What is Customer Experience (CX)?

Customer Experience (CX) is everything your prospects and customers experience with your business.

We refer to every customer touch point as a “moment of truth.” Why? Every single interaction you have with anyone is a moment of truth – because in that moment they will either move in the direction of your business or away from your business.

You could argue that some interactions create a neutral experience. Well, that is just a wasted opportunity to delight your customers!

Why is Customer Experience Important for Your Business?

Did you know that 80% of businesses believe they provide a superior customer experience? But only 8% of their customers believe they receive a superior customer experience. (Source: Bain & Company)

Needless to say, there is a grand canyon of opportunity in that customer experience delivery gap.

Although it is pretty obvious why every interaction in your customer experience matters, let’s look at 9 ways creating a phenomenal customer experience could impact your business:

1.7X Higher Customer Retention
33% Lower Customer Service Costs
1.6X Higher Lifetime Value
52% of Customers Willing to Pay More
67% of Customers Prefer Self-Service
89% of Customers Will Go to a Competitor
US Companies Lose $1.6 Trillion Annually
17% Compound Annual Growth Rate
72% of Customers Share Good Experiences

How would any of these benefits impact your business?

Where Do You Start to Create a Phenomenal Customer Experience?

There is no better place to start than creating a Customer Journey Map.

Your Customer Journey Map will help you visualize the many touch points – those moments of truth – you have with your prospects and customers over the course of their lifetime with your business.

When you consider all of the different ways you touch your customers through your website, social media, email, calls and yes, even in person, you will see there are just so many moments where you can create a phenomenal customer experience.

What is the Standard of Customer Experience Excellence?

Let us travel together back to the future – all the way back to 1992!

What were you doing in 1992 when the political tagline for all time was “It’s the economy, stupid!” That certainly created a shift in customer experience.

In 1992, I was deep into transforming our customer experience at American Express. We were working though the teachings of Jim Clemmer and his great work titled “Firing on All Cylinders.”

Mr. Clemmer revealed the three levels of service in creating a phenomenal customer experience:

Your basic product or service
The support level
The enhanced level

The target is clear – reach for the third ring of service to deliver a phenomenal customer experience.

How Does Your Business Reach for the Third Ring?

Your business reaches for the third ring by impacting how your customers feel about your business.

Although your leadership must create a culture that is obsessed with your customer experience, it is most often your frontline performers who impact how your customers feel.

They will need far more than basic knowledge, skills and abilities to deliver that experience, as they will also need a sharp intellect and reasoning ability (IQ) as well as strong emotional intelligence (EQ).

Transform Your Customer Experience

Transforming Your Customer Experience is concurrently outside-in and inside-out work.

You must elicit a far deeper understanding of your customer’s needs, wants and expectations, bringing those insights into your company’s consciousness.

Customer Experience Transformation Framework

Your leadership team must set the tone, while simplifying your processes and developing your team‘s capabilities to deliver the experience your customers expect.

Perhaps most importantly, you need to keep score and measure your customer experience performance consistently.

If your business is ready to realize the benefits of transforming your Customer Experience, connect with us to explore the possibilities.