stimulate his loyalty, in addition to generating more value and bringing new opportunities for the business.
Customer Experience Management
CX strategies include:
- service and product customization;
- management of the media, such as e-mail, telephone, social networks, SMS, applications, etc .;
- quick response to problems, doubts, praise and criticism.
To guarantee these purposes, it is necessary to manage the consumer experience, a long-term strategy that involves all organizational sectors. Its objective is to guarantee the success of the initiatives and improve the relationship with the client, so that he can be loyal.
How to do this? It is necessary to base the actions on the following tripod:
- effort: it implies easier interaction between the customer and the brand;
- emotional: it is the creation of a bond with the company, so that products and services remain in the consumer’s mind;
- success: predicts that the client will achieve its functional objectives in its relationship with the enterprise.
From this, it is possible to practice CX management in order to create an internal sector that will study the target audience and define attitudes that will lead to a more consistent experience in all interactions between customer and brand. The aim is to exceed expectations to increase the chance of satisfaction and loyalty.
Difference to Customer Success
This is a strategic area whose responsibility is to take care of the client’s success, in literal translation. The prerogative is that the more satisfied the consumer is, the more products and services he will buy. Thus, it is easier to raise the problem solving rate, attract and retain customers.
Therefore, the Customer Success sector must be close to the customer throughout its consumption cycle. The goal is to anticipate the questions, concerns and doubts that arise in this process. More than that, the professional who works in the area passes on feedback to the company to improve its relationship and add value to what it offers.
CX, on the other hand, gathers all these practices, but focuses on differentiated experiences, which may occur before, during or after purchase. In this way, the business is able to stand out from the competition and obtain a competitive advantage.
Difference between UX and CX
This is a common confusion, but it needs to be clear. UX is User Experience and has a more technical approach. It works at specific points of contact, especially digital channels, which are increasingly present in the idea of omnichannel.
Thus, UX acts more directly with information architecture, design, usability tests and user interaction mapping. CX is broader and more strategic. It encompasses User Experience, which becomes a tool to improve the experience and build customer loyalty.
So, it’s clear that UX is all about technology. But CX is also directly related, as we will see now.
What is the relationship between CX and technology?
The customer experience needs the technological resources to be improved. The use of devices, solutions and tools, as well as social networks, simplifies interactions between the client and the company, making them more accessible and faster. The result is a solid and long-lasting relationship that goes far beyond buying.
However, this is only one of the impacts. With a consumer more demanding for easy access to information, companies should keep up with market demand and do so much more. It is necessary to offer a fast and effective service, even if it is impossible to be online 24 hours a day.
To expand these possibilities, we have listed below some technologies to improve the customer experience.
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
This technology can provide high profits to companies and has become a trend for the sector. The expectation is that retail use will be 45% higher by 2020, according to the study presented by the Marketing Dive website.
Among the possibilities of applying AI to the customer experience, are those listed below.
Relationship automation
The goal is to use virtual agents, such as chatbots, to interact with customers in an immediate and personalized way. It is also possible to offer 24/7 support. Tools like machine learning and natural language processing (PLN) contribute to this process, allowing the equipment to recognize human emotions.
Visual listening
This is the technique that allows you to analyze images by algorithms. In this way, it is possible to better understand the types of customer experiences and make analyzes that make it possible to take unexpected actions to generate opportunities.
This is a way, therefore, to adopt a Strategic IT. However, there is more to do to ensure innovation management and the scalability for the customer experience. It is necessary to rely on a well-structured action to have positive results.
How to create a CX strategy?
Implementing a Customer Experience strategy should be guided by 3 fundamental pillars:
- knowledge of the customer’s profile through quantitative and qualitative data to learn how to create different and unique experiences;
- understanding of the customer journey, with the discovery of the preferred communication and relationship channels and the main factors that encouraged contact with the brand. It is also necessary to map the steps up to the purchase decision, to create specific actions for each stage;
- understanding of the importance of the product or service to the customer through the identification of the effects they cause on the consumer, its level of relevance and meaning.
Within this scope, there are some attitudes that can be adopted. One of them is the focus, which should always be the customer. This culture must be passed on to the entire organization through guidelines and principles.
An example is Zappos, which uses values in an integrated manner with the organizational culture to deliver excellent service, embrace change and be humble. Thus, everyone can act in a way that is expected.
Another idea is to invest in the emotional aspect. An example again is Zappos, which helped a customer who was unable to return a shoe in the reverse logistics model the day his mother died. The company solved the problem independently and free of charge, in addition to sending a bouquet of flowers with a special note.
In this case, technology and sales go hand in hand and contribute to building customer loyalty through different points of contact. It is still possible to collect customer feedback in real time and use this information to provide appropriate training to the support team.
Do I need a dedicated area?
The ideal is that there is a specific sector to guarantee a 100% fluid and positive experience for the consumer. Only a qualified professional will have a broad view of CX’s 6 disciplines and how they can help your business.
The subjects that make up the Customer Experience are:
- CX strategy;
- customer knowledge;
- experiment design;
- measurement of experience;
- CX governance;
- culture of experience.
Basically, they address what we’re talking about and we’ll still see this post. All focus on better customer service, which significantly impacts all companies, including exponential organizations, which aim to achieve rapid growth.
How is the relationship with other sectors?
CX needs to be backed by IT and aligned with all areas of the company to ensure maximum return and, who knows, even a disruptive innovation arising from consumer feedback. To understand how this synergy should occur, we have separated some examples by sectors.
