What is customer experience (CX)?
In a nutshell, customer experience encompasses all experiences that a customer has with a brand or a company across all touchpoints during the customer journey.
The customer experience begins with the first perception of the company and extends to the customer’s experience with the company after the purchase.
Whether at the beginning or after the purchase, throughout their journey the prospect or customer evaluates every interaction and contact point they have with the company on a factual and emotional level.
Based on their experiences and learnings, they decide to what extent they will move forward on their journey with the company or brand, or whether they will end the journey at some point.
Quite simply, this means that whether a prospect becomes a customer or a customer becomes a loyal existing customer depends on what their user experience is likein the respective individual phases of a company’s customer journey.
The more positive experiences a customer has with the company, the further he moves along the customer journey.
One or more negative experiences can already prevent him from becoming either a customer or an existing customer.
Since the customer already makes his experience with the company with the first contact, the following applies here:
“The first impression counts!”
So you should already ask yourself the question here:
“How is my company perceived from the customer’s point of view?”
But not only the path to purchase must be connected with the help of a positive customer experience.
After the purchase, you should also ask yourself what measures can be used to strengthen customer loyalty and customer retention.
Whether it’s coupons, vouchers, or exclusive offers, whether it’scompetent and friendly customer service, or whether it’s thesimple or accommodating return of products, companies must also keep the customer experience positive after the purchase.
But how does a company succeed in making customer experiences satisfying throughout the entire customer journey? How do you find out what customers want and what they expect at every touchpoint?
In the next chapter, we explained the customer experience management approach in more detail.
What is Customer Experience Management (CXM)?
In order to permanently ensure a positive customer experience along the customer journey, there is Customer Experience Management (CXM), which is responsible for the complete management as a holistic approach.
The approach ensures that every customer experience with the company is as positive as possible.
In doing so, it is important first and foremost to find out what thecustomer’s needs and expectationsare at each touchpoint and what they want there.
Then, these touchpoints must be continuously optimized and adapted to not only meet but also exceed the growing expectations and demands of prospects and customers.
Using the approach of customer experience management, companies thus have the opportunity to turn their prospects into customers, to bind them to the company permanently, and to turn them into loyal customers.
However, not everyone who comes into contact with a company automatically becomes a customer or existing customer as a result of CXM.
The approach does not guarantee it, but increases the chance of winning new customers and retaining them in the long term through a positive customer experience.
By analyzing a wide variety of data, such as website traffic, the customer effort score, or the customer retention rate, it is possible to continuously improve the CXM strategy.
The analysis of the customer journey also helps to determine through which touchpoints a potential customer wanders until he finally buys the product.
Post-purchase touchpoints, such as delivery times, service, repairs, or handling returns, are also part of the customer experience and are part of the customer journey.
These in particular are of great importance for the lasting satisfaction of the customer, firstly to continue to bind the customer to the company and secondly to generate new customers through their positive reviews.
Since touchpoints are no longer limited to direct contact with the company these days, other touchpoints have emerged as a result of increasing digitization.
Customers are now looking for information or ways to interact with the company, for example via social media channels, messenger services such as WhatsApp or Telegram, or the company’s own website.
However, this circ*mstance leads to a more complex customer journey and customer experience management. This is because all touchpoints must be coordinated with each other so that the customer receives the desired information, regardless of which channel they come from.
In general, there are also no fixed rules as to which touchpoints a company should have, because these vary depending on the area of activity and the target group aimed at.
Companies that focus in B2C may offer adifferent customer journey and touchpoints than B2B-focused companies.
Phew, that was a lot, but to summarize again:
The holistic approach of customer experience management is ultimately about creating a positive customer experience across the entire customer journey, continuously maintaining and optimizing customer satisfaction, and thus strengthening customer loyalty.
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The goals of the customer experience
Basically, the goal of a good customer experience is to get happy and loyal customers and to retain them in the long term.
The customer experience and its permanent optimization is therefore an important factor for the core objective: long-term success.
Satisfied and loyal customers are the key to long-term success.
They are also more willing to spend a little more money for the same service or product, even though competitors are cheaper.
In addition, a customer who has a positive experience with a company or brand is also usually a satisfied customer, who, by making recommendations to friends and acquaintances or publishing positive reviews on the Internet, is anadditional credible lever for generating new customers.
