Reimagining Customer Service Experience: Customer Experience Strategies That Works
We live in a time when consumer expectations are changing. They want better relationships with companies that provide them with great experiences — experiences that feel personal, authentic, and value-driven.
Today’s customers are stakeholders, and their relationship with brands has evolved from transactional to strategic. They expect companies to manage change appropriately, anticipate their needs, and adapt the customer service model to reflect their changing preferences.
Hence, reimagining the customer service experience is not about fixing a broken customer experience. It is about reimagining how you can harness the power of service to create an unprecedented potential for your business.
The question is no longer whether this trend will continue but what it means for businesses. How should companies respond? How can organisations transform their customer service from reactive to predictive and proactive?
This article will analyse three customer experience (CX) strategies that can help forward-thinking brands redefine their customer experience model.
3 Customer Experience (CX) Strategies That Works
People are increasingly turning to computers, tablets, and smartphones for answers. 64% look for customer service information before calling a business directly. They want accurate and quick answers before they spend money with you or find an alternative.
So how can you make sure your customer service stands out? How do you change your customer service perspective to one based on value?
Below are four customer experience (CX) strategies that can help you redesign and improve customer service:
#1. Deliver an omnichannel customer experience
Different generations, different expectations, different usage patterns. Today’s consumers have a variety of devices at their disposal: desktops, smart TVs, smartphones, and tablets. Each device serves a different purpose and is used for different activities — but all are connected to one enterprise: yours.
The traditional customer service model consists of a single point of contact, the call centre agent. This model is still prevalent in many parts of the world but is now being challenged by companies that recognise that customers want a combination of personal interactions, such as email, social media customer service, chat support, and automated systems to ensure their needs are met at every step of the process.
Combining these two approaches can be an effective way for brands to provide an omnichannel customer experience and increase customer loyalty.
On average, companies with omnichannel customer engagement strategies retain 89% of their customers, while the retention rate for companies with weak omnichannel customer engagement is 33%.
In addition, omnichannel brands that consistently interact with their customers across multiple platforms are the most successful at reaching and satisfying customers.
Recommended reading: What truly makes for a great customer service experience?
#2. Prioritise employee experience (EX)
Customer experience (CX) is a complex structure that requires more than just ensuring your customer service team is professionally trained and you have the right technology. Instead, it is an ecosystem made up of an infinite number of variables.
According to a recent Microsoft report, the most crucial factor in delivering a great customer experience is not your product or service but how your employees interact with your customers. In the same study, 30% of customers said that speaking with a knowledgeable and friendly agent is the most essential aspect of a good customer service experience.
Several factors can influence customer perception, but the quality of the employee experience (EX) determines a company’s ability to deliver a great customer experience.
Therefore, to create a positive customer experience (CX), you must first prioritise employee experience (EX). A happy, healthy employee will lead to a beneficial customer experience.
Your customer experience (CX) is only as good as those who help deliver it.
#3. Augment customer service with technology
We are entering a new era where technology has become an invisible layer supporting human needs. Today, you can ask an AI-powered bot in Facebook Messenger to deliver flowers, have Siri book a dinner reservation, or ask Alexa to turn on the washing machine.
Brands embracing technology, however, can see a clear pattern: customers’ expectations are changing. They want a more personalised and quicker response to queries. This is where reimagining customer service experience comes into play. It is not just about building a new website, software, or mobile app — it is about developing new ways for businesses to interact with their customers through technology while providing a personal and engaging customer experience.
Amazon’s Alexa, for example, allows customers to create shopping lists, check the weather, and get news updates from major media outlets, all from the comfort of their homes or office.
In the same way, Zappo’s AI-powered platform helps users search for customer information in their CRM, provides optimally timed guidance, and reduces manual tasks.
Augmenting customer service with technology means that companies can respond to customer needs at scale and improve customer satisfaction while providing personalised customer experiences.
Key Takeaways
Reimagining your customer experience (CX) is one of the most important ways to differentiate your business, build customer loyalty and create value.
To be clear, it does not just mean being a brand that focuses on solving customer problems most efficiently. This approach is reactive rather than proactive and puts you two steps behind today’s customers.
Rather, it means:
- Bringing the solution to your customers wherever they are, whether online (social media, mobile apps, and website) or offline (physical stores or offices).
- Prioritising employee experience and treating them like your customers. If your employees are not happy, how will they make your customers happy?
- Shift the focus of customer service from managing costs to creating value. Proactive customer service creates better customer experiences.
- Move from a purely reactive approach to a proactive one, collecting, analysing, and responding to customer feedback across all channels and key touchpoints.
- Enhance your customer service with the latest technology. This allows you to add value at scale while satisfying your customers on an individual basis.