Creating a great customer experience (or Cx) is essential for businesses in today's world. Poor service experiences can go viral in a matter of moments and reviews sit on dozens of sites that companies may not even be able to moderate. Consumers also have high expectations for speed, accessibility, personalization, and quality, while customer behavior has simultaneously deteriorated in recent years. This environment means that companies must be focused on having the vision, tools, and delivery processes for providing a great customer experience if they want to stay relevant and keep people coming back.
But customer experience is just part of the equation. Businesses also need to focus on creating a great employee experience (Ex), because employees deliver innovation, operations, and ultimately the customer experience. While there has been a lot of focus on the work environment in the last few years, there is still a lot of opportunity to evolve and elevate the entire employee experience.
Does your Ex set you apart?
Ex and Cx aren't different domains, however, they are likely managed by different teams in your organization today. Combined, Ex and Cx are really just people experiences (Px), and both evolve from your company's values and culture. By ensuring that Cx and Ex are aligned and efforts are appropriately linked, organizations can deliver more impact and a greater return on their investment in experience creation.
The People or Human Experience (Px/Hx) is the combination of the customer experience (Cx) with the employee experience (Ex). In this equation, if the company nails both experiences, then it will create a great human experience overall. Below we'll explore some methods for how companies can improve their Cx and Ex.
Brands must be focused on creating a great customer experience (Cx) if they want to stay relevant and keep people coming back. Cx is the sum of people's interactions with your brand, from the first time they hear about you to when they purchase your product or service. Creating an excellent Cx means considering every touchpoint people have with your brand and ensuring it is a positive experience. It is about being able to track, measure, and respond. It is also about the type of data you collect and the frequency with which you collect it.
Be honest and ask yourself. Is your Cx strategy delivering?
The first step is understanding what customers are saying about your brand and where they are saying it. The goal here is to understand customers' needs and expectations, and then deliver on them - consistently. This involves everything from the product or service itself to how it's marketed and sold, as well as post-purchase support. In order to move the needle on Cx, businesses need to take a close look at their processes and procedures to identify any pain points along the customer journey. Once those have been identified, they need to put solutions in place that will resolve them. Implementing new technologies can play a role here, but it's also important not to forget the human element. Sometimes all it takes is a little more training or empowerment for employees to be able to provide the level of service that customers expect and deserve. There are many ways to do this including social media monitoring, surveys, NPS scores, and more. Once you have a pulse on customer sentiment, you can start to address any pain points that may be causing negative experiences. Additionally, you should set up a system and process for soliciting real-time feedback so that you can address issues as they arise instead of waiting for an annual survey.
Although it may seem counter-intuitive, one of the best ways for businesses to provide their customers with an unforgettable experience is by focusing on the needs and desires of employees first. Employee Experience (Ex) focuses on creating personalized, authentic moments that matter in an employee's workday and throughout their career lifecycle by employing change management and user adoption practices that meet employees where they are and guide them to where they need to be.
Your employees are your front line when it comes to delivering great customer experiences - so it makes sense that if you want to improve Cx, you need to start by improving Ex. After all, happy employees lead to happy customers.
Your employees are your front line when it comes to delivering great customer experiences but they can't do it alone. They need the right tools, training, and support from management. Make sure your employees have what they need to succeed and feel empowered to provide great customer service. Additionally, show employees how their individual efforts contribute to the success of the company as a whole. When employees feel valued and like they are part of something larger than themselves, they are more likely to go above and beyond for customers. When employees feel good about coming to work each day, they're more likely to treat customers well - meaning better business outcomes for everyone involved.
The people of Human Experience (Px/Hx) is the combination of all the emotions people feel when interacting with your brand; it is our shared experience. It's how an employee thinks while designing an ad and how your customer feels when they see it, it's how a customer service representative feels when using the tools they've been provided and how the customer feels on the receiving end of their support. Creating an excellent Px means making people feel good at every touchpoint - from the first time they see your brand to long afterward.
Simply put, you can't improve what you don't measure - so it's important for businesses to establish KPIs for both Cx and Ex, and then track them over time. This will give you a clear understanding of what's working well and where there are opportunities for improvement. Keep in mind that Px is not just about reducing complaints or increasing satisfaction scores; it's about creating long-term relationships with customers (and employees) that lead to repeat business and referrals down the road. With this in mind, KPIs should be focused not only on current behaviors but also on future ones like the likelihood to recommend or Net Promoter Score®. By tracking the right KPIs, businesses can get a true sense of whether or not their Px strategy is working...and make changes accordingly before it's too late. Finally, it is important to keep in mind that customer behavior has changed dramatically in recent years due to technological advances. What worked five years ago may not work now so it is important to continuously test and iterate on your CX strategy.You can't improve what you don't measure
To deliver great human experiences (Px/Hx), businesses need to focus on both the customer experience (CX) and employee experience (Ex). By understanding what customers are saying about your brand, addressing pain points, and giving employees the tools, they need to succeed, you can create a winning strategy for ensuring better business outcomes by delivering great people experiences. In order to ensure better business outcomes, companies must focus on delivering better people experiences by taking into consideration every touchpoint along the customer journey - from pre-purchase all the way through post-purchase support. In order to do this effectively, businesses need to consider three key areas: improving their Customer eXperience (Cx), Employee eXperience (Ex), as well as how they measure progress along the way toward achieving their goals.
By taking these steps, companies will be well on their way toward cracking the code of Cx + Ex = Px.
The key to success is understanding that your company's success is only possible if you deliver great experiences to the people who matter most - your customers and employees. Too often, organizations focus solely on the customer experience while neglecting their employees. This top-down approach creates a siloed environment where each group operates in a vacuum without considering how their actions might impact the other group. The result is often an employee experience that suffers because it wasn't taken into account from the beginning. A company's ability to create great experiences for both its customers *and* employees leads to a virtuous circle of engagement, loyalty, and advocacy. When customers have a great experience, they're more likely to come back and buy again. They might also tell their friends about you, which generates new leads and business opportunities. Happy employees are also more engaged and productive, which leads to better business outcomes. And when employees feel supported by their company and have a positive work environment, they're more likely to provide great service to customers, further enhancing the customer experience. It all comes back to people - invest in them and they'll invest in you.