Marketing
The data obtained by technological resources draw a profile of the target audience, which underlies the communication campaigns and their related elements, such as writing, media, design, social media and planning. In this way, it is possible to outline more precise actions that will bring effective results.
Commercial
The market view of professionals in this area depends on an understanding of what the product or service’s differentials are and the factors that lead to abandoning the purchase. This information is obtained through specific software, such as CRM, which manages customer relationships.
The collected data must be cross-checked with the value propositions to be worked on efficiently. Likewise, the sales team needs to be informed about the roadmap, because it can generate opportunities, for example, due to the launch of a feature that will solve consumer pain.
Support must also record calls, tickets and emails to support this knowledge. The registration must be done in a predetermined framework to find the metrics through the information architecture map.
Check the locations where problems occur, assess the total number of customers who canceled the purchase or service and the reasons for withdrawal. Cross this data with the commercial information, because it will provide a solid basis for creating clear strategies.
In this scenario, it is worth betting on solutions SaaS, hosted in the cloud. Thus, everyone works on single versions of documents and files, with an increase in productivity and scalability of the system in relation to business demands.
Are there metrics for Customer Experience?
The answer is yes”. In fact, the indicators are fundamental to know whether your initiatives have the expected effect and whether they are consistent with what you want to achieve. The main metrics that can be used are:
Net Promoter Score (NPS)
Net Promoter Score (NPS) it is a method that measures customer satisfaction. The idea is to implement that basic question: “from 0 to 10, how much would you recommend our company to someone else?”.
The answers will help to draw an accurate assessment, which will identify points for improvement. Customers are classified as follows:
- from 0 to 6: dissatisfied, or detractors. They are unhappy and can damage the brand image due to complaints;
- 7 to 8: passive, or neutral. They are satisfied, but lack enthusiasm. They are vulnerable to competitive offers;
- 9 to 10: promoters, or loyal. Indicate your products or services and encourage the growth of your business.
Then, apply the data in the following formula:% of dissatisfied customers -% promoting customers = NPS. The closer to 100 the result is, the better for your company.
Customer Satisfaction (CSAT)
The purpose of this metric is to verify that your product or service meets customer expectations. The measurement is made through a satisfaction survey, with scores ranging from 1 to 5. The higher the score, the better the impression the customer has.
Rate the responses and see the percentage that represents the maximum contentment. If it is below 80%, watch out, because there is a decline.
Customer Effort Score (CES)
In this case, the focus is on a specific product or service feature or attribute. To analyze CES, you need to ask customers about the extent to which your company has contributed to solving their problems. The responses also have scores from 1 to 5, ranging from “agree little” to “agree a lot”.
Customer journey mapping
This process begins with the discovery, on the part of the consumer, that he has a problem, continuing until after-sales. This identification depends on analysis and data collection, which can be done through technological resources, such as Big Data and Business Intelligence (BI).
Which companies stand out with CX?
The aspects seen so far may sound a little unreal to you, but they exist – and you can prove that claim. Several organizations are known around the world for the experience they promote for their customers. Therefore, they are a good inspiration for your business.
Want to know more? Check out the examples we present.
Disney
This is the most iconic model, because the whole company was designed based on Customer Experience. When building the first park, Walt Disney had the idea of creating an immersive experience that would encourage the 5 senses. In this way, even the aromas are minimally detailed.
It is really the idea of turning dreams into reality. For this reason, all employees and the solutions used must comply with this prerogative. This basis must never be ignored and must support all actions taken. So if a baby drops something on his father’s shirt, he gets a new one for free.
Red Bull
The drink that “gives you wings” sells more than an energy drink. Its focus is on consumer experiences. To strengthen this imagery, the company sponsors athletes and has created specific events for its target audience, such as Red Bull Racing and Air Race. Thus, there is greater proximity between customers and the brand and, consequently, loyalty.
Amazon
The focus here is innovation, which has made the company one of the largest online retailers. IT is widely used in the business, including to offer different and even futuristic products, such as voice-activated systems.
However, Amazon’s difference is to focus on innovation that impacts consumers. This is the case of drones that deliver. They are able to deliver packages faster and faster, which is a real competitive advantage for the organization.
Nike
The shoe giant sells more than just products. Nike encourages its customers to live the best they can. For that, it offers apps and reward programs.
Through these resources, the brand creates fan communities. In addition, it encourages its customers to get in touch with each other before and after purchasing the products.
Nubank
Fintech came to the market with the promise of differentiated service and services to attract customers. The strategy worked. The Nubank card gained ground due to its credibility and met the needs of young people, who still had difficulty in relating to traditional banks.
Thus, it is clear that, to be successful in CX, your company must invest in a good relationship with the customer. Technology is essential in this process and contributes to achieving strategic objectives more quickly.
However, you may still be wondering: how to achieve all these aspects? It is recommended to bet on a Brazilian company, which is close to your company and offers support and personalized service. This is how your business will have durability, performance and scalability.
The Positive offers cell phones, notebooks, computers, all in one and accessories for corporate environments. In addition, it provides services for:
- after-sales: includes simple installation, uninstallation, data migration and relocation, as needed;
- warranty: lasts from 12 to 48 months, with on-site and counter assistance. The SLA is reduced, and the solutions are 100% customized to the demands of your company.
This way, you have a more connected world, in addition to the quality and performance that your enterprise deserves. All of this based on the services provided by a company with several certifications and which is constantly being updated.
So, how about rethinking your IT infrastructure and start putting efforts into Customer Experience? The results will be felt in all organizational sectors and will have effects in the short, medium and long term.
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