Why Brands are Still Struggling with CX in 2019

Customer experience (CX) continues to be a vital part of success for brands. So why are brands still struggling with CX, and exactly what are they having issues with?

Solving these CX struggles can greatly improve a company’s growth potential, reputation and key business metrics. The solution starts with identifying any problems, then creating focused strategies to improve weaknesses and exemplify strengths.

1. 1. Losing sight of their customers

      A great customer experience starts with strategic goals and initiatives that focus on the customer first. Brands can really struggle with CX when they start ignoring what their customers want and expect, and instead place their sole focus on business metrics such as revenue. When decisions are made with this mindset or strategy, customer experience will surely feel the impact, likely resulting in a decreased satisfaction rate and a higher customer turnover rate. Brands that understand who their customers are and focus on creating customer-centric strategies/goals will provide a far better experience compared to other companies who do not. Focusing on customers will also increase important metrics such as customer retention and brand loyalty, as well as have a positive impact on those key business metrics.

   2. Lack of consistency

      In order to promote a great customer experience, brands should be consistent throughout the whole organization, not just regarding customer service. It’s important for companies to work as a whole when developing CX strategies and accomplishing goals. Companies that are able to create a consistent, omni-channel experience will likely be rewarded with higher spending from customers, according to a Harvard Business Review study. Customers should have the same great experience no matter what their preferred method of contact or purchase is. This includes digital channels as well as voice channels. When customers know what to expect from the brands they choose to do business with, their experience becomes more effortless and seamless. Customers appreciate and value easy going experiences and tend to return in the future when this is provided.

   3. The missing the human factor

      Companies tend to concentrate on digital customer experiences, and while doing so, neglect the human factor of CX. The digital experience customers have is obviously important, but not so important that the experience customers have when personally interacting with customer service agents should be forgotten. Many customers actually end up utilizing both digital and traditional means throughout their journey with customer service. This is the reason why companies who dismiss the human factor struggle with CX. How customers are transitioned from one contact method to another also needs to be addressed so their full experience is seamless. By properly training customer service agents and giving them the right tools that help them do their jobs better, brands can provide great experiences for their customers, build strong relationships and increase key metrics such as satisfaction rates and customer retention rates.

   4. Failure to “listen” to what customers are saying and doing

      Data-driven insights and actions are essential to developing core customer experience strategies for brands. The problem is that many companies collect this data, but don’t fully utilize it to improve their CX, or they don’t look at the right metrics that will create the most impact for their customers. Brands must first determine the right metrics and data to track, and then work to create actionable goals for improvement from these metrics, their customers’ behavior and their customers’ feedback. Plenty of companies spend time collecting feedback from customers, but fail to really understand what their customers are really saying within this feedback. The feedback process becomes an unproductive use of time if it’s not properly analyzed and used to create strategic goals that take advantage of newly discovered opportunities. Data has the power to help brands discover their strengths as well as their weaknesses in regards to customer journey and customer experience. By listening to customers and removing common journey blockers, brands can see great improvements in key customer experience metrics and goals.

   5. Not adopting the optimal technology

      Technology is a key component when working towards customer experience improvement. Outdated technology will likely hinder a brand’s growth potential, as well as the potential to give customers a great experience. Optimal CX technology will not only give customer service centers real-time, accurate data and customer information, but it will also provide many benefits to customers, such as bridging the gaps in their interactions with the brand. It’s important that CX technology supports both customer service agents as well as customers. It should help CX agents to better serve customers in a productive and efficient manner, and provide an effortless, seamless experience for customers.

Brands can overcome CX problems in 2019 with the right technology, tools and strategy. By creating a united company culture with a customer-centric focus, brands will have the chance to see some huge improvements in their customer experience.