#3FastFacts – Evolving Your Customer Experience?

Transcript

Emilia Zibaei

In 2021, leaders know that they are competing on customer experience. They know that consumers have more options at their fingertips than ever before, and both offline and online, customer expectations are rising as a result.

Dan LaRocca

That’s right. In fact, 81 percent of marketing leaders expect to compete primarily on customer experience in the future. That’s almost double from 2010. Staying on top of what your customers want now and using data to predict what they’ll want tomorrow is key for customer experience success.

Emilia Zibaei

So here are three fast facts to get a head start on the organizational changes needed to improve your customer experience in 2021.

From personalized subscription and delivery services, to rapid advancements in mobile personal banking, the direct to consumer space has evolved drastically in recent years. So, what does this mean for marketing leaders?

Dan LaRocca

Well, you expect it to mean that companies are spending more on CX, but only 44 percent of leaders are expected to increase spend on customer experience in 2021. Changing customer expectations means the priorities that your team invests in, and measures must change. Shifting to focus on improvements that will drive loyalty and customer lifetime value will be much more important in a world where competing for customers is at an all time high.

Emilia Zibaei

As employee and customer behavior experts, we see many companies trying to keep up with changing customer behavior in the digital world. Through this process, small pieces of the customer puzzle get chipped off and owned by different teams. Between marketing, sales, digital analytics and customer service, no one really owns the customer experience in many organizations.

Dan LaRocca

That needs to change. Sales and marketing leaders are under more pressure to adapt to the marketplace. To do this efficiently, companies need to break down functional silos and get their teams talking and sharing insights to really manage the end to end journey of their customers. Leaders can use customer journey maps, for instance, to identify handoffs and points of friction and create a common language across the organization.

Emilia Zibaei

But you can’t stop there. Every team plays a role in the customer experience, and these “owners” of the customer experience must help build accountability for delivering exceptional customer experience across the organization. Try having a “C-suite” level advocate for customer experience who will enforce shared accountability to deliver results and focus on the customer experience metrics to help every team understand their role in delivering top notch experiences.

Dan LaRocca

Marketing and HR leaders have long known that there’s a connection between the customer experience and the employee’s experience. And we think that right now is the time for more cross collaboration between these two departments.

Emilia Zibaei

Right now, HR has focused on improving the employee experience. Everything from shaping the hybrid working model to recruiting talent based on expertize versus location. But they also have the opportunity to strongly impact business performance and profitability.

Dan LaRocca

When employees feel like they’re being treated fairly by their company, they’re more likely to deliver a satisfying customer experience. This is especially true when there’s direct contact between employees and customers. Think industries like retail, tourism, or financial services. Consumers are taking note and purchasing habits are changing based on how organizations have taken care of their employees over the course of the last year.

Emilia Zibaei

As HR and marketing continue to rethink the future of work and the future customer experience, they have the opportunity to partner together and positively impact both the employee and customer experiences in 2021 and beyond.