We hear about it more and more without necessarily knowing what it is. What does the notion of “customer experience” mean? Also called customer experience or CX, it is the discipline that brings together and manages all direct interactions between a brand and consumers. This therefore encompasses both the customer journey, which goes from their arrival on a site to the act of purchase, and customer support, also called customer service. Let’s discover together why the customer experience has become the focus of all attention, and how to offer quality service to its customers.
A recent realization
For a very long time, the quality of the customer experience was not a priority for brands. The marketing mix, as it has long been taught in business schools, did not understand this notion. Customer support was often outsourced to an ordinary call center and considered a cost driver. The differentiating element was then more the price, the brand image via advertising, or the distribution system.
Contextual targeting reconciles consumers with advertising
But over the past ten years, the maturity of brands vis-à-vis the customer experience has made great progress. The Internet and the development of e-commerce have reshuffled the cards of the marketing mix, reducing the importance of the differentiating elements before. The price war has escalated, and the physical distribution network is no longer essential. As a result, brands have realized the importance of quality of service.
The quality of the product as that of the customer experience
The pioneers in this area were Apple and Amazon – always at the top of Forrester’s Customer Experience Index. And they really changed the situation. Now customer service has become a major differentiator. Why ? Because if you do not solve the problem encountered by your customer, be sure that he will let those around him know, and he is a powerful prescriber, who is illustrated by the adage “Your best salespeople are your customers” . It is customary to say that a consumer who is faced with a negative experience will share it with ten people, someone who is going to have an extraordinary experience will also tell 10 people, but someone who has a “classic” experience, only positive, won’t tell anyone.
The key position of customer support
When a customer contacts customer service, it must be borne in mind that he has already encountered a problem. Delayed delivery, product failure or payment problem, it doesn’t matter, he has a problem that needs to be resolved. I don’t know who said “Customer service is a bit like ice cubes applied to a cheek that has just been slapped”, it’s a bit of an atypical comparison, but it’s fair enough . This service, at this time, actually has a dual mission. The first is to find a solution to a problem, but also to report internally the existence of said problem. It is indeed a unique opportunity for the brand to improve its products and services or the experience offered, based on feedback from its customers. This is an important growth opportunity for brands, and this feedback must be sufficiently taken into account, to the point of modifying marketing, sales and even development strategies if necessary.
An effective customer service, that is to say that offers the consumer a quick solution adapted to his problem will only strengthen his brand image and the confidence it inspires. When you know that all business is based on trust, you quickly understand the importance of a good customer relationship.
The contact with the customer being, at one time or another, carried out by a human, it is very important to take into account the local particularities so that this exchange takes place in an optimal way. The language is a first level, of course, but we must also take into account the legal and cultural aspects depending on the location of the consumers.
Another advantage of efficient customer service
Once the purchase has been made, customer service is also in the best position to contact the consumer, and collect valuable information: feedback, comments, and offer them to share their feelings via recommendations on the site or social networks. . This is one of the facets that the teams in charge of the customer experience are developing more and more lately. They learn to contact the customer at the right time, in order to be able to recover the maximum of usable data.
Customer experience is also critical to business revenue growth. A customer service benefiting from a good image can attract new prospects organically, reassured by the quality of the service offered. It also helps ensure that customers stay loyal to your brand and even grow with it. Customer experience drives revenue through acquisition, retention, purchase diversification, and even upgrades. Today, it’s not uncommon for the CX organization to be aided by revenue goals with metrics such as “Cost per Contact” or “Leads Qualified for Support.”
And the future?
Even if brands are realizing the importance and the opportunities brought by the customer experience, they are also aware that it is currently a source of significant costs. In my opinion, in the next 5 years we will see Automatic Intelligence taking a growing place in the customer experience. This will make it possible to automate and accelerate the resolution of problems encountered by customers. It is not absurd to imagine that we can halve the number of human contacts, even if we will always need this inimitable contact.
It’s time for brands to stop seeing customer experience as a source of cost, and realize that it’s actually a great opportunity to leverage to achieve success!