3 Common Customer Experience Mistakes—And How to Fix Them

There was a time not so long ago when companies competed with each other primarily on price and the quality of their products. If you could undercut your competitors and provide a decent product, chances are you and your customers were happy. According to Forbes, those days are long gone with 89% of companies today indicating that they compete mainly on the basis of customer experience (CX). If you think you’re doing a bang-up job in the CX department, you’re not alone. 80% of companies think they are currently delivering superior customer experiences. Only problem is, only 8% of their customers agree! With only a fraction of customers feeling the love from companies, we put together a list of how many are falling short. If you see some of your own missteps, fear not, we also have some fixes to ensure you’re getting what you want from your CX investment—happy, engaged, and loyal customers.

1. Not Being Where Your Customers Are

Your customers expect to be able to resolve issues and have questions answered seamlessly and consistently through a variety of channels, like social media, mobile, email, chat, or phone. If you aren’t there (and there, and there), you run the risk of losing them to competitors who are able to offer them the flexibility they’re looking for. 

The Fix

Offer your customers multiple channels to interact with you. Allowing your customers to choose which channel works best for them at any given time shows your commitment to understanding and meeting their needs. The pay-off? Companies with the strongest omni-channel customer engagement strategies retain 91% of their customers.¹

2. Not In Tune With Employee Happiness

Let’s face it, unhappy employees aren’t doing your CX efforts any favors, especially when 68% of consumers indicate that the service rep was key to a positive experience.²  If your employees don’t feel valued and heard, they likely aren’t bringing their best selves to work each day. That’s a problem. Employee happiness and engagement is closely, if not completely, linked to customer experience.

The Fix

Invest in training to ensure each employee understands the importance of contributing to a customer-obsessed culture. Arm customer service reps with the tools they need to personally answer client questions and effectively problem solve. And most importantly, collect and act on employee feedback. These people are on the frontlines, their feedback is an invaluable window into the minds of your customers. Pull back the curtains. 

3. Ignoring Customer Feedback

We have all had poor customer experiences. Some of us have made the effort to reach out to the company to complain, or perhaps took to social media to vent. Did you get a response? If you didn’t, how did that make you feel? According to Oracle’s Customer Impact Report, 50% of consumers expect a company to respond to a question or comment in one week or they’ll stop doing business with them. And, 88% of customers are less likely to do business with a company that ignores social media complaints.³ If you’re receiving customer feedback and not acting on it, you’re not only missing the CX boat, you’re also at risk of your customers jumping ship.

The Fix

It isn’t easy to listen to, and address customer complaints. But it’s part of the gig if you’re committed to providing a complete CX experience. Actively listening to customer feedback provides an opportunity to identify and fix customer pain points. By gaining a better understanding of customer journeys, you can figure out what they’re trying to achieve and design solutions that help them accomplish their goals.

Partner with KUBRA

Don’t give your competitors an advantage by committing these common mistakes. Pay close attention to all relevant customer journeys and leverage your employees and technology to ensure your customers are receiving a consistent experience across all channels. The end result is a loyal client base—one who may even spread the word about their positive experiences. Connect with customers like never before using Notifi, a comprehensive multi-channel solution designed to help you personalize and manage customer communications preferences. Pair Notifi with KUBRA IQ to simplify communications in channels like social media, smart speakers, and text messaging.

KUBRA makes being everywhere easy!

Sources:

¹Aberdeen Group, Omni-Channel Customer Care research.

²American Express, 2017 Customer Service Barometer.

³Drennan, Anna, Consumer Study: 88% less likely to buy from companies who ignore complaints in social media.