Let us be candid: There are times that you ‘feel good’ shopping at the kiosk next door than pushing that trolley along supermarket aisles. The reason: at the kiosk, you have that one-on-one interaction with the attendant,
they probably know you by name. At the supermarket, you must contend with that polite ‘hello and thank you’ from the person at the till.
At the kiosk it is about customer experience (CX) while at the supermarket, customer service (CS).
According to Wikipedia, CX is “A totality of cognitive, affective, sensory, and behavioural consumer responses during all stages of the consumption process including pre-purchase, consumption, and post-purchase stages.”
Forbes describes it as the, “cumulative impact of multiple touch points over the course of a customer’s interaction with an organization.”
As a business one of the most effective ways to differentiate yourself from the competition is to provide exemplary CS. However, you may dedicate a sizeable portion of your resources to eliminating common CS hiccups only to realise an insignificant uptick in customer satisfaction levels. This makes the case for improved CX initiatives. While CS may only be the part of the interaction where the customer receives advice/support about a product/service, CX encompasses the entire customer journey from start to finish—not just the part where they receive assistance from team member.
In the recent past, CX was an afterthought for the majority of business leaders. A great customer experience happened almost by chance when employees chose to go above and beyond for a client. Now, CX is the
foundation of all business growth and ongoing success.
Today, every important business discussion generally includes some reference to the value of CX, and what teams can do to preserve high levels of satisfaction.
Customers are now more unforgiving, given the raft of options that are available for any given product or service.
Customer experience is the missing piece of the puzzle for many businesses that cannot otherwise explain decreased profitability, unhappy customers and even high employee turnover rates.
Improving your overall CX—as opposed to focusing on individual customer interactions—is the solution to unsatisfactory business
growth. So, how do you get it right in the insurance industry.
Telling the customer what you think they want to hear may have some payoff in the moment. However, all it does is promise greater frustration later—and an extended
resolution process that will likely escalate: If you want to keep your CX positive, avoid making promises you know you cannot keep; be upfront and be realistic.
The most successful businesses know that involved employees are the best bet to achieving excellent CX.
Seeking employee feedback and insight is valuable not only to decrease turnover rates, but also to better understand how customers and team members are feeling about your
company. In addition, to making your employees feel valued, setting up meetings or sending out anonymous surveys to your team helps you see common customer issues, ineffective business processes and even workflow mismanagement you may have previously overlooked. If your employees do not have a good experience when it comes to finding information and completing crucial tasks, they cannot deliver an excellent outcome to customers; provide the requisite channels for interaction within your
organisation. Happy employees that are optimised — not overburdened — are much more likely to go the extra mile for customers.
To ensure you stay ahead of the game, familiarise yourself with upcoming customer experience trends.
Today’s customers want to know what goes on behind the scenes at their favourite companies. Use social media stories and
consider working with influencers to give your customers a front-row seat to your operations. Where possible, humanise it. For example, feature a new team member
each day and allow them to “take over” your social media stories, include photographs of the employees who packaged or made your products and/or services.
Your customers/clients do not just want to like your company—they want to be able to trust you. Show them you take a proactive approach to their security and privacy.
Recent technological innovations and the Covid-19 pandemic may have accelerated the digital transformation, but the truth is, it was already well on its way to transform
the way we do business; dynamism is the new normal—it is here to stay: And the cog in the wheel is CX.
By Aram Kaboro
The writer is the consulting editor of (AKI)
journal. Email:kaboroaram@gmail.com