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1 pg 2 C O N T E N T S How to Become a Customer-Obsessed Organization ARE YOU BEATING 2 pg 4 3 pg 7 YOUR COMPETITORS AT CUSTOMER Do You Know EXPERIENCE? Your Brand’s True Value? 4 pg 9 Your Customer Does. Connect with Your Customers Want More Wherever Effective They Are pg 11 5 Get Your Messaging? HOW TO BECOME A CUSTOMER-OBSESSED Empathy On. 6 ORGANIZATIONAL pg 14 CULTURE CX Metrics Matter – pg 17 7 But Understand Your What, Why & When thecoopergroup.net 1 STRATEGY HQ | JAN/FEB 2021
How to Become a Customer- Obsessed Organization by David Cooper I s your organization focused on your customer – or obsessed with your customer? There’s a huge difference. Step 1 in our 7 Steps to CX Nirvana explores what customer-obsessed organizations do differently and the steps you can take to place customer delight at the very heart of everything you do. Let us guess. You’ve heard “listen to your customer” somewhere before. Not exactly groundbreaking advice in 2021. For most organizations, the end goal of listening has always been selling, or creating a more appealing product. And yes, of course you need to sell the right product or service to the right customer. But effective sales targeting isn’t enough anymore. Not nearly enough. thecoopergroup.net 2 STRATEGY HQ | JAN/FEB 2021
Make no mistake. CX is king, Are you obsessed with your obsessed organization demands queen and customer experience yet? If a clear strategy. Your customers not, maybe this will motivate won’t be fooled by a few superficial everything in you. A study by HotJar sorted companies into mature, competent, changes. But in case you’re wondering what best practices look between. novice and ignore. Thirty-seven percent of mature companies, like today, here are a few things CX-focused organizations are doing compared to only 19% of those differently: considered ‘ignore,’ prioritize and value customer experience more n Commit to hiring people with a Staying competitive today means than any other goal, including customer-obsessed mindset. positioning customer experience increasing sales. Clearly, they n Educate and retrain existing staff. (CX) at the top of your priority list, understand the game has changed. n Relentlessly simplify every point across everything you do. Every of customer contact to remove part of your organization – not The Hard Part: friction. just customer service and support Buy-In and Alignment n Monitor social media mentions – must become obsessed with Reorienting your organization and respond fast. Waiting until customer experience. around customer experience isn’t tomorrow is a relic of the past. easy or simple. Even with a sound n Get creative and find ways Make no mistake. CX is king, strategy, you’ll encounter confusion to over-deliver and delight queen and everything in between. and pushback. Departments and customers. teams that haven’t traditionally n Personalize experiences Customer Obsession been customer-facing in their roles everywhere possible. Starts with Your Customer will need time to process this new n Reduce jargon everywhere. Use The first step in becoming a way of thinking. For example, your a conversational, approachable customer-obsessed organization engineers might tell you they didn’t voice in all communications. is understanding your ideal sign up to work in customer service. n Offer seamless interactions. Let customer’s story and the role you customers easily transition from play in it. Hint: They are the star So expect resistance. But persist, one channel to the next. and it’s their show. This will never above all. Without internal n Focus on an omnichannel change. alignment and unity, you’re approach for customer unlikely to succeed in creating convenience. Winning and retaining customers necessary change. Instead, you’ll n Design consistent experiences today is contingent on their find yourself applying Band-Aids across all channels. interaction with your brand at and other temporary fixes, and every touch point. It isn’t that your they won’t be enough to keep There’s an upside to all the work products and services don’t matter. up with skyrocketing customer required to become a customer- Of course they do. But consumers expectations. obsessed organization. Your now expect the white-glove, red competitors will need to put carpet treatment. Today’s over- It’s also crucial not to assume that in just as much work. And that delivering becomes tomorrow’s everyone will ‘get it’ the first time. means an opening for you. basic expectation. Or the second. New paradigms Every cultural shift brings both mean an ongoing commitment to challenge and opportunity. In fact, white-glove service is both seeing a culture change through, inevitable and economical, and with accountability for everyone. If you’d like to prioritize customer the key differentiator of successful experience throughout your organizations. More and more, What Customer Experience- company but could use an outside consumer feelings and attitudes Obsessed Companies perspective, reach out to us. We about you are your business, not a Do Differently welcome discussing opportunities, part of your business. Again, becoming a customer- challenges and strategy with you. thecoopergroup.net 3 STRATEGY HQ | JAN/FEB 2021
