From the pandemic period to our current post-pandemic status, consumers’ wants and needs have evolved exponentially, leaving organizations scrambling to keep up. These changes have involved supply chain shortages, an explosion of purchasing channels and more. This pivot has seen organizations leaning more and more on digital technology to meet consumer expectations and stay ahead of the competition.
That said, technology is only as good as the humans that implement it. To deliver successful customer journeys, exceptional understanding of the consumer is an unchallenged prerequisite. Organizations need to answer questions like “Who is my customer?” “What do they want?” “What is their job?” “How do they rate their socioeconomic standing?” Until organizations have a clear picture of their audience, they tend to prioritize their models backwards. Relying on technology before acquiring customer understanding truly puts the cart before the horse, and can result in an ineffective CX model at best, and an offputting customer experience at worst.
Without customer understanding, it’s impossible to deliver true CX – automation over empathy for the customer creates a disconnect – and sometimes one that doesn’t resolve. Exceptional digital experiences are created through a deep knowledge of the customer and their goals. Driving long-term satisfaction and loyalty (which translates to retention) is the name of the game.
How to achieve this? Start with a deep dive into what really makes your customer tick – what creates a compelling digital experience for YOUR customer? By reframing your approach to focus on elevating your customers’ self-worth instead of their impression of your products and services, you can connect with them and build relationships in an extremely unique way. Additionally, by emphasizing value over volume you create personalized experiences that deeply impact brand commitment.
Another impactful strategy is to look at the big picture outside of the purchase itself. Educating your customer on how they can benefit from using your products and services enhances the value of their purchase, and demonstrates your commitment to them as people, not simply customers. Here again, your acute understanding of your audience is required to execute this process.
It’s clear that a holistic approach, which embraces every aspect of the total customer experience, is better when developing a CX platform. And let’s not forget employee experience (EX), which is deeply impactful on an organization’s ability to deliver exceptional CX. With a dedicated – and satisfied – employee pool, businesses can guarantee positive, compelling interactions between customers and brand representatives. This will help to avoid “engineered insincerity”, which is a dynamic that can be created when automation is relied upon to replicate human contact and can lead to a fail. This might look like a wash of emails to the customer that are unrelated to their needs and interests, or chatbots that attempt but fail at presenting as human, or even the mass of daily texts that can cause frustrated consumers to unfollow.
At the end of the day, the intricacies of customer service and customer experience can become a much simpler process by partnering with a trusted customer service outsourcing company like Anexa. We have a twenty-year, award-winning background as customer service specialists and our talented agents are trained to apply the most current principles in the customer experience / service field, when representing your business. Factor in that we have one of the largest pools of bilingual agents in North America with ongoing CX training, and partnering with Anexa could be a win for your business and your VIP – the customer.
Reach out today to learn more about our specialized customer service teams.