CX stands for customer experience which is commonly defined to includes every aspect of interaction, both digital and in the real world, between your business and its customers. That’s a tremendously big umbrella and as such, there is quite a bit to keep track of and optimize in order to build a CX program that keeps customers coming back
Creating an ideal customer experience is often akin to trying to counteract Murphy’s law. You spend a lot of time anticipating what could go wrong and correcting it before the customer ever experiences a negative brand interaction. This smoothing of the experience helps to create brand advocates, which is why it is important to be vitally attuned to potential pitfalls.
6 Not accounting for partners or subcontractors
Customers are not interested in subcontractors or partners that provide certain products or services to your company. They are only concerned with how you will respond to their needs. Your customers do not care that someone else manages your vending machines or is responsible for providing Internet coverage. They simply want you to be accountable to them, regardless of any deals you have made with others.
7 Failing to engage customers
Your customers are more likely to remain loyal if they feel engaged. As such, it is not enough to simply fulfill their needs, you must also interact with your customers. Building relationships through social media is one way to engage your customers; however, that shouldn’t be the only thing you are doing. Try to interact with people personally by offering free samples, showing merchandise, or demonstrating products in order to improve their customer experience.
8 Becoming complacent
Creating a good customer experience is not something you do only one time – it involves ongoing effort. The problem among many companies is that they develop a plan and then work hard to implement it, but do not take the time to update or maintain it. If this scenario sounds familiar, you may want to start over from scratch and develop a new plan that includes a series of checks and balances to help keep you on track.
9 Streamline operations
There may be times when you’ll need to streamline operations to prevent your customers from becoming frustrated. This might happen if, for example, one person greets the customer, another employee makes the sale, and yet another closes the deal. In this scenario, customers might feel as though they are getting “passed off”, and decide to leave before completing a transaction. Collecting unnecessary information or having too much paperwork for people to sign will also negatively affect a customer’s experience, and should therefore, be avoided.
10 Not keeping things in motion
People are always in a hurry these days, which is why it is important to respect your customers’ time. Customers need effective and efficient service with fast delivery, yet it absolutely cannot make them feel as though they are being rushed. Never leave your customer hanging since this only leads to frustration. Provide regular feedback and updates to ensure your customers remain engaged. Also, think of ways to prevent them from becoming discouraged whenever there is an exceptionally long wait time.
When it comes to customer experience, attention to detail is important because even the smallest detail affects it. As your operations change, so will the way you deal with people, which means that perfecting your customer experience program will likely be an ongoing process.