ARE YOU BEATING YOUR COMPETITORS AT CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE? by David Cooper thecoopergroup.net 4 STRATEGY HQ | JAN/FEB 2021
C ustomer experience is lunch (sorry, couldn’t resist). find yourself jousting with windmills an ongoing challenge, Innovation, disruption and like Don Quixote. but also the greatest changing customer attitudes mean opportunity to leave your your competitors aren’t necessarily CX, Your Opportunity competition in the dust. Step 2 in offering a similar product or to Differentiate our 7 Steps to CX Nirvana explores service. Until the last couple of Once you’ve correctly identified how you can exploit openings and years, Subway’s appeal was always your competitors, how will you win on the new battleground of location. You couldn’t walk more differentiate your brand from outstanding customer experience. than two city blocks without theirs? Twenty years ago, even 10 spotting one. years ago, you’d probably answer Blockbuster. Dell. Kodak. Sears. with a better product, service, Toys “R” Us. What’s the most What’s even more convenient market fit or price point. But today, memorable example of a company than walking a block to Subway winning and retaining customers that took its eyes off competitors for mediocre food? Sitting on means anticipating and delivering and ignored key trends until it was your couch or in your office, and the experiences your competitors too late to change course? Take having your favorite restaurant food can’t, or won’t. your pick. There are many. delivered fast and cheap. The true competitor here doesn’t even make Let’s take Chick-fil-A, for instance. Such companies learn the sandwiches. Their success isn’t just about ultimate lesson: No brand lives making a tastier sandwich. Instead, in a bubble. You can’t afford to So, when you’re listing your it’s their lightning-fast service, clean ignore what’s happening around rivals, look beyond the obvious. facilities and strategic, family- you. For most brands today, the They might not be who you think friendly branding. Have you ever key trend is customer experience. In 2021, and for the foreseeable future, outperforming your No brand lives in a bubble. You can’t afford to ignore competitors means anticipating customer expectations and over-delivering throughout the customer journey. what’s happening around you. For most brands today, Who Are Your True Competitors? the key trend is customer At the risk of stating the experience. In 2021, obvious, you must have a clear understanding of who you’re and for the foreseeable competing against. And they future, outperforming your competitors means aren’t always the obvious suspects. Are you sure you know who your competitors really are today? anticipating customer Let’s take Subway as an illustration. expectations and over- It’s no secret they’ve battled delivering throughout the customer journey. declining sales since 2012. Yet according to Restaurant Business, their strongest competition isn’t other sub sandwich chains, or even independent sandwich eateries. they are, and they can quickly purchased one of their kids meals? Instead, Chick-fil-A and restaurant change. Unless you know who Instead of cheap, throwaway plastic delivery services are eating their your true competitors are, you’ll toys promoting the latest Disney thecoopergroup.net 5 STRATEGY HQ | JAN/FEB 2021
Given their attention to CX, it’s no surprise Chick-fil-A consistently leads the flick, you’ll find a higher-quality toy messages within two hours, and category in or a carefully chosen book. Given their attention to CX, it’s no surprise Delta Air Lines, for responding to 30% of all social media mentions. the American Chick-fil-A consistently leads the Just think about that for a moment. Customer Satisfaction category in the American Customer Isn’t that an impressive feat for a Satisfaction Index, ahead of all major airline? other major fast food chains. In fact, courtesy and helpfulness of staff Make no mistake. Delta made a Index. was rated even more important strategic choice to invest in epic than taste or food quality. responsiveness and personalization. And at this touch point, at least, Differentiating your offering and they blew away their competitors. communicating that difference is In nearly every industry you can your business, managing staff and Marketing 101. And today, more think of, consumers are rewarding delivering products or services. than ever, prioritizing customer CX-obsessed organizations and experience (see Step 1) throughout ignoring the rest of the pack. So how does your CX stack up your organization is the best against your competitors? Are you opportunity for you to win in a Keeping the Balls exceeding their efforts at every crowded marketplace. in the Air step of the customer journey – It has always been crucial to look and keeping all those other balls So Who’s Getting CX Right beyond your own organization in the air? in Your Industry? to your true competitors. And A recent report by Brandwatch it has always been important to If you’d like to discuss boosting surveyed consumers to rate the think ahead and be proactive, your brand with better CX, feel brands consistently delivering the not reactive, to trends. And yes, free to reach out to us. Let’s put best customer experiences. Among it has always been a juggling act our heads together and develop the winners are Sephora, a beauty to allocate resources to those a strategy that leaves your company that replies to most things while running the rest of competitors in the dust. thecoopergroup.net 6 STRATEGY HQ | JAN/FEB 2021
