Customer experience (CX) is the “takeaway” impression formed by people’s encounters with products, services, and businesses. These impressions can be very subtle, even subliminal or extremely obvious. They may occur by happenstance or by purposeful design.
Creating unforgettable customer experiences with Technology is inevitable. The examples are in front of us, with disruption in traditionally considered non-digital areas like taxi booking, payments, lending, and even stock/commodity trading. One common emerging theme in this fast-changing landscape is that Customers today WANT & EXPECT a full-service experience.
As an organisation thinking about customer experience, the core strategy must be based on the following principles:
- Experience is the Product: People today share their experiences more than ever over social media.
- Hear Voice of Customers (VoC): Build products, services and experiences your customers want, not what you want to sell them.
- Service is the new Sales: Proactiveness and responsiveness and being present at every customer touch point for guidance are the new normal.
To bring this to life and build a winning, unforgettable CX, a strong tactical implementation plan is required:
- Define an organisational roadmap and strategy (answer where we are, where we want to be, and how we will get there).
- Be a data maniac (Collect customer data at every touchpoint): Stop building products based on assumptions, hypotheses, and market data outsourced to an agency. Build a single source of truth that compiles accurate data, allowing you to know how customers make decisions and interact with your product or service on a daily basis.
- Build a Customer-centric culture: Build your entire strategy & roadmap based on VoC (Voice of the customer) & objective measurable KPIs like NPS. Don’t be afraid to re-imagine internal and external customer journeys.
- Invest in the right tools & infra: Interconnected & Scalable are the keywords for a consistent omni-channel experience.
- Customer Support/ Interface: This is one of the least discussed areas for customer experience. Being present as a guide throughout the customer journey from discovery to service and eventual repeat is the key to winning your customers.
While the above is easier said than done, an organisation-wide coordinated effort is required to realise the goal. Don’t shy away from “Blue Sky thinking” if that’s what it takes to really make an impact. The recipe for success lies in doing and repeating the above again and again in each decision, keeping the customer always at the centre.