The company’s reach thus increases, which correlates with an automatic improvement in the company’s image.
Ifstrategies to improve CXare implemented successfully, they can help to gain a significant increase in sales.
After all, a good and positive customer experience can be measured primarily by how much and how often the customer ultimately buys.
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5 tips on how to improve your CX
Talking about the theory of CX is always easy, but knowing how to actually enhance the customer experience in practice is something else.
However, to make sure you’re not left out in the cold with this, we’ll give you 5 tips on how to improve your customer experience below.
Tip 1: Focus on the customer
Our first tip is actually self-evident, but may be emphasized again in this chapter.
Customer experience is clearly about the customer and their experience with a company.
Every interaction with the company, whether direct or indirect, before the purchase, during or after the purchase, is evaluated by the customer and influences their future behavior and opinion towards the company.
Therefore, get to know your (potential) customers, direct your marketing and sales activities at them already in the perception phase by addressing them directly, emotionally and solution-oriented.
Adaptproducts and services to the expectations and wishes of consumers, show understanding for the individual situation of the customer and thus make your brand/company attractive to even more people.
You can clearly benefit from a customer-centric corporate strategy. This will increase your closing and conversion rates and generate positive word-of-mouth.
Tip 2: Be aware of who your customers are
Do you know who your customers are and what their needs and wishes are?
With the help of target group analyses and buyer personas, it is possible to find out who your potential buyers actually are, what characteristics and behaviors they exhibit.
This enables you to address them correctly, design marketing strategies and content more effectively, and adapt products and services to meet their expectations.
Tip 3: Get customer feedback
Let’s go back to what customer experience is actually about.
As mentioned in Tip 1, CX is about customers and their experiences with a company at every stage of the customer journey.
Based on their respective satisfaction, optimizations are initiated to positively shape the customer experience.
So, since the customer is the linchpin of CX, our clear tip is toget feedback from your customersat every point of interaction with your brand or company!
>>Video: 3 Customer Experience Touchpoints <<
Please activate the subtitle for English language
Find out how your (potential) customers move through the customer journey before and after the purchase, what their expectations and desires are at each point of contact with your company.
Define suitable metrics, such asNPS, CSAT, or other indicators to measurecustomer satisfactionat each stage of the customer journey and optimize individual interaction points in line with expectations.
In our opinion, the best and still easiest way to increase customer loyalty and user experience is to use(online) surveys.Because with surveys, you give your (potential) customers a voice and the opportunity to express constructive feedback, suggestions for improvement and wishes, thus giving them the feeling that they are being taken seriously.
If their wishes and concerns are actually implemented, this strengthens customer loyalty immensely and results in a positive customer experience for the customer.
Tip 4: Learn from negative customer experiences and customer reviews.
Learn from all customer experiences, but especially from negative ones. Because only with the help of constructive criticism is it possible to develop further.
Therefore, accept negative feedback and use it specifically to improve and advance your company in every respect.
Tip 5: Improve internal communication
Good CX starts with communication within the company.
Because what happens internally in a company is also felt by the customers.
Therefore, when developing and implementing a successful customer experience strategy, every employee should be involved, always provided with the latest information, and the goal of the CX strategy should be clearly communicated.
Only with the right communication can everyone pull together and focus on thedefined goal.
6 things that lead to a poor customer experience
Previously, we gave you 5 tips on how to improve your company’s customer experience. Now we’ll look at what things can lead to negatively impacting the customer experience.
Because a poor CX has serious consequences, which can range from a negative reputation to a high loss of revenue.
Reason 1: Promises are not kept
Don’t promise something you or your product can’t deliver!
Customers must not get too high expectations of you or the product, which can be caused by exaggerations in the use, a wrong advertising communication or a too high price.
Therefore, it is essential to keep the expected value reasonable.
But how can I determine the customer’s expected value in the first place?
With the help of customer surveys, such as asatisfaction survey, or byresearching the reasons for complaints, it is possible to find out the customer’s expectations and thus adapt the offer to suit the customer.
Reason 2: Touchpoints of the customer journey are not optimized
Clearly, whether all or individual touchpoints, pre-purchase or post-purchase, every interaction with your company should be a positive experience from the customer’s perspective.