by David Cooper Do You Know Your Brand’s True Value? Your Customer Does. thecoopergroup.net 7 STRATEGY HQ | JAN/FEB 2021
C onsumers today hold No matter how well you understand competitors are doing at the more power than ever your business and product, you are same stage. before. With social media not your customer. You need their and online reviews only feedback on every touch point, Creating a useful journey map a click away, your brand reputation on every channel. This points to will not be accomplished in a is always on display. Step 3 in our 7 the need for both quantitative and week’s time. The process requires Steps to CX Nirvana argues that qualitative data gathered from a significant but manageable only your customer determines variety of sources: investment in data collection, your brand value. analysis and presentation. In n Surveys our experience, it’s well worth Who do you think really n Interviews the effort. You’ll discover new determines your brand’s true n Questionnaires opportunities to compete and win value in the marketplace? Is this n Chat logs beyond product or price. debated and decided around a n Analytics conference table? Diagrammed n Support logs and emails Reality Check: Does Your on a whiteboard, neatly captured n Social media mentions Brand’s Value Live Up in a PowerPoint presentation to Your Promise? and eventually blessed by key Once you’ve compiled the data, The only useful answer to this executives? you’ll find there’s no shortage of question will come from your user-friendly customer journey customers. In theory, it’s a simple If so, we propose a radically templates and platforms available concept. But sometimes the different approach. Consider this to represent it. Whatever software simplest lessons, like this one, are simple equation: Your brand’s solution you choose, remember the the hardest to put into practice. value is precisely equal to your goal should be clarity and accuracy. customer’s perception of your To bring a return on investment, It’s frightening to admit that we brand’s value. And increasingly, the journey map must help you are not in control of our brand. this perception is shaped by their identify areas for improvement and Instead, our customers are in the experiences and outcomes at every differentiation. driver’s seat. We can influence the stage of the customer journey. relationship and their perception, The Customer Journey but we can’t control it. And how do If you want to boost brand value, Is Complex we influence it? By committing to you must dissect and analyze Wouldn’t it be wonderful if customer-centricity at every stage customer experiences – from initial capturing your customer journey of the purchasing journey. awareness to purchase and well were a simple, linear progression? beyond. And one of the best tools Like a train leaving the station and Sometimes you can benefit from for improving your CX across the moving predictably through all an outside perspective. We help board is a customer journey map. the stops to its final destination? organizations like yours leverage Unfortunately, the process is usually CX to turn customers into fans Map the Journey, and Start messier and far more complex. and advocates. Interested in a with the Customer consultation? Let’s talk. To see where you’re exceeding Your customer might move back expectations, and where you’re and forth between steps, and falling short, a visual representation possibly even skip some. Consider of your customers’ journey is all the different ways consumers essential. Be careful, though. can first encounter your brand – Your journey map must capture word-of-mouth, search engine, ads, data based on actual customer social media, and the list goes on. feedback. Never make the mistake For each of these steps, you must of substituting your experience for document what you’re doing and their experience. how it’s working, and what your thecoopergroup.net 8
Connect with Your Customers Wherever and Whenever They Are C From Baby Boomers to speed and simplicity, but also availability Generation Z, what matters most and easy access. If your business hopes to to consumers when deciding on a thrive or even just survive, you must meet purchase? If you haven’t seen the your ideal customers on their preferred Global Omnichannel Consumer Shopping channels – even if theirs are not your Research Report by BigCommerce, it’s preferred channels. In 2021, a seamless worth a read. The answer can be summed omnichannel presence is no longer a up in one word: convenience. luxury reserved for elite brands. Meeting your customers where they are is a must, Step 4 in our 7 Steps to CX Nirvana a key component of customer experience. focuses on this: Convenience means by David Cooper thecoopergroup.net 9 STRATEGY HQ | JAN/FEB 2021
