If we agree that customers expect more than ever, and the way they evaluate their experience with a company is based on their memory of that experience, what does this mean for companies?
What steps should you be taking to capitalise on this and access more insight? Here are three practical tactics to get you started.
Reconsider your approach to surveys
Surveys can give you a snapshot of what a customer thinks. But they’re limited. If you’re only collecting customer feedback at the end of a customer journey then it’s going to be very difficult to pinpoint the moments where you get things right and wrong along the way.
If the way people view their whole experience is based on the peak and the end points of their whole journey, then feedback strategies relying on surveys are going to restrict the insight you can access. And, without this depth, it’s going to be much harder to make any significant improvements.
We know that people want the opportunity to give feedback in the moment; sharing whether they’re happy or unhappy with the experience they’re having. This isn’t something that surveys can offer; they’re just too far after the event.
Mobile, on the other hand, gives customers and companies the ability to react fast. Customers can give their feedback in real-time, in their own words and companies can respond immediately.
“Mobile allows consumers to act at the point of impulse. The fastest way anyone can react to any call to action is to put their hand in their pocket and text a single keyword to a 5-digit shortcode.” Paul Berney, CEO, mCordis
Ask for feedback at the most important touchpoints
It’s hard to know exactly when your customers will want to give you feedback. Different customers are going to want to share their thoughts and feelings at different times. While you might be tempted to ask for feedback at each and every touchpoint, this can lead to feedback fatigue.
Instead, work to identify the most important touchpoints and use these as the moments to proactively ask for feedback. Then, provide Listening Posts to allow customers to share their thoughts as and when they choose to. This means that even if you’re not actively seeking their feedback, they can still let you know what they’re thinking and feeling at any given moment.
Measure yourself on revenue
This one might sound strange to start with. After all, how can you measure something as complex as customer experience with revenue?
In terms of the day-to-day, there’s a wide range of metrics you can use for measuring customer experience (we wrote a whole eBook on it. You can download The CX Rebels Guide to Measuring Customer Experience here). But revenue gives you much more of a long-term view of your success at serving customers.
Revenue knows (and shows) who is doing well. Revenue is a pure and simple way of measuring long-term customer success. It’s the number of people that your company serves. It’s the number of people who keep coming back to you because you get it right, time and time again.
‘Your job is revenue. Business is about revenue at its base. This isn’t evil. It’s the Lego pieces of fulfilling a mission.’ Chris Brogan, CEO, Owner Media Group
You don’t make money from Facebook likes. You don’t make money from retweets. You don’t make money from the number of people who complete your surveys. These things all indirectly help your revenue, but they’re not the moment when someone decides to open their wallet and do business with you.
If you're looking for more ways to build a great customer experience, check out our eBook:
