According to the Forrester’s Age of Customer Predictions: “In 2016, leaders will understand and anticipate individual needs to deliver personalized experiences, sharply increasing their lead in the market.” With only 84 percent of brands scoring “OK” ratings by customers last year according to Forrester’s Customer Experience Index, it’s evident that customer demands in the digital age are at their peak.
Is Customer Experience Focused Design Overrated?
No, and here’s why: Forrester’s Customer Experience Index discovered that each 1 percent improvement in customer experience quality results in an additional $15 million to $175 million in annual revenues. By investing in CX through one or all of the most important CX aspects — retention, enrichment and advocacy — you can expect a greater return in terms of revenue. Plus, an improved customer experience has been proven to lower your cost of service and ramp up employee engagement.
Additionally, a positive customer experience leads to heightened customer loyalty, in almost all cases. That means that if you’re knocking CX out of the park, you have more opportunity to grow your business.
Quality CX also gives your brand a leg-up on the competition, because even if you offer great services or the lowest prices, CX is the hardest thing for competitors to mimic. Think of it like this: Amazon doesn’t always offer the lowest prices, but they’re pretty much the pros when it comes to CX. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said it himself: “We’re not competitor obsessed, we’re customer obsessed. We start with what the customer needs and we work backwards.”
How to Measure Customer Experience Quality
The best way to measure CX is to regularly take feedbacks from the customer itself. Incorporate whatever changes are demanded by the customer and you will be the CX king in no time! Try out our customer feedback tool ZYKRR right now!
Six Top-Level CX Success Factors to Push to the Top of Your List
Implementing some simple success factors, such as these based on this year’s Age of the Consumer report by Forrester, can help push your company towards the winning end of CX.
1. Personalization — Dig deep to discover who your target consumer really is. Don’t make guesses. Build out UX-focused design using prototypes to better understand your end-user’s behaviors and needs.
2. Big thinking — Where small CX thinking was once king, now it’s all about focusing on the big picture. You still want to implement small but important CX changes, but invest in good people and better technology to make bigger changes.
3. Installing digitally savvy leadership — The C-suite is more important than ever, with customers expecting a heightened level of social awareness and integrity from leaders. Restructuring your leadership team may be a smart way to get your team thinking all things CX.
4. Analyzing data — Think of analytics as your arsenal against the competition. Big data gives your company a competitive advantage with clear-cut insight into the facets that drive the most customer value.
5. Going digital — The practice of “digital dabbling” is out, and savvy leaders are integrating digital experiences into everything they do. UX-focused design should permeate all around us, from in-store experiences to shiny new CX-focused brand apps.
6. Prioritizing privacy — Recent data proves that a mere 51 percent of the general population trusts businesses, and that 92 percent of Indian internet users worry about their privacy online. Privacy is expected to remain one of the most valued CX principles.