values and motivations, along much effort you put into pleasing with analytics that track consumer them. Forget this fact and you lose. behaviors and preferences. And you know what else they don’t Once you understand their daily care about? Your technology. They habits, you can then begin to want the same lightning-fast service develop an effective omnichannel and delivery, regardless of platform strategy that allocates resources or device. where they’re needed. In Steve Krug’s classic book on web Make It Easy design, “Don’t Make Me Think,” The Inconvenient Truth: We are all consumers. Let’s say he talks about user experience on They Won’t Come to You you begin a customer service websites. His point is valid for any The line between engagement conversation through a chat bot on customer touch point. He argues, and e-commerce is blurring. your desktop computer. You later correctly, that the second they have For example, almost 25% of continue it on your smart phone. to “think,” meaning figure out how business owners choose to use Isn’t it nice when you can pick up to get the information or service Facebook for sales, not just build where you left off without having to they need, they’ll bounce. brand awareness. In fact, 40% of explain your issue all over again? businesses are now using social Each platform or channel should be media to sell, rather than to simply Everyone has always appreciated absolutely transparent and dead- answer questions, educate or convenience, but consumers today simple to use. Don’t confuse them. introduce themselves. don’t simply appreciate it. They Don’t make them think. Just give expect it. In fact, 77% of companies them what they want and don’t What does this mean for you? considered strong in omnichannel waste even a millisecond of their Now, more than ever, social media are those that store customer data time. engagement isn’t optional. You across channels, while only 40% of must be present on the channels those considered weak omnichannel Never Stop Listening your ideal customers are using. companies do so. Seamless customer We wish we could assure you that support is a vital component of your customers will stick with their In the past, many organizations stellar customer experience. current channel preferences for the relied on highly optimized SEO foreseeable future. We wish we to attract customers. But you can The bottom line is this: Companies could tell you there will be time for no longer count on consumers that don’t prioritize convenient you to catch up before innovation searching and finding you. And omnichannel CX are being left changes the game yet again. what about potential customers behind. The easier and faster who haven’t yet heard of you? you make it for customers to But innovation never stops. The Unless you’re present and engaged accomplish their tasks, either off- reality is that customer behaviors where they are, they probably line or online, the more you’ll be change over time. Our advice is to won’t discover you. rewarded with a return on your get obsessed with your customer, investment. stay obsessed with your customer, Of course, being where your and be wherever they are, ready to customers are means knowing Your Customer Doesn’t Care over-deliver at every opportunity. your ideal customers inside About your omnichannel strategy, and out. You’ll need far more that is. Mainly, they care about If you’d like to discuss a winning than demographic-based completing their task, not about omnichannel strategy for your marketing personas. Instead, your your organization, your strategy, organization, feel free to contact research should reveal deeper, your best-laid plans or your revenue us to schedule a game-changing psychographic factors that reveal goals. They don’t even care how consultation. thecoopergroup.net 10 STRATEGY HQ | JAN/FEB 2021
Want More Effective Messaging? Get Your Empathy On. by David Cooper thecoopergroup.net 11 STRATEGY HQ | JAN/FEB 2021
I f you can’t stand in your customer’s shoes, you’ll never be up to the task of delivering stellar customer experience throughout your customer’s buying journey and beyond. Step 5 in our 7 Steps to CX Nirvana is all about the most important CX factor of all. And that is empathy. “I get worried if I see customer satisfaction scores drop below 97%.” That’s a quote from Ali Ryal, head of Customer Experience for Slack, the popular collaboration tool for teams. According to the company, their average response time is under an hour. And here’s one more nugget of CX goodness to savor: “We’re trying to build empathy at scale.” every single communication and interaction. Your product is Slack is one of the best examples not the star of we can think of for a company that gets it. By ‘it,’ we mean building But be careful. Your product is not the star of the story, and neither are the story, and your brand around outstanding, you. Customers are the heroes of neither are you. Customers empathetic customer experience their stories, and you are the guide everywhere. While plenty of who helps them solve a problem, are the heroes organizations implement CX tweaks, overcome an obstacle and achieve these are often add-ons, rather than transformation. You’re the Yoda to core values and differentiators. their Luke Skywalker. of their stories, So, ask yourself this question: And Then What? and you are Does your organization get it? And how well