In a recent discussion with the owner of a growing IT business, we discussed the different ways to achieve sustainable growth. He shared his pride in developing a robust client base. When we discussed to what extent he was measuring the satisfaction of that client base, he said, “I don’t know.”
He realized his company was not adhering fully to sound practices for providing the highest level of customer experience (CX) and customer service (CS) leading to retention. The result: His clients were at risk.
He thought about the effort it took to earn their trust and business and the fleeting nature of client loyalty. We then spent time diving deep into the key strategies and actions for managing a strong customer experience culture and function to retain clients, which directly leads to the growth of the business.
In this article we will explore five indispensable strategies vital to create optimal customer experience practices. Instituting these practices is more than providing good client service and retaining clients; it is also about maximizing the value of your business, which includes elements like strategic innovation, employee engagement, sales and marketing strategies, recurring revenue and strong leadership. All profitable businesses make customer satisfaction a centerpiece in their operations. Let’s take a look at these five key strategies.
1. Foster a Customer-Centric Culture
The core strategy revolves around cultivating a customer-centric culture within the organization. By fostering a positive work environment, promoting open communication, and recognizing employee contributions, organizations not only cultivate a motivated workforce but also lay the groundwork for increased customer satisfaction and, consequently, higher profitability.
We see a direct path from engaging employees to satisfying customers. There is a Japanese expression, Okyaku-sama wa Kami-sama desu, which loosely translates to “The customer is divine – like an honored guest.” This mindset leads to a culture of the customer is always right. Ask yourself, does your company:
- Nurture a customer-centric culture, placing a strong emphasis on prioritizing the significance of the employee-to-customer framework?
- Recruit and hire people who embody a CX mindset?
- Engage the entire business in the customer experience, fostering a collaborative and customer-centric culture that ensures every team member contributes to delivering exceptional service and satisfaction?
2. Set Customer Experience Goals and Strategies to Support Your Culture
With a clear focus on a customer-centric culture, the next element is to craft a set of goals, strategies, and metrics to achieve exceptional customer experience. Doing so aligns the organization around the right set of activities to “live” your customer-centric culture. Assessing employee activities allows you to recognize and reward exceptional employee action. Ask yourself, does your CX function have a clear:
- Mission and strategic approach that motivate employee action?
- Set of specific and measurable goals designed to elevate the customer experience?
- Set of key performance indicators (KPIs) and performance measures to track progress toward goals?
3. Harness Technological Innovations and the Power of Data
Technology and data are valuable tools to build an effective customer experience and service function. Leveraging modern tools, such as customer relationship management (CRM) systems, AI, chatbots and self-service portals streamlines communication, enhances personalized experiences, and expedites issue resolution. Without losing the personal touch, the aim of technology is to gain operational efficiency, which results in reduced response times, providing customers with seamless support that heightens the customer experience. Data and analytics extracted from these tools help companies to gain insights with customer behavior and preferences leading to better decision making. You are also more quickly able to identify customer pain points and proactively anticipate future needs. Ask yourself, does your company:
- Leverage specialized technology and software to enhance and optimize the overall customer experience?
- Employ a CRM system to track customer data, share information internally, foster improved customer relationships, and enhance overall business performance?
- Use a centralized, multi-functional customer experience platform to gather customer insights, improve internal communications, streamline support, and optimize operations?
4. Implement Operational Processes and Employee Training
The pivotal role of a well-trained customer service team in delivering exceptional service is a direct pathway to increased profits. Companies must invest in comprehensive training programs that equip employees with essential skills and in-depth product knowledge. Emphasizing effective communication, active listening, creative problem-solving, and empathy empowers employees, ensuring the consistent delivery of high-quality customer interactions. The foundation of employee competency is designing and implementing up-to-date customer experience and service protocols, processes, policies, and practices that support the work of your employees. Ask yourself, does your CX function:
- Possess a robust onboarding system, which swiftly integrates new team members and fosters continuous improvement through ongoing training, leading to elevated service standards?
- Measure Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) and document all reasons for customer contact, track complaints, record reasons for satisfaction, and possess a method for swift customer response?
- Employ workforce management strategies to optimize scheduling, forecasting, and staffing to ensure enhanced operational efficiency?
5. Cultivate a Profit-Driven Continuous Improvement Mindset
Companies with a successful CX function recognize the importance of a continuous improvement process. Encouraging regular feedback from both customers and employees, closely analyzing CSAT scores, and conducting periodic performance evaluations leads to addressing customer concerns more quickly and to identifying areas for improvement. By adopting this customer-centered mindset, companies strengthen customer retention, identify areas for growth, implement necessary changes, and proactively stay attuned to evolving customer expectations. This fosters a sustained competitive edge that directly contributes to increased profits. Ask yourself, does your CX function:
- Gather customer feedback through diverse channels, including surveys, customer interactions, and online customer reviews?
- Maximize the impact of customer feedback and reporting, elevating informed decision-making, continuous improvement, and the tailoring of services to effectively meet customer expectations?
- Conduct a thorough analysis of and reporting on customer feedback, delivering valuable insights to other company departments to support informed decision-making and continuous enhancement of products, services, and operations?
The Data Tells a Compelling Story
The research shows that applying these five strategies generates impressive results. Examples include:
- Increasing customer retention rates by 5% increases profits by 25% to 95% (Harvard Business Review, 2014)
- When prioritizing better customer service revenues increase between 4%-8% above their market (Bain and Company, 2015)
- After a positive customer service experience, 89% of consumers are more likely to make another purchase (SalesForce, 2020) and 68% would likely pay more (+Gladly, 2018)
- Acquiring a new customer is anywhere from five to 25 times more expensive than retaining an existing one (Harvard Business Review, 2014)
Running an effective customer experience function is not just smart business; it’s the key to maximizing profits. At PrinceLeadership, we know that prioritizing these five strategies will elevate engagement of your people leading to a more satisfied client – one that sticks with you. This commitment to excellence in customer service becomes a profit-driving force fostering trust, repeat business and positive word-of-mouth. In a highly competitive marketplace, prioritizing the customer experience isn’t just about satisfying customers; it’s about the growth, profitability, and value of your business.
Footnotes
https://hbr.org/2014/10/the-value-of-keeping-the-right-customers
https://www.bain.com/insights/are-you-experienced-infographic/
https://cdn2.hubspot.net/hubfs/2771217/Content/2018%20Customer%20Service%20Expectations%20Gladly.pdf
https://hbr.org/2014/10/the-value-of-keeping-the-right-customers
Authors
Get our newsletter and digital focus reports
Stay current on learning and development trends, best practices, research, new products and technologies, case studies and much more.