In most cases, only one negative experience is enough and the prospect or customer is looking for alternatives or has left altogether.
That’s why it’s important to regularly review every touchpoint they may have with your company, whether in a traditional or digital way, and optimize it throughcustomer feedback.
Reason 3: Bad website
The fact is that digital touchpoints with customers, such as your own website, can lead to negative experiences.
Long loading times, difficult navigation, unclear page structures or incomplete content can have a negative impact on the customer experience.
One should always remember:
The website is the business card and usually also the first point of contact with a company.
By the way:Surveys on your own websitecan be used, for example, to regularly collect user experience data on whether the usability and the content offered are satisfactory or whether there are problems that should be remedied.
Reason 4: Setting the focus incorrectly
If you don’t put the customer in focus, you won’t be able to improve your customers’ experience with your own company, and this inevitably leads to a poor customer experience.
The customer does not feel that his wishes and expectations have been met and tends to evaluate the experience with your company negatively.
In addition, assumptions and wishful thinking have no place in thedevelopment of the CX strategy.
After all, any optimization attempts at the various stages of the customer journey should always be customer-oriented.
Focusing on unsuitable marketing channels or measurement data is also a serious mistake that can lead to missing the intended target group.
Because where exactly the focus must be set is individual for each company, depending on the operating market, industry, product or service.
Reason 5: Lack of internal communication
As already explained in the “5 tips to improve customer experience”,internal communicationis an important factor for developing and executing the CX strategy.
Not clearly communicating company goals,not involving employees in the development of the CX strategy, or not communicating information or communicating it asynchronously can lead to employees not being able to work in a goal-oriented manner.
Accordingly, customers’ wishes and expectations cannot be implemented in a purposeful manner and can lead to a negative customer experience with your company.
Reason 6: Poor customer service & support
Waiting forever on hold for an available employee, being redirected several times until you get to the right department, and then ending up with an unfriendly or incompetent employee who can’t help you with the problem.
These are all reasons whycustomer service and customer support should be permanently optimized.
After all, this organizational area is also regularly the first point of contact between companies and (potential) customers and can therefore be a decisive factor for the further course and the customer experience.
We have now explained to you six possible points that can lead to a poor customer experience.
Nevertheless, there are other reasons that can negatively influence the CX.
In order to find further points, it is best to think about how and in which phases you yourself have had a bad experience with a company.
The advantages of a good customer experience
There’s a reason why a good customer experience is a desirable goal for every company these days.
A good CX creates a multitude of benefits from which companies can profit.
For one thing, satisfied customers are usually also loyal customers and are very happy to use a service again or purchase another product.
This circ*mstance not only has an effect on higher sales, but also signals that customers trust companies and the products they offer.
Furthermore, an excellent customer experience can also be a valuable competitive advantage, which can be particularly beneficial in markets where there is a lot of competition, in order to bind customers emotionally to the brand or the product.
A poor customer experience would have exactly the opposite effect. The consequences would usually be a poor rating on the Internet, frequent complaints, and even a switch to a competitor company.
Also, the bad image of the company would possibly scare away future potential customers.
Therefore, a good customer experience already contributes to being able to compete with competitors and to being a decisive factor in the purchase choice.
Finally, a good CX can also lead to loyal and satisfied customers who are happy to recommend products or services in the long term, which can lead to an increase in sales and increase the reach of the brand.
Surveys as a method for measuring the customer experience
Surveys can be used to measure a range of relevant indicators for optimizing the customer experience.
Whether in the pre-purchase and decision-making phase or in the after-sale phase, surveys can be ideally used at any point in the customer journey to obtain relevant customer information easily and promptly.
Even short surveys of customers can reveal helpful clues as to which wheels of the customer experience still need to be tinkered with.
With just a few answers, it is possible to identify the reasons why customers may be dissatisfied and which areas or points of contact with a company require optimization.
The metrics on which the focus should be placed when measuring CX depend on the type of company and which products or services are advertised.
On the other hand, the metrics used depend on the customers and the target group that claim the service offered and use the products.
This is because the key figures used and measured should ultimately be used to develop customer-oriented strategies that are based on the expectations and needs of the customers.