are you communicating Empathy Everywhere. So, how do you make your the guide who empathy in all of your messaging? messaging relevant, timely and helps them Empathy Starts emotionally resonant at every touch point? Whether it’s on a solve a problem, with a Story support call, in an email sequence, overcome When we say empathy begins with a story, we’re not talking about a Facebook ad, your homepage or a brochure, talk less about the an obstacle your brand story. We’re referring to awesomeness of your features and and acheive transformation. your customer’s story. As Donald more about the role those features Miller explained so succinctly in play in helping your customers his book “Building a Story Brand: overcome their most pressing Clarify Your Message So Your challenges. Customers Will Listen,” they’re more concerned with themselves Now, we’re no copywriters, but than with you. And if you want to here’s a quick and dirty example of win them over, you have to prove two statements that illustrate our it by reflecting their journey in point: thecoopergroup.net 12 STRATEGY HQ | JAN/FEB 2021
n Choice A: Our award-winning product or service. So it’s crucial resulted in a “98% Happiness HR software platform is the leading that they nail the correct tone rating.” Sure, they could have solution for today’s busy medical and word choice. Employing true taken the traditional route and practices. empathy can mean the difference stuck to phone calls, chat or email. between a glowing Yelp review that But by personalizing and showing n Choice B: Pulling your hair out brings you 100 new customers over customers how to solve problems, over endless HR regulations? Our the next year, or a Facebook rant rather than sending them canned cloud-based software automates that goes viral with the opposite responses, they lead the industry in compliance, so you spend less time effect. stellar customer experience. on paperwork and more time with your patients. Using statements like, “I would Consistency Is the probably feel the same way if I Challenge Choice B communicates were in your shoes” and “I want One of the most daunting understanding (empathy!), solution to assure you that I’m going to challenges is unifying your and transformation. All your take care of this problem for messaging across all channels. It messaging should reflect this you today” each convey both must be cohesive, strategic and central unifying theme. empathy and responsiveness. You present everywhere your customers can also summarize and rephrase encounter you. We understand. It’s It isn’t that you never talk about the customer’s concern, using easier said than done. But until you yourself and your product or emotional mirroring to make tackle the issue and revamp your service. Of course you do. But your them feel they’ve been heard and communications for consistency, product or service exists for one understood. you’ll continue struggling to build reason: to improve your customers’ and maintain the relationships that lives and businesses. They’re not But don’t stop there. Instead, make your business thrive. interested in your agendas and experiment and innovate. The initiatives. So when you talk about video hosting service Wistia’s The Bottom Line: Empathy yourself, the message should practice of creating personalized Always Wins always be filtered through their videos to solve support questions What would it look like for your story. organization to commit to ‘empathy at scale’? Do you think your Empathetic Customer In the simplest customers would notice? We do. Service Customer experience is everyone’s terms, How you implement and execute depends on your target customer, job, but your support team will customers your industry and each individual usually have the most direct contact must know touch point. But make no mistake. with those who purchase your that you get Committing to empathy in all your them, you communications is a requirement care, and from here on out, not an extra or a ‘nice-to-have.’ you’re prepared In the simplest terms, customers to help must know that you get them, you – and care, and you’re prepared to help – and keep on helping, long after the keep on initial purchase. If you’re interested helping, in improving your messaging and long after communications, we help start-up, the initial small and mid-sized organizations succeed in today’s customer- purchase. obsessed marketplace. Contact us for a consultation. thecoopergroup.net 13 STRATEGY HQ | JAN/FEB 2021
by David Cooper HOW TO BECOME A CUSTOMER-OBSESSED ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE thecoopergroup.net 14 STRATEGY HQ | JAN/FEB 2021
