Why Customer Experience Management has become a Top Priority for Businesses
Customer experience management (CXM) uses deep customer insights to deliver personalised experiences across every touchpoint, leading to brand loyalty and increased revenue.
CXM is becoming an integral part of a company, unlike earlier, when it was more of an option. Eighty-five percent of the executives surveyed say improving customer experience (CX) is a top or significant business priority, according to a report by Adobe.
With the customer becoming more aware and demanding and with the plethora of choices available, delivering a superior CX becomes an important differentiator. It enables a company to stand out from the competition and puts its products at the forefront. It also enables it to create a positive image and build stronger relationships with customers.
Companies that invest in CX are likely to reap more benefits than their counterparts.
Companies that prioritise CX have 23% more new-customer acquisition, 18% more lead generation, a 17% higher referral rate, 12% more repeat business and 9% more profit per customer or account than those that do not, according to a report by Adobe.
CX has a positive impact not just on business metrics, but also on other aspects of a company and its customers. Key advantages of delivering impeccable CX include the following:
1. Increased customer satisfaction and customer engagement: New-age customers are more informed, very demanding and would readily switch to the next best alternative at the slightest inconvenience or poor experience. With CX playing an important role in customers’ buying decisions, it is important that companies listen to their pain points and understand their preferences and requirements if they are to stay ahead of the competition. CXM could help a company get an end-to-end view of their customers’ emotions, behaviours, pain points and expectations across different touchpoints; this would enable it to take the action required to deliver a winning CX.
2. Customer-centric product development: Companies could better align their products and services with customer needs by gathering and analysing customer data to gain deep customer insights. This would enable them to make fact-based decisions to develop and improve their products and solutions, keeping customers at the core of the development.
3. Improved customer service function: Customers can now access a company’s customer care services through different channels — from chat and social media to service apps and self-service resources. The customer care function has, therefore, become a crucial touchpoint in the customer journey. Companies focused on CXM could leverage customer insights data to gauge the performance of their customer support/service function and strategise to enhance it. Companies that deliver a great CX are also able to mitigate customer-related challenges before they arise, reducing the burden on customer service centres and resolving issues faster.
4. Enhanced customer loyalty: A company needs loyal customers if it is to thrive and expand. A positive CX and increased customer satisfaction drive customer loyalty, resulting in repeat purchases and helping the company cross-sell and up-sell. Loyal customers also tend to make fewer complaints about the company’s mistakes, providing the company an opportunity to learn from a mistake and take corrective action. Fifty-four percent of the customers who feel happy and valued are willing to forgive a brand’s mistakes, according to Forrester.
5. Customers acting as brand ambassadors: Loyal customers act as brand advocates by writing positive reviews and recommending the brand among friends and family, and on social media and public forums. Eighty-eight percent of consumers trust recommendations from people they know more than the marketing messaging, according to Nielsen.
6. Reduced customer churn/higher customer retention: Lower customer churn is synonymous with happier customers. To reduce customer churn, customers need to be satisfied throughout their journey and not just when subscriptions are due for renewal. Customers tend to remember frequent happy experiences and interactions with the company such as phone calls, email updates and customer appreciation events; this would lead to higher retention rates.
7. Growth in customer lifetime value (CLV): CLV refers to the total amount of money a customer would spend on a company’s products and services during their association with the company. To enhance CX, companies would improve their products, offer better customer service and send more personalised customer communications, encouraging customers to patronise them for longer. CLV would also guide a company on how much it needs to spend both to retain customers and acquire new ones.
8. Growth in sales and reduced cost: CX done right has a considerable impact on a company’s top and bottom lines. The combined benefits of increasing customer satisfaction, customer loyalty, customer retention, brand advocacy, higher GLV and up-sell and cross-sell opportunities result in more sales. Efforts to improve its products and services also help a company fix its operational and technological inefficiencies, resulting in tangible cost savings and improved profitability.
How Acuity Knowledge Partners can help
We provide CX research and insight support to stakeholders in the B2B and B2C space and help companies comprehend needs of new-age customers. Equipped with a 360-degree view, we understand how customer data can be captured and analysed and how the results can be leveraged to deliver a seamless CX and achieve better business outcomes. We help Fortune 500 technology corporations, mid-tier companies and startups leverage customer feedback on people, products and processes to remain flexible and better serve their customers.
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