With global inflation at a 40-year high, business leaders are scrambling to chart a course that would not only help them survive but thrive.
As inflation bites and confidence in the world economy wanes, customer experience (CX) leaders are forced to take a hard look at their value proposition and what truly sets them apart from competitors. On top of that, customers are feeling the effects and have become more prudent and selective with their spending. These economic challenges and shifting customer expectations are challenging leaders to think on their feet and to adapt.
Given these developments, customer acquisition and retention have become even more valuable, and the right CX strategy can play an important role in helping companies achieve revenue growth and profitability.
So, how do you stand out from the pack? Here are a few suggestions:
Provide unique and hyper-personalized experiences.
The concept of personalization is not new. According to Slideshare, 80 percent of consumers say the more tailored a CX is, the more likely they will purchase from a company, To stay relevant, CX leaders must continually ask themselves if they are helping clients solve their problems by leveraging personalization effectively. Customers will gravitate toward companies that can make them feel heard and valued. Thus, businesses should invest in cultivating meaningful relationships with customers to connect on an emotional level with them. When customers feel like they matter to you, they will stay loyal to your brand. Take the time to understand who your customers are and what they need, want, and expect. Use this information to create a customer-centric vision statement.
Put the data puzzle together.
CX leaders should also make optimum use of customer data to gain more insight and drill down to the specifics of what customers want in shopping experiences. Whether it is personal, behavioral, engagement, or sentiment data, these are prized assets that can help companies tailor solutions with a 360-degree view of the customer.
Today, organizations have many ways to capture data for deeper insight into their customers' preferences. Everything from invoices, payment methods, loyalty programs, the timing of payment, order history, shopping preferences, surveys, and so forth are all pieces of a puzzle that provide aggregated information on various customer personas. When used strategically, such data can help businesses nurture deeper connections with their customers.
Going behind the customer service interactions and identifying the reasons for queries can inform companies on the sorts of interactions in which they should be investing.
You can't track what you don't measure.
Innovation is an important topic for most companies today. But how do you know if that innovation is actually delivering convenience and value to the end user? This requires effective ways to measure customer satisfaction.
Every company will have its own approach to orchestrating the ideal customer journey and the best customer experience. By tracking your efforts, you will be able to benchmark your CX approach against best practices. It will also help in determining the optimal balance between technology and the human touch to drive the best CX outcomes.
Do not underestimate the benefits of the human touch.
Based on a recent report by TDCX, 69 percent of CX leaders using human support cited greater customer retention, and 45 percent reported increased competitiveness.
In a digitally enabled world, it is tempting to rely on technology to automate processes for greater efficiency. Such an approach assumes that everything works as it should. Inevitably, Murphy comes knocking ever so often and something doesn't go quite as planned. Such situations are a true test of companies' ability to maintain customer satisfaction, and it often comes down to having human agents on hand to resolve the issues.
Human representatives not only understand the issue and solve the problem, but most importantly, they can empathize with the customer. When done well, this is already half the battle won, and you succeeded in deepening the customer's loyalty to your brand.
Through customer insights, digital solutions, and the human touch, companies can differentiate themselves and enhance the customer experience. In the long run, this makes for a more resilient business that can weather the ebbs and flows of market changes, particularly as uncertainty and volatility are likely to be a mainstay in the current operating landscape.
Angie Tay is group chief operating officer and executive vice president of Singapore, Thailand, China, and Korea at TDCX.