What is customer experience (CX)?

Of course, it’s not enough to simply recognise the need for better customer experience; to improve it, you first need to be able to quantify it. After all, there are many factors that go into determining how satisfied a customer is, and identifying and remediating issues associated with these factors depends on your ability to measure the experience. Successful businesses employ a variety of metrics to accurately gauge what kind of CX they are providing.

You’re providing your customers a service, and that means you should be making their lives easier in some way, shape or form; when customers have to expend a lot of time or effort to use your service, they generally see that as a negative. CES measures how difficult or easy an experience with a product or service is when customers complete an action. An example would be: “How easy was it to get your needs addressed today?” This could then be followed with ranking options ranging from “very difficult” to “very easy”. This can also be used along certain steps of the customer journey to measure the effectiveness of each step.

This score indicates the degree to which a customer is loyal to a company. An example of a question used to determine the NPS might be “On a scale of 0 to 10, how likely are you to recommend our company/product/service to a friend or colleague?”

While it may seem similar to the NPS, the CSAT score indicates a customer’s satisfaction with a product, rather than their likelihood of recommending it to others. A common question may be “How satisfied are you with our product or service/ Are you satisfied with our product or service?” Responses can be binary “yes” or “no” options, or a rank that ranges from “very dissatisfied” to “very satisfied”.

TTR describes the average length of time that it takes customer service teams to resolve a customer issue or case after a customer has submitted it. The measurement can vary from minutes to business days, depending on the industry, product or service etc. This score takes the unit of measurement and divides it by the number of issues or cases that are resolved to provide a reliable metric for improving resolution times.

As previously stated, customer experience is seldom as simple as good or bad; most businesses succeed in certain areas while falling short in others. However, there are a number of potential issues that are widely recognised as negatively impacting the customer experience.

Broken processes can crop up almost anywhere, from marketing and sales to customer service—any point of contact between a customer and an organisation. Bad processes also create a negative customer experience even if the interactions are between teams. Broken processes grind the customer journey to a halt, creating inefficiency, frustration, dropped cases and more.

We live in an age of extreme complexity, and customers understand that not every product or service is going to function perfectly every time. That said, they expect that once an issue has been identified, it will be addressed and fixed as promptly as possible. Leaving product defects and other problems unresolved is a surefire way to drive away current customers and create negative word-of-mouth.

Sometimes it takes more than one support agent to resolve a customer issue. But when a case gets passed from one agent to the next, customers expect the new agent to be up to speed on what’s going on. Agents who greet customers by asking them to repeat their explanation of who they are, what product or service they are using, and what issues they are experiencing lead to frustrated customers. Advanced customer service systems can help ensure continuity in the handoff process, so that customers and agents are constantly moving towards a solution, rather than stalling.

Waiting for a long time for service is irritating. Customers expect to reach a representative over the phone, receive a reply to a comment on social media or hear back via email about an enquiry within minutes. They expect these points of contact to serve them quickly and efficiently, and if the problem is going to take more time to resolve than originally anticipated, customers want to be kept in the loop with assurances, updates and time estimates.

Many devices offer constant connectivity, and as such, modern customers expect the brands they do business with to always be ‘on’ as well. That means that when issues arise, customers want companies to notify them proactively to help keep them informed and minimise disruption of service. When customers instead have to take the initiative themselves to identify and report problems, that’s called reactive service, and it leads to bad customer experiences.

Agents need enough technical and product training to be able to accurately identify and resolve problems. But they also need the interpersonal skills to empathise with customers, understand their needs and act as their liaison. This includes being able to interpret vague requests and offer solutions that customers can understand without having an intimate knowledge of the product.

Customers who contact you with problems are demonstrating their faith in your ability to provide a solution. If you are unable to do so, those customers lose faith and are less likely to want to do business with you in the future. Ideally, your agents should be able to solve problems in a timely manner. But even if the problem does not have a clear solution, it’s your responsibility to keep working with the customer until the issue is resolved. Telling customers that there is nothing you can do for them—or worse, simply abandoning the case without sufficient explanation—can do irreparable harm to your brand reputation.

Automated systems can ease the customer service process, but it can lack the human touch and understanding that customers may sometimes require. There are times when customers require more than what even the most-intelligent bot can provide. If your support processes lack the option to work directly with a human agent, then many customers will become frustrated. Finding a healthy balance, where automation supports agents without eliminating them as a service option, allows for greater scale and faster service.

Customers want to feel like they matter, and when it comes to your business, they absolutely do matter. Personalised, customised service that addresses the individual needs of the customer and acknowledges preferences and past interactions helps customers feel individually noticed and important, which creates a better customer experience.

Even if an employee is having a bad day, it’s not an excuse to be rude to a customer. Experiences are better when employees are capable of de-escalating a situation and approaching each customer with genuine friendliness and willingness to help. Highlighting the importance of the case, practising active listening, being respectful and professional, and thanking customers for bringing the issue to the company’s attention are all valuable skills. And while some customers will remain angry throughout the duration of the case, many will remember the kindness of the agent who helped them and develop a more positive attitude towards the business. Agents who match a customer’s belligerence, on the other hand, will only escalate the problem, and destroy any chance of salvaging the customer experience.

Although a key aspect of providing a positive experience is being able to avoid many of the pitfalls addressed above, a good customer experience means something more. Positive experiences depend on your ability to meet or beat expectations at every stage of the customer journey.

Part of providing a product or service is managing expectations and being transparent about what the products/services can and can’t do. Making promises or assertions about a product that it can’t fulfil results in a poor customer experience.

Providing quick resolutions to problems can help ensure a positive experience, but getting in front of problems is a better solution. Intuitive product design that allows customers to enjoy the full range of usability without difficult learning curves can help prevent issues from arising.

Omnichannel service enables customers to seamlessly interact across numerous channels or touchpoints, with all relevant customer-history information maintained and accessible from a single location. This seamless integration provides a more consistent customer experience, while also providing them with the freedom to interact with the company using their preferred channels.

Don’t simply wait for problems to arise. Actively work to identify and address issues in your products and services. As you discover these issues, keep your customers aware of the situation, with messaging and alerts informing them as to the problem, and how you are working to resolve it. Move toward using data and artificial intelligence to detect and prevent issues entirely.

Customers should not have to put in more effort than is necessary. Ideally, their problem is solved in the first interaction without the need for finding different touchpoints. They also shouldn’t have to search far to find resolutions to their issues or contact points; all resources should be readily available.

At the end of the day, the customer will likely be most concerned about whether or not you were able to effectively resolve their issues and help them achieve their goals. Make customer objectives your objectives, and work with the customer to help ensure successful remediation of every case.