Customer Experience Optimization is a constantly evolving goal. As technology advances and the world changes, the definition, and expectations of exceptional Customer Experience change. While there may not be a set goal, there are different techniques and solutions that can help ensure that the business is in control of their Customer Journey. ethosIQ’s road map to Contact Center Optimization enables the capture of customer effort and ensures visibility into the complete customer journey. With this comprehensive view, it is much easier to optimize Customer Experience and track progress. Once visibility is achieved, it’s easy to go from Intermediate to Optimized to Strategic. Here’s what each one of these Stages represents, and a few reasons to prioritize optimization.
Intermediate
Intermediate is our starting point, and the baseline for the next two stages. Here, the business views Customer Service as a cost, and there is emphasis on driving down labor and network expenses. This often leads to high employee attrition rates, and lower customer satisfaction. In addition, there is a lack of organizational integration. Most departments are functionally isolated, without a lot of communication between departments such as accounting, sales and inventory management. There is usually a lack of advanced analytics, and any existing analytics are usually Excel-based and built on siloed data. Any data from various channels or data systems are rarely connected, and there is very little data shared between departments and management.
At this stage, data is still being collected and viewed, but it’s all disparate and siloed. This makes it difficult to see connections and trends across the business, since it would take manual intervention to combine all this data. In addition, the customer experience is hard to quantify and manage, since each aspect is siloed in different departments.
Optimized
At the Optimized stage, some processes have begun to be automated internally. This involves creating support and information systems and bringing in more user-friendly interfaces. Associate value is now important to the business, as well as customer satisfaction metrics such as Net Promoter Score. However, there is still functional isolation, with little to no communication between departments. Localized analytics are often implemented within departments, but there is still a lack of interdepartmental analysis.
Data is an important part of business decisions at this stage, and it can benefit the business greatly. Customer Experience is now viewed as a business investment, which results in enhanced customer problem resolution, higher customer satisfaction and reduced customer churn. In addition, since associate value is now being addressed, the lower employee attrition is another factor driving down operating costs. By bringing your business into the optimized stage, you bring more value to your customer, and increase productivity within the business.
Strategic
The Strategic stage involves integration across the entire customer journey, from customer center information systems to corporate resources. There should be collaboration across departments and levels, with much more communication than the first two stages. By established shared performance objectives, management can encourage interdepartmental cooperation and productivity. On the technology side, integrated analytics are implemented, creating comprehensive, business-wide views for management. This clarity allows for end-to-end visibility into the customer journey and can identify any opportunities as well as track progress. This business data is now able to be leveraged to create an enhanced customer experience, and greater profit.
At the Strategic stage, the customer care process is seen as a value-creator. There is much more emphasis on capturing and sharing customer knowledge, and this can be leveraged across the business. This visibility allows for data-driven strategic planning and management decisions. In addition to improved customer experience, this results in increased productivity.
Continuously optimizing your customer experience is crucial to staying relevant, and the best way to accomplish this is through data analytics and business intelligence. A comprehensive view of the business and customer journey will enable faster, educated decisions and an enhanced customer care process.