S tep 6 in our 7 Steps to with your customers. Do they ever for the culture you aspire to, the CX Nirvana explains read support emails or chat logs? culture you need, not necessarily how people, values and How about online reviews? Do they the one that exists today. business clarity are the answer customer questions? keys to building an organizational Now comes the hard part. This culture totally obsessed with If your people are insulated by might mean some of your people your customer. It doesn’t happen bureaucracy and an org chart, it’s need to simply move on. It’s never overnight, but you can get there. easy for them to lose touch with the first option and never pleasant, Wondering how? Read on! what matters most – converting but unfortunately, you cannot customers to fans and advocates. create the right culture without the This series has been exploring right people. While many skills, the tectonic shift from customer- Customer experience is everyone’s such as creating a presentation or focused to customer-obsessed, job, and no one should ever feel working with a particular software and shared in many ways how distant or disconnected from daily tool can be learned rather quickly, customers should be at the very heart of everything we do. Maybe some of these initiatives call for new business models. But without something more fundamental – a customer-obsessed organizational culture – getting to stellar customer experience is not possible. In most organizations, the barrier between customer obsession and the same old, same old, is simply people. Change is hard, and almost all of us choose the familiar over what feels risky. So how can you begin the change to a customer experience, customer-obsessed culture? customer concerns. And yes, we an employee who tends to view In our opinion, it comes down to know. It’s easier said than done. themselves or their team as the right people, the right values an island will have a hard time and absolute clarity. So What’s the Remedy? ever seeing things through the Hire CX-Friendly customer’s eyes and allowing that Your People: Everyone Is Candidates. to drive decisions. “Customer-Facing” We’ve witnessed many jaw- Let’s dispense with the outdated dropping transformations over the Your Values: notion that some departments years, from customer-oblivious to Expect Curiosity are customer-facing, while others customer-obsessed companies. Former Netflix VP Gibson Biddle are customer-irrelevant. Now, The truth is, moving people out of gets it. He understands that of course, some of your people their comfort zones and away from organizations today must put will have more direct contact entrenched behaviors is difficult. customer experience ahead of with customers than others. No everything else. We think this one is saying your engineers or For that reason, we recommend post by him is very inspiring. supply chain department should hiring people who are already During his time at Netflix, simply be handling support calls eight customer-oriented and empathetic, understanding the customer’s hours a day. But they should be rather than assuming you can instill current problems wasn’t nearly having some regular interaction these values. In other words, hire enough. Instead, their goal was thecoopergroup.net 15 STRATEGY HQ | JAN/FEB 2021
to understand the customer so Consider this statistic. According be simply unaware of how much well that they could anticipate and to an Accenture survey, 81% of customer experience impacts the innovate new ideas for turning consumers “feel loyal to brands bottom line – and their paychecks. them into raving fans. that are there when they need But if the connection between CX them, but otherwise respect their and ROI isn’t made consistently This difference might sound time and leave them alone.” clear, part of the blame must lie simple, but it represents a quantum This kind of next-level customer with management. leap and requires rabid devotion knowledge doesn’t come with and insatiable curiosity. They the once-and-done survey or Are you sure you’re adequately constantly developed and tested focus group. Instead, it only communicating that relationship new hypotheses and were always develops organically from a throughout your business? In product development, logistics and their (Netflix) goal was to supply chain, customer support and every department? As said understand the customer so earlier, we still believe that hiring CX-oriented people is a better well that they could anticipate approach than attempting to and innovate new ideas for change everyone’s minds. But you can’t, and shouldn’t, replace turning them into raving fans. everyone. And the shift will take time. The Stakes Are High, But So Are the Rewards Customers are not passive consumers waiting with open arms for our products and services. The truth is, they never were. But today, more than ever, our success is tied to their experience with us. And that experience can only be delivered through an organizational culture with the right values and people. Maybe Amazon said it best: “Leaders start with the customer and work backwards. They work vigorously to earn and keep customer trust. Although leaders pay attention to competitors, they obsess over customers.” open to new insights – even when culture that values curiosity and they went against everything they experimentation. We couldn’t have said it better. previously believed about what Changing your culture is tough. If customers wanted. Netflix was built Clarity: Making you’d like an outside perspective around curiosity about customer the Connection Clear on how to implement customer experience. Maybe we shouldn’t be so quick to obsession in your organization, feel condemn those employees stuck free to contact us. We help small It isn’t just Netflix customers who in traditional, non-CX-obsessed and mid-sized companies focus on crave personalized experiences. cultures. In many cases, they may what matters most. thecoopergroup.net 16 STRATEGY HQ | JAN/FEB 2021
