Great Customer Service Equals Improved CX
GREAT CUSTOMER SERVICE EQUALS IMPROVED CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
By: Jason Redekopp – Marketing Consultant
KNOWING AND DOING are very different. According to Forrester’s “Predictions 2020: Customer Experience” report, this coming year will be a standout year for organizations committed to successful CX vs. those who are not.
CX is vitally important in today’s rapidly evolving market because it’s how brands gain market share, win customers and retain those customers.
Improving customer service is one of the most powerful ways to improve a company’s CX.
A 2018 study by The Tempkin Group (https://experiencematters.blog/category/temkin-group-research/business-impact/) found that a modest increase in CX leads to an average revenue increase of $823 million over three years for a company with $1 billion in annual revenues.
Companies need to be aware that when it comes to customer service, customers want you to solve their problems and do it fast so they can get back to their lives.
Some strategic ways to offer better CX in 2020:
- Mobile. Mobile internet usage has surpassed desktop usage. People are exponentially spending more time on the internet from mobile devices. Globally smartphone sales have overtaken PC sales. The mobile explosion mandates companies to pay attention to the mobile end and follow the “mobile first” rule in product design.
- Live Chat. Virtual live chat call centers are one of the fastest growing customer experience trends. It offers an excellent way of providing real-time support and product information across multiple time zones & locations. The value of a virtual call center is its ability to improve customer satisfaction with the help of local agents.
- Web design. In 2020, it’s about designing experience, not only visual appearance. Some elements with respect to CX are: Hyper-personalization, minimal navigation menus, micro-interactions, designing for voice search, designing with SEO in mind, accessibility, etc.
- Social Media. Social media will broaden a company’s audience and help them gain valuable feedback from more types of customers. Social media also offers qualitative data so that companies have something measurable to help them know that their social media resources are working towards their overall brand and CX goals.
- Anticipating Customer Moves with Analytics. Customer behavior is invaluable data that helps businesses deliver great CX coupled with stellar customer service. In 2020, companies will embrace analytics to identify opportunities and deliver impressive customer experience.
- Delivering Experiences Through Digital Transformation. Digitizing the customer experience will be a major focus in 2020. Measuring the effectiveness of digitalization at different points in the customer digital journey is invaluable. This means replacing old funnels with new on demand solutions, i.e. replacing sales calls with social selling, reaching out to prospective customers with account-based email marketing, and providing a seamless multi-channel and real-time experience.
These are only a few points for companies to take seriously if they hope to improve CX, stay relevant and grow revenues.
The bottom line for 2020 and beyond…It’s time for companies to gain control of what really makes a good customer experience—the things that result in increased customer spending.