Contact Center Trends
How to improve customer experience management in contact centers
By Celia Cerdeira
0 min read
For dedicated professionals at the helm of contact centers, achieving success in a fiercely competitive marketplace centers on delivering an exceptional customer experience that is meticulously managed from start to finish.
At the heart of this lies customer experience management (CXM), a strategic approach that strives for positive interactions between a brand and its customers. CXM holds every step of a customer’s journey with a company, starting from their initial interaction right through to their post-purchase engagement.
CXM ensures each customer touchpoint is seamless, pleasurable, and in tune with the customer’s expectations and needs. The goal is to build strong customer relationships, drive customer loyalty, and increase brand advocacy.
What is customer experience management?
CXM consists of the activities a company uses to handle, manage, and maintain the interactions between a customer and a brand throughout their relationship.
CXM strategies enlist marketing, sales, and customer support to increase brand loyalty for increased and repeat business. CXM centers on “voice of the customer” programs that examine customers’ experiences with the brand and will course-correct program elements that have a negative perception or that do not appear to resonate with customers.
Seven customer experience management best practices.
Brands can carry out several best practices to ensure a positive customer experience.
1. Ensure brand transparency.
Customers want to know what type of company they are engaging with, looking for brands that are ethical, like-minded, and a worthy investment of their time and money. Rather than papering over poor reviews or bad press, these brands own up to missteps and errors as part of the overall customer engagement strategy.
2. Take a pulse check.
Customer experience teams should regularly review voice of the customer data collected throughout the customer journey. This information can shed valuable insights into what’s working and what needs to be changed.
3. Reward customers.
Regular customers crave the acknowledgment of “frequent flyer” perks, and savvy brands have developed customer loyalty programs that deliver just that. Not only do these programs instill customer loyalty, but when done right they can serve as an opportunity for upselling revenue.
4. Analyze customer motivation.
Act on the gathered data and work with data analytics teams to ensure customer feedback leads to lasting improvements.
5. Implement omnichannel support.
Customers interact with brands through multiple channels—be it social media, email, mobile app, web chat, and others. Omnichannel support allows agents to respond to customer inquiries across various platforms, ensuring consistent and efficient service. This approach not only meets customers where they are but also provides a holistic view of the customer journey, leading to more personalized interactions.
6. Conduct ongoing agent training.
Customer experience is often directly impacted by the quality of interaction with customer service agents. Regular contact center agent training equips agents with the skills and knowledge to handle customer inquiries quickly, accurately, and empathetically.
7. Map the customer journey.
Understanding the customer’s journey from their initial interaction to post-purchase engagement is key to improving customer experience. Mapping out each touchpoint allows you to identify areas of friction and work towards enhancing these experiences. An effective omnichannel customer journey map provides insights into customer behavior and preferences, which can guide CXM strategies and decision-making.
Customer experience management tools.
CXM tools provide valuable insights into customer behavior and sentiment, helping brands refine their customer experience strategy.
Virtual agents.
These AI-powered tools increase the resolution of customer queries, enhancing customer satisfaction and loyalty. With round-the-clock assistance, virtual agents ensure that customers’ needs are addressed promptly and efficiently.
Agent assistance.
Agent assistance provides real-time guidance to agents during customer interactions, enabling them to deliver personalized and accurate service. It empowers agents with the right information at the right time, improving their ability to resolve customer issues quickly and accurately.
Sentiment analysis tools.
Contact center sentiment analysis tools, such as speech analytics tools, analyze customer interactions to evaluate their feelings and attitudes toward a brand. This provides valuable insights that can help tailor strategies to better meet customer needs.
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Five facts about customer experience management.
Customer perception is crucial to brand performance, and CXM ensures positive perceptions are maintained and negative perceptions mitigated. Here are some interesting facts about CXM:
1. It costs less to maintain existing customers than to attract new ones.
Studies have shown that a 5% increase in customer retention can increase sales by up to 25%, since a repeat customer avoids the acquisition costs of attracting a new one. Plus, satisfied customers tend to become repeat customers.
2. Happy employees lead to better customer experiences.
Brands with highly rated customer experiences typically measure employee satisfaction and perceptions to improve retention.
3. Loyal customers become brand advocates.
Organic customer endorsements on Facebook, Instagram, and other social media can drive additional revenue more than traditional advertising or other marketing efforts.
4. Positive feedback loop improves CXM.
Surveys and other forms of feedback as well as traditional phone and email surveys provide brands guidance on where the customer experience might need improvement.
5. Customer feedback as a competitive advantage.
Many customers comparison-shop before making a purchase—especially those that involve a significant investment. Customer feedback often sheds light on what the competition is doing well—or where it is missing the mark.
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Challenges in customer experience management.
There are a few challenges to designing a positive customer experience, and not surprisingly, many of them center on data, and an incomplete view of customers and their experiences interacting with a brand.
First, many brands face challenges in gathering sufficient data from which to measure the customer experience accurately. Without these large sets of customer data, it is almost impossible to solve issues in customer experience, largely because we can’t “see” them.
Often, this stems from insufficient investment in omnichannel marketing tools. If customers can’t reach out using their preferred channel—email, social media, mobile app, web chat, etc—or if they do but have a disjointed experience, the company isn’t addressing their needs and they’re not likely to remain loyal to that brand for long.
Improve customer experience management with Talkdesk.
In today’s globally competitive marketplace, it takes more than low prices and great products for brands to thrive. Managing customer experience effectively requires a strategic approach that includes transparency, regular feedback, customer rewards, understanding customer motivation, omnichannel support, agent training, and customer journey mapping.
CXM provides the best way forward in ensuring exceptional customer experiences. With Talkdesk CX Cloud, businesses can leverage advanced tools and technologies to enhance their CXM efforts. See how CX Cloud can transform your customer experience journey today.
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