CX Metrics Matter – But Understand Your What, Why & When by David Cooper A nalytics, analytics everywhere! Yes, you must measure to improve customer experience. But it’s crucial that your metrics align with the right goals and strategy. Do you know which metrics to use, and just as important, why you’re using them? Step 7 in our 7 Steps to CX Nirvana dives right in. “If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it,” the legendary Peter Drucker famously said. And we’d be hard-pressed to disagree. No one today could argue against the need for both quantitative and qualitative customer data. Regardless of your industry or product, measurement and execution are essential to keeping your customers close. Just as important, you must understand not only the ‘what’ of your metrics, but also the why, thecoopergroup.net 17 STRATEGY HQ | JAN/FEB 2021
when and where. Otherwise, Don’t Rely On a get the results you’re looking for all your careful measurements Single Metric with buy-in from your organization. are unlikely to bring a return on One of the most used ways to And that meaningful buy-in only investment. They must be goal- measure customer loyalty (at comes if everyone concerned driven, diversified and understood the moment, anyway) is the Net understands the what, why, where in context. Promoter Score (NPS). And why and when of the metric. They not? It’s simple, accessible and must comprehend what you’re Priority One: flexible. Since it predicts how likely measuring and why, how it will be What’s the Goal? customers are to recommend your interpreted, and why it matters – to Would it surprise you to know that services or products to others, it’s a the organization and to their job many organizations are floundering natural for measuring satisfaction. performance. in mountains of functionally useless customer data? It’s true. Unless But like any other metric, NPS Results should be accessible you can glean insights from the has its drawbacks and limitations. and accessed often by everyone information, it isn’t worth much in For one thing, it doesn’t tell you concerned. It’s simple enough, the long run. the reason for the score – only a after all, to know whether your number that equates to promoters, people are regularly logging in There’s more than one reason for passives or detractors. And even and monitoring these metrics. If this drowning-in-data problem. One if NPS were perfect, no metric it’s a case of set-it-and-forget-it, of the most significant is simply that should stand in isolation. Metrics they’ll never make the connection customer metrics sought are not work best when you’re using a between their duties and customer always aligned with company goals. variety of measurements across the experience. And it can’t be just any goals. For complete omnichannel customer best results, your goals should journey. See Step 4 in this series: Finally, understand that the right be SMART: Specific, Measurable, Connect With Your Customers metrics can bring many benefits. Attainable, Realistic and Timely. Wherever (and Whenever) They Are. They can help you make the right decisions, know where to focus This means that strategy should What about assigning each of your your resources and of course, build drive your choice of metrics, not vice customers their own dashboard, the kinds of customer relationships versa. Yes, measuring allows you to where you can view a variety of you need to thrive in a hyper- gauge how well you’re achieving metrics for each one? Whenever competitive marketplace. your goal, but the objective must anyone follows up on the customer always precede the tool. to monitor CX, they’re looking at a But never forget that the most more complete and comprehensive fundamental purpose of all is What are the most important goals perspective. They’re not limited to learning. If metrics are not offering for your business? There are so one isolated measurement, frozen you meaningful, relevant insights many metrics to choose from, so it’s at one moment in time. that nurture customer relationships, critical to employ only the ones that it’s time to re-evaluate what you’re are pinpoint-relevant to you. And remember that metrics measuring and why. aren’t necessarily numbers. In If you make the mistake of fact, some of the most useful Since 1998, we’ve been helping choosing the easiest or most and valuable information will be customer-focused organizations popular goals or metrics, you’re qualitative feedback from your become customer-obsessed. If squandering resources and worse, customers. This can inform your you’d like to discuss what you’re wasting your customer’s precious messaging, and also give you a measuring and why, feel free to time. Given consumers hold so deeper understanding of their true contact us. much power and influence today, priorities and motivations. that’s a mistake you can’t afford to make. If you’re asking them for any Understand the Metric kind of feedback, make sure you in Context understand why you’re asking. Like any tool or initiative, you’ll only thecoopergroup.net 18 STRATEGY HQ | JAN/FEB 2021
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