Therefore, as already mentioned, even short customer surveys are very suitable for collecting valuable feedback at all moments of the customer journey.
easyfeedback is one possible tool that can help you collect this feedback and measure the customer experience using the Net Promoter Score (NPS) or the Customer Effort Score (CES).
What the NPS and the CES are and what other possible metrics are available for measuring the customer experience are explained for you in the following chapter.
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Possible key figures for measuring CX
There are a number of metrics to make CX efforts and success measurable.
Some are more difficult to capture, while others can be easily determined using short surveys and help you tremendously in learning about the current customer experience at many interaction points and continuously strive for improvement.
Below we have listed and explained four possible metrics for measuring CX:
1. Net Promoter Score (NPS)
The first metric we recommend for measuring customer experience is the Net Promoter Score.
Here, everything revolves around just one question:
“How likely is it that you will recommend our company to a friend or colleague?”
In many cases, this one question is already enough to gain insight into current customer satisfaction and customer loyalty.
But why is this so?
Quite simply, if your company’s recommendation rate is low, then this is an indication of dissatisfaction, possible customer churn, and may also indicate difficulties in acquiring new customers.
If, on the other hand, the recommendation rate is high, then this is an indication that customers are satisfied with you, which can have a positive effect on loyalty and word-of-mouth.
All this information is contained in this one question, which is classically answered on a scale of 1 – 10, ranging from “very unlikely” to “very likely“.
2. Customer Effort Score (CES)
The Customer Effort Score is another metric.
That metric provides information on how much effort, for example, a customer expended while using a product or dealing with customer service in order to initiate improvements based on the results.
The advantage of using this metric is that it can be used to make reliable predictions about customer loyalty and future purchasing behavior.
The disadvantage, however, is that it is not possible to say or find out exactly what the relationship between the company and its customers actually is.
To use the CES itself, it is recommended that customers be surveyed promptly after an interaction. Questions such as
“Did you have a pleasant shopping experience with us?”
or
“How much effort did the ordering process involve for you?”
help to explore which areas need to be improved.
3. Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT)
Customer satisfaction is an important topic when it comes to customer experience. After all, without satisfaction there is no loyalty and usually no loyalty.
If you want to measure customer satisfaction with precise data for specific services or at specific touchpoints in the customer journey, the Customer Satisfaction Score is a suitable tool.
Questions such as “How satisfied are you with our product?” or “Did you enjoy shopping with us?” can quite simply provide information on how satisfied a customer currently is with certain services, areas or people of a company and what effect the level of satisfaction has.
4. Customer Churn Rate
Another key figure for measuring a company’s CX using indicators is the customer churn rate.
The churn rate describes the ratio between the total number of lost customers and the total number of active customers for a given period.
The result shows in percentage terms how many customers, for example, switched to a competitor or no longer use your products or the service you offer.
This gives you an insight into customer growth or decline over a certain period of time and thus, especially in the case of the latter, a kind of warning signal that can be explored with customer surveys, for example.
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Conclusion: Customer feedback is essential for CX
Quite a lot you can write about the topic of customer experience.
But CX is a topic that every company should deal with in order to be successful in the long term.
Even if the development and implementation of the CX strategy involves effort and expense, which involves the entire company, in the end it will have a positive impact.
Don’t forget to ask the customer for their feedback, expectations and desires at every point of interaction. Because without customer feedback, optimizing the customer experience can’t work.
Assumptions and wishful thinking have no place in the CX strategy and lead to failure.
With our article, you now have an optimal overview of the basics of customer experience.
If you don’t have an active CX strategy yet, try asking your customers about their experience at just one touchpoint with your company using a survey.
The results you can draw from this will certainly be of great use to you in uncovering the level of satisfaction and possible optimization potential.
We wish you much success!
More about Customer Experience
- Creating positive customer experiences with customer experience management
- 3 touchpoints in the customer experience (with video)
- Your way to an effective customer experience strategy!
- 10 methods to analyze the customer experience
- 12 practical examples for improving the customer experience
- 10 metrics to measure Customer Experience
- Everything you need to know about the Net Promotor Score (NPS)!
- Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT) – Measuring Customer Satisfaction differently
- Customer Effort Score (CES): How much effort do your customers have?
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