Key Learnings from CXFS & NGCX Conference 2023

At the recent CXFS & NGCX conference in Boston, a group of brilliant minds converged, pioneering new frontiers in Customer Experience (CX). This blog distills the key insights from that gathering, charting the path to the next era of CX excellence.

Here, we'll delve into the gaps surrounding popular metrics like CSAT and NPS, the trifecta of process, technology, and culture in implementing CX, and the power of storytelling to illuminate CX metrics.

CSAT and NPS: The Blind Spots

Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) and Net Promoter Score (NPS) have been go-to metrics for gauging customer sentiments. However, their efficacy stands challenged in certain contexts:

Blind Spot #1 - Correlating with Financial Metrics

It's imperative to tie CSAT and NPS with tangible financial outcomes such as retention, churn, and lifetime value. We heard from a company who went through a recent acquisition and was a glaring example of this. Post-acquisition, their NPS scores plummeted. Alarm bells? Not quite. The drop wasn't tied to an actual churn but was predominantly due to customers' displeasure with the acquisition. Without cross-referencing with churn rates, the NPS would have painted a misleading picture.

Blind Spot #2 - The Need for Personalized Benchmarks

Every industry is unique. Consider banking. The banking sector often witnesses lower NPS scores compared to other sectors. Digging deeper, these low ratings usually stem from issues related to payments or pricing transparency. It underscores the need for businesses to set industry-specific benchmarks. What's alarming in one industry might be the status quo in another.

Blind Spot #3 - Survey Response Rates are Down

Surveys often suffer from low response rates, with averages hovering around 9% and showing a declining trend year over year. This low participation means that a vast majority of customers are not providing feedback through surveys, significantly limiting the data available to companies. There are significant drawbacks to relying solely on surveys for measuring customer experience.

Crafting Effective CX: Process, Technology, and Culture

To harness the full power of Customer Experience (CX), businesses must integrate three pivotal components: a robust process, cutting-edge technology, and an ingrained culture that celebrates the customer. These aren't standalone elements but interwoven facets that together propel a brand to offer superior customer experiences.

Process: The Blueprint of CX Excellence

The process is the bedrock of effective CX management. It outlines how businesses interact with customers at every touchpoint, ensuring consistent and delightful experiences. Here are 3 components of a robust process: 

• Strategy Mapping: Before diving into tactics, it's crucial to chart out a strategic roadmap. This involves setting clear objectives, defining customer personas, and identifying potential touch points.

• Feedback Loop Creation: A cyclical feedback loop ensures that customer insights are continually collected, analyzed, and acted upon. It paves the way for iterative improvements. One area that many businesses struggle with is analyzing customer feedback that sits stuck across data silos. 

• Standardization and Training: Consistency is key. Once best practices are identified, they need to be standardized across the organization. Regular training ensures that every team member is aligned with the CX vision and equipped to deliver on it.

Technology: The Enabler of Modern CX

In an age of digitization, technology plays an instrumental role in capturing, analyzing, and enhancing customer experiences.

• Analysis Tools: Sophisticated analytics tools can transform and analyze vast amounts of customer data, helping businesses discern patterns, preferences, and pain points of their customers.
• Customer Feedback Tools: For a holistic view of the customer, various systems (CRM, sales, support) need to be interconnected. Survey platforms ensure that customer feedback is being captured, offering a 360-degree view of the customer.
• Automation: Automation tools streamline repetitive tasks, ensuring swift and consistent customer interactions. For instance, enterprise-grade chatbots can provide instant answers to frequent customer queries and reduce support costs. 

Culture: The Heartbeat of Genuine CX

While processes provide structure and technology offers tools, it's the culture that breathes life into CX.

• Top-Down Commitment: CX isn't a departmental initiative but an organizational mission. It requires commitment from the leadership, ensuring that the customer remains a focal point in every decision.

• Empowerment and Ownership: Employees should feel empowered to go the extra mile for customers. Whether it's a support agent resolving a ticket or a salesperson offering a tailored solution, a sense of ownership can make a world of difference.

• Continuous Learning and Celebration: Celebrate the CX wins, big or small. Conversely, view challenges as learning opportunities. Foster an environment where feedback is welcomed, and innovation in service delivery is continuously pursued.

Metrics that Speak: Context and Storytelling

Numbers tell a story, but they need a narrator. Here are the steps to creating effective CX metrics: 

Dive into Customer Verbatims

Direct feedback is gold. By sifting through customer comments, trends emerge. These aren't just abstract patterns but resonate with real sentiments.

Correlate with Financials

The next step is connecting these trends with financial indicators. Is a common negative feedback leading to churn? Is a praised feature driving upsells?

Crafting the Narrative

Finally, it's about piecing it all together. Understand the "Why" behind every positive or negative feedback. What journey did the customer embark upon? Narrate it, learn from it, and refine your offerings.

Conclusion

In conclusion, while metrics like CSAT and NPS provide valuable insights, it's essential to see the bigger picture behind our customer experiences. By interweaving process, technology, culture, and storytelling, businesses can truly decode, deliver, and delight in the realm of customer experience.

Working with CX data? Feel free to reach out to Dashbot and we'd be happy to see how we can help.