Still mystified by the whole customer experience (CX) thing? Or do you roll your eyes at yet another piece of jargon? Stop. Read this.
Editor’s note: So we just realised that we’ve been doing a series on crafting your agent experience but we haven’t yet really delved into defining the whole CX thing to begin with. So yeah, let’s do that? (First, have a look at this amazing pregnancy experience map by Beth Kyle, because context!)
Customer experience (CX) is the relationship your customer has with your business. It’s a very personal journey – one you could think of as a pregnancy (whoa yeah, just roll with it). Once that initial moment of contact is made, it grows and develops until something wonderful is born. Hopefully.
The good news for your business is that customer experience can be planned for and measured, like a test tube baby you can watch grow over time.
But let’s leave the baby analogy alone for a minute.
If you’re in the contact center trade, what unites your customers is the fact that your center is likely one of the primary ways they engage with your business. It’s this experience that frames their relationship with you.
First contact
The first person a baby sees when it is born is a doctor hidden behind a surgical mask, because the world is weird like that. Likewise, your agent isn’t engaging with your customer face to face. In fact, your agent might not even be your customer’s first encounter with your company. Maybe they hung up after being on hold for too long or were routed to the wrong department. By the time they’ve uncoiled the umbilical cord and reached the end of the tunnel, their temper is flaring and their screaming can be heard seven city blocks away.
Does that sound like a great first experience?
Now imagine your customer was routed to the right agent quickly, was greeted warmly in their home language and then helped efficiently. A happy, satisfied customer is going to form a bond with your company much like a new baby with its parent.
Name your baby
Knowing your customer is key to understanding their needs. Create a customer profile with everything you know about them. Where do they live? (Heads up: it’s a good idea to figure this out with your actual kids too.) How do they prefer to communicate? What language do they use on the phone? Do they prefer to be called Sally or Sally-Ann?
Knowing exactly who your customer is and understanding their needs is the first step to delighting them – like playing a game of peek-a-boo. You’ll earn a smile every time.
Disclaimer: just, uh, don’t literally try to play peek-a-boo with your customers.
Watch the relationship grow
A baby knows its parent’s voice. A company also has a unique voice that is evident in every touchpoint it uses to engage with its customers. A friendly, welcoming agent, a warmly-worded email or newsletter, even a bill with no hidden surprises – every positive interaction with your customer helps your relationship grow.
Why would a teenager want to move out when it’s so good at home? A happy, satisfied customer will want to remain under your roof forever. Only, y’know, unlike your 34-year-old kid they’ll be paying rent.
How do you measure a customer relationship?
Measuring customer satisfaction is as easy as marking off a height chart on a wall – or in your case a bar chart. Existing customer growth will remain high in relation to new customers, and you’ll notice less need for retention manoeuvres. Plus, looking at the conversion rate will give you an idea of how well your Cx activities are going. When a call converts to a sale, not only are you looking at a happy customer, but also a happy agent and a happy business.
Crib notes: what CX activities should you be focusing on?
- Hold time
- Speed of response
- Knowing your customer profile
- Using your customers’ preferred channels
- Matching the customer to the right agent for their needs
- Measuring customer satisfaction
Providing a great customer experience doesn’t need to involve a painful delivery. With the right CX tools, every conversation can become a bundle of joy for everyone involved.
Now aren’t you glad we didn’t bring diapers into the analogy?
Want to learn more about Zailab’s cloud-based CX solution? Click here.