The concept of Customer Experience (CX) and its importance has always lingered around, but its popularity in the business arena arose in the recent past. As the single biggest factor that affects customers’ buying decisions today, which encompasses all other elements such as product, price, promotion, and place, CX is crucial for brands to thrive in the market.
But first,
What is Customer Experience?
Customer Experience (CX) is defined as the sum of perceptions from all the interactions that a customer has with the business throughout the buying journey. It is the impression customers develop about a brand.
So, from the business’s point of view, who is responsible for managing and handling it? This has been a common issue that has challenged businesses over the years because the mere holistic nature of CX makes it difficult to pinpoint the responsibility to a single person or team. At the same time, effective management of CX calls out for a unified approach.
So, what does this tell us?
A Successful Customer Experience is a Result of Joined Forces
Every department or unit in the organization has to consider improving CX as one of its primary objectives. This is because the end experience delivered to customers is a result of their contribution to the product/service.
Marketing
The marketing team has to ensure their strategies cater to customer expectations and requirements accurately. The task of creating the best first impression lies in the hands of marketing employees. The ability to create highly personalized and appealing content that prompts customers to make the next move matters a lot here. Delivering how the product or service will solve customers’ problems and achieve the end goal through powerful marketing content can help in creating a strong stepping stone for good CX.
Sales
The sales team must integrate valuable data from the marketing team to prepare themselves in approaching customers interested to buy the product. More importantly, the team needs to understand the importance of selling an experience as opposed to a mere product or service. When CX becomes a priority in sales strategies, it becomes easier to sell a product with minimal effort. You know how to tap into the customer’s heart and let them know this is what you are looking for.
Management
The management team doesn’t directly interact with customers very often. But, its decisions impact every branch of the business. Therefore, it is their role to understand the target customer effectively and cater to their needs. By prioritizing CX, the management team must ensure every business activity is aligned towards the customer’s benefit.
Customer Support
The customer support unit plays an incredible role in shaping the customer experience. They are responsible for resolving issues clients face with regards to the product or service. The quality of customer support will influence customers’ decision to come back and make repetitive purchases. Therefore, it’s crucial that customer support team identifies the importance of improving CX through their role and strive to assist customers in the best possible manner.
So, it’s clear that every division in the organization has a pivotal role to play in improving CX. But, as CX is multi-dimensional and comprehensive, it will difficult to measure its effectiveness if it isn’t tackled by a single unit. That is to say, every aspect of CX that stems from each of the units mentioned above has to be unified and managed in one place. That brings us to the final and the most important answer to the question,
The Task of Managing CX Has to Be Borne by a CX Expert or Team
If you need to improve CX effectively, it’s important to have a good grasp of the conceptual or overall picture. How is customer experience improved and continued by each unit? How can it be enhanced further? Who’s watching and applauding – or crying for that matter?
It’s the role of the CX expert in the organization.
The CX manager or expert must be responsible for streamlining the process within the organization by gathering vital customer-related data, sharing it across departments for better decision–making, and providing useful insights to make improvements.
In conclusion, CX is a shared effort where every rung of the organization help to boost CX a step further, along the way. If one department lags behind, it is going to impact the quality of CX. So, this is where the CX professional in the organization should step in and ensure every division is contributing their best potential while providing the necessary support for it.
FREE Template: Customer Experience Checklist
