Technology tools, such as artificial intelligence (AI), automation, and integrated, omnichannel communications platforms, can be extremely useful in providing an excellent customer experience. However, any investment in technology is wasted if humans charged with using that technology are not properly executing the techniques and strategies for creating a welcoming, efficient customer experience.
The stakes are extremely high, according to a PwC Future of Customer Experience Survey conducted in 2018, which found that 32% of all customers will walk away from a brand or service after just one bad experience, and 59% of US customers will walk away after several bad experiences.
Ultimately, human employees are a key touchpoint for customers. Even if a sale happens online, customers may need additional assistance, either because they have an issue that a chatbot cannot handle, or they simply prefer to deal with humans. Providing a great experience when dealing with humans increases the likelihood of not only driving repeat business, but generating additional customers through positive word-of-mouth referrals.
Ensuring that employees do their best to create an excellent experience for customers requires strategic planning, training, and reinforcement. The following considerations can be used to help drive better CX via employees.
Make it clear to employees the type and level of CX that should be provided.
To ensure consistent customer experiences, it is necessary to define the mindset, strategies, and tactics that should be used by employees to deliver these experiences. By defining an ideal customer service model and defining key performance indicators (KPIs) that should be adhered to, both employees and customers have clear expectations for all interactions.
For example, the service model could include a KPI that stipulates that no customer should need to wait more than X minutes in a contact center voice queue, and managers should be given the authority to reassign available staff to ensure that this KPI can be met, or automated bots should be deployed to handle overflow demand.
Another service model in a sporting goods store could stipulate that all customers should be asked if they would like to have their current equipment checked in order to ensure it is still working properly and meets safety guidelines.
An effective strategy to ensure that these behaviors are ingrained is to have employees role play, and go through the process of placing an order, receiving merchandise, calling with questions, or engaging with workers in the store. In addition to providing additional training, the workers will gain a better understanding and appreciation of what customers go through.
Make customer service a central part of your onboarding.
By training new employees on the value, processes, and expectations for delivering an excellent customer experience from day one, this CX-centric mindset will become an integral part of the job itself. Customer role playing can and should be part of the employee onboarding process as well, reinforcing the importance of being customer centric. Employees that are immediately trained with a focus on the customer as part of their typical routines are more likely to deliver excellent service.
Train employees at the individual level.
While it is often easier to train employees in a group setting, it is also important to conduct one-on-one training, which can help identify each employee’s strengths and weaknesses. By conducting individual training sessions, strategies for achieving specific KPIs or actions can be developed, based on each employee’s personality traits or styles, rather than forcing all employees to take the exact same approach to meet the same end goals. This is particularly important for the development of deeper customer engagement; employees will not be able to connect with customers if they feel they are boxed in by a script that does not account for their own personalities.
Empower employees to make decisions.
Providing great customer experiences can be challenging if employees are always forced to ask their manager for approval of specific decisions. The “I have to speak with a manager” scenario is also bad for customers; it decreases efficiency and creates the impression that employees are simply order takers, and are not fully engaged with them and their needs.
Empowering employees requires more training on the company’s cultures, specific parameters for making decisions, and the willingness to occasionally have employees make the wrong decision. Employee failure can be used as training material, which, if applied properly, can help them make better decisions in the future. The best part of employee empowerment is that it encourages staff to think about the overall health of the business and the brand, which, in turn, will likely encourage them to make decisions that benefit the company, rather than just themselves.
Author Information
Keith Kirkpatrick is VP & Research Director, Enterprise Software & Digital Workflows for The Futurum Group. Keith has over 25 years of experience in research, marketing, and consulting-based fields.
He has authored in-depth reports and market forecast studies covering artificial intelligence, biometrics, data analytics, robotics, high performance computing, and quantum computing, with a specific focus on the use of these technologies within large enterprise organizations and SMBs. He has also established strong working relationships with the international technology vendor community and is a frequent speaker at industry conferences and events.
In his career as a financial and technology journalist he has written for national and trade publications, including BusinessWeek, CNBC.com, Investment Dealers’ Digest, The Red Herring, The Communications of the ACM, and Mobile Computing & Communications, among others.
He is a member of the Association of Independent Information Professionals (AIIP).
Keith holds dual Bachelor of Arts degrees in Magazine Journalism and Sociology from Syracuse University.
