When talking about the Customer Experience, also known as CX, most organizations look at it from the perspective of sales as the main outcome.
However, the focus for CX should be on the customer. When viewed from the angle of the customer, customer experience elements can be implemented that do not necessarily focus on achieving sales. For example, conducting a VoIP call quality test will not only directly result in more sales, but it will ensure the customer experience is not a negative one due to a bad quality connection.
Looking at all contact points for a customer and ensuring that everything is designed and optimized for the overall benefit of the customer, regardless of whether it results in a sale or not, is what great CX is all about.
What Aspects Should You Consider To Ensure A Great Customer Experience?
Customers who have a good experience become promoters of your company according to Bain. A customer experience promoter has a lifetime value that is six to 14 times that of a detractor.
Here are 10 customer experience trends to consider to enable any customer to become a CX promoter for your organization:
1. Phone line testing and monitoring
This is listed first and for good reason. Phones provide a two-way conversation. A well-trained and customer-centric agent can turn an angry customer into a happy one. However, if the line quality is bad, the angry customer becomes more frustrated, and your agent will not be able to assist them.
To ensure your phone lines are always functioning correctly, utilize a phone number testing service. All lines, no matter what type or what network they are on can be tested. You can even perform a VoIP call quality test if you do not have a traditional phone line.
2. Dual Tone Multi-Frequency (DTMF) and Interactive Voice Response (IVR) Testing
When done well, DTMF and IVR can increase the customer experience. But the unfortunate reality is that many companies get this wrong. Ensure your DTMF or IVR functionality is streamlined and intuitive by selecting a phone number testing service, such as the one provided by Spearline, that can:
- Check that your DTMF/IVR pathways are functioning correctly and a customer will end up in the correct place after going through them.
- Provide Benchmarking.
The benchmarking functionality is important as it helps you identify if your pathways are overly complex and/or need refining.
3. Omnichannel Contact Points
Customers now expect various channels to liaise with a company. The following are some of the popular platforms utilized today:
- Phone.
- Email.
- Webforms.
- SMS/Text.
- Live Chat/Chat Bots.
- Social Media (ie FaceBook Messenger, Comments, etc).
- Whatsapp.
It’s important to implement as many channels as possible. But only implement the ones where you know you can deliver a great customer experience and build from there.
4. Quick customer experience
Today customers expect their problems to be sorted out quickly and effectively. They do not want to be subjected to lengthy DTMF and IVR’s, or have to repeat themselves unnecessarily while being transferred because these services are not working correctly. These issues, as per point 2 above, can be solved by implementing a phone number testing service. This coupled with a good Customer Relationship Management system (CRM) that ensures all liaisons with the customer are captured and available to all agents ensures a customer never has to repeat themselves. Whatsmore, your agents have the information required to effectively assist the customer immediately.
5. Agent training
All agents should be experts on the products/services they help customers with. All new agents should go through a Customer Agent Training Program. Regular meetings about current customer issues can be held and minutes sent to all agents and if applicable added to the training program agenda.
6. Personalized Customer Experiences
Refine your sales funnel to personalize recommendations based on your customer’s previous interactions. For instance, someone who has just purchased a pair of sunglasses might be interested in summer wear, but not in winter wear. By segmenting your database, you can ensure the sunglasses purchaser does not receive your winter wear specials until their wintertime.
Many companies use chatbots that utilize Artificial Intelligence (AI). If utilized it should be well-trained and tested before assisting your customers.
7. Measuring the customer experience
Net Promoter Score (NPS), customer surveys, customer satisfaction scores, and other statistics such as churn rate, etc. are used to measure past customer experiences. It’s also advisable to apply proactive solutions such as a phone number testing service as described above, along with a good CRM system that will help you catch issues and fix them before they affect your customer.
8. Data security
Ensuring you have a good data security program in place and being transparent with customers about how you secure their data helps increase customer trust. Going above and beyond GDPR requirements will reinforce your commitment to your customers.
9. Proactive service strategies
We have already covered the proactive aspects of a phone number testing service, but there are many other proactive service strategies you can implement depending on the products and services you provide. For example, if you provide physical products, regular re-evaluation of your product quality process will proactively catch any issues. If your product or service utilizes technologies such as VoIP, performing regular VoIP call quality tests will enable you to proactively find and solve issues before your customers even know there is a problem.
10. Record and display Reviews
Customers actively seek out reviews before committing to a purchase. Recording and displaying reviews on your site, as well as on social media and on your website, will help your customer find the information they seek thus resulting in a better customer experience.
Conclusion
The customer experience is all about the customer, it is not focused on sales. The first thing a good customer experience strategy should include is to ensure all contact points are functioning correctly. Utilizing a phone number testing service with monitoring and benchmarking facilities, such as the one provided by Spearline, is highly recommended. If you would like to find out more, please book a demo with Spearline today.
