Introduction
In today’s dynamic and diverse market landscape, customers have more choice than ever. Whether that’s where they shop, where they exercise or where to enjoy leisure time with their family on the weekend. The modern consumer holds significant influence, and continuous customer experience must be deliverd.
However, today’s tough economic climate means customers are more cautious with their spending and are actively looking for ways to reduce their outgoings. Organisations must be able to demonstrate they represent real value to their customers. Failure to do so not only jeopardises customer loyalty but also significantly heightens the risk of losing customers to competitors, as highlighted by the latest research from McKinsey, which revealed that 25% of customers will defect to a competitor after just one poor experience.
To not only retain loyal customers but also attract new ones, organisations must have an in depth understanding of their customer journey, permitting them to take fast action and ensure their propositions align with evolving customer expectations. It’s imperative that organisations maintain close connections with their customer base and discern their foremost wants and needs.
No matter the industry, customers want to be listened to. Customers need to be understood.
Common approaches to Customer Feedback
The most commonly used metrics to determine customer satisfaction are NPS and CSAT, NPS being used by roughly two-thirds of all companies, and CSAT usage sitting at 44%. Whilst these traditional approaches offer valuable insight into overall customer satisfaction, they often fall short of delving beneath the surface of customer experience, failing to enable leadership to identify and act upon driving factors behind customer experience.
These approaches fail to uncover the underlying “why” behind customer sentiments and preferences, fixating solely on the surface level “what”, without exploring the profound “why.”
Aside from failing to get beneath the surface of customer satisfaction, another major shortcoming of NPS and CSAT, is a failure to capitalise on the emotive response of the customer. The general rule of thumb for companies when gathering feedback from companies is to send out surveys 1-7 days after a customer interaction. This approach falls short of the mark, and it is no surprise that customer responses to email surveys sits at a meagre 6% response rate. Customers need to be surveyed whilst they are still emotionally charged, with their experience fresh in their mind.
Another limitation with a delay in surveying customers is the inability of companies to take quick action and immediately resolve customer complaints. Not acting fast on customer issues has significant repercussions. A PwC survey revealed nearly 80% of consumers point to speed and convenience as the most important parts of customer experience. If leadership can’t act fast on their customer’s concerns, they risk falling below customer expectations and a high amount of customer churn.
Getting under the surface
Imagine your customer experience as an iceberg, vast and complex, with only a fraction visible above the surface. While your current feedback methods may provide a general overview of customer sentiment towards your offerings, it’s likely they merely scratch the surface. The true depth of customer insight lies hidden beneath, waiting to be uncovered.
Organisations need to be able to dive deeper, going beyond surface level feedback to gain an enhanced understanding of the “Why” behind customer needs, preferences and pain points. Equipped with these insights’ organisations can effectively translate them into tangible actions and improvements, delivering enduring benefit and genuine value to their customers.
If organisations are going to prevent the loss of customers, they need a comprehensive understanding of the “why”, empowering them to drive fast, decisive action for their customer base.
Introducing SWL’s CCX
There has long been a demand for a breakthrough in the industry – a CX solution that is able to delve deep into the customer journey, arming organisations with actionable knowledge and empowering them to drive real change for their customers.
SWL has achieved this breakthrough with CCX – Continuous Customer Experience.
We’d be delighted to tell you more about how SWL’s Continuous Customer Experience solution can benefit your operation. Contact SWL today.
Whether you have an established CX strategy or are on a transformation journey, CCX can add immense benefit and value for your organisation.