Ensuring customer satisfaction is not merely a transactional component; it represents an ongoing obligation
In the realm of business practices, it is common to find ourselves ensnared by a sales mentality focused on “closing the deal.” The issue with that approach is that it doesn’t always correspond to loyalty. Securing a customer is one thing, but retaining them often necessitates providing a premium brand experience, which requires an entirely different culture.
A leader aiming to enhance the customer experience should first resolve to be a loyalty company rather than a transaction company. The outcomes are worthwhile. If you excel at building significant relationships with your customers, they will remain with you for years. If you excel at this, they will remain with you for life.
Take into account what I refer to as the four essential stages for achieving success in CX.
No. 1. Ensure customers remain… satisfied Given the cutthroat nature of competition, it is understandable that a company’s focus is on achieving business success. However, this does not need to compromise the customer experience. Actually, they are two facets of the same thing. A satisfied customer is a devoted customer, which will result in sales.By establishing a mutually beneficial relationship with the customer, CX can have a direct impact on profits.
Not that it’s a piece of cake. Customers expect a certain quality and consistency in their interactions with a brand. Over time, these expectations increase, and you need to be capable of surpassing them.
This is the reason why knowing your customer’s expectations of your brand is crucial. Bear in mind that customers might interact with you only a few times throughout your relationship. This means that you must ensure the experience is as excellent as possible on every occasion.
No. 2: Personalize it Your customer is someone you know. You probably have data on aspects such as their buying patterns and other details regarding their preferences, aversions, and preferred methods and venues for transactions with you.
This data can be used to personalize the customer experience in a way that is safe for privacy—and they will remember and value it. Today’s consumers expect a certain level of anticipation from companies regarding their desires and needs. According to a PwC loyalty survey, four out of five individuals claim they would share personal data for a better experience.
I have experienced this firsthand at Verizon, where we have utilized artificial intelligence tools responsibly to assist in managing and organizing customer data. With the help of Gen AI, we can utilize pertinent data—such as the mobile devices a customer possesses or their eligibility for upgrades—and provide this information to a service representative at the moment they interact. AI alleviates a significant portion of our employees’ cognitive burden, thereby not only aiding in the personalization of their experience but also liberating them to focus on their core competencies: engaging with customers, cultivating relationships, and delivering essential human interaction.
AI even assists us in forecasting the reasons customers may be contacting us. With that understanding in hand, we can present a feature the customer may want or content pertinent to them before the interaction starts. We can eliminate generic correspondence and marketing materials, instead crafting messages and images tailored to the individual—what we refer to as a “segment of me.”
No. 3. Don’t only prepare — do something
When constructing an improved customer experience, being paralyzed by analysis is not a tactic to adopt. As you develop new capabilities, services, or apps, it’s crucial to resist the temptation to conduct endless pilot tests without ever launching anything into production. Yes, carry out your due diligence, but frame it within a belief system that sets multiple objectives you aim to achieve for the benefit of your customers.
Conduct tests and gather and examine the data, consistently aiming to improve performance and functionality. And then begin constructing—swiftly scaling up in order to deliver the greatest advantage to customers in a short time.
No. 4: Prioritize CX in Leadership The responsibility for managing the company’s customer experience frequently ends up with a group of individuals who simply serve as listening posts. At times, it’s the “CX department.” At other times, it involves merely random employees who have some undefined CX duties. Part of their work is to provide advice from time to time. The method doesn’t work very well. To truly improve customer experience, you require more than just a team or department that communicates upwards. That will simply not suffice.
A co-ownership model is necessary, in which each department embraces the principle that customer experience is paramount for the overall brand. The only way for that to occur is if the company’s leaders prioritize CX, share insights, and follow a common set of beliefs and metrics.
Keep in mind that securing the customer is just the initial step. The main priority is to keep the customer. Providing a premium customer experience will ensure their return and create a lasting competitive advantage.