Use Customer Experience Data to Enable Success

The quality of the Customer Experience (CX) is an important variable impacting the overall success of an organization. According to the Gartner Customer Experience in Marketing Survey, more than two-thirds of marketers say their companies compete mostly on the basis of customer experience, and 81% say that in two years’ time, they expect to be competing mostly or completely on the basis of customer experience.

The systems that impact this customer experience go well beyond marketing or commerce systems. It is important to remember, to be a successful organization you need to focus on the customer and their experiences. And it is equally as important, to ensure all employees and operating teams understand they are responsible for making the customer experience the best it can be.

Successful businesses focus on three elements of using CX data:

  1. How the data will be used to advance organizational goals
  2. How the data is interpreted
  3. How the data changes when underlying systems, apps, or processes are modified

Feedback Consistency Requires a New Approach

A comprehensive perspective is essential, since CX is not driven by one type of interaction or single point of contact. Rather, it is formed based on a range of experiences. As a result, developing CX data from numerous points along the customer interaction continuum is essential, since many different departments within the company will use this data.

Developing effective CX data demands more than just a rudimentary approach to data-collection methods and practices. Poor CX systems can lead an organization astray when data is collected from only some channels, only a few points in the interaction, or when it is gathered inconsistently.

A common mistake organizations make is collecting CX data after the fact—not in real time. Data gathering that is not in the moment may be skewed by false memories or the impact of other downstream interactions.

In addition, the data must be consistent both in how it is collected and how it is integrated into the business operations. Constantly changing data may cause confusion and will render historical data worthless.

Turn Customer Responses into Actionable Solutions

Finally, making the data actionable requires that CX data not only is aligned to business goals, but also effectively used by all organizations.

Rudimentary or basic approaches to CX had value in the past, but looking forward, the importance of this data, coupled with the need for a comprehensive perspective, has rendered many legacy CX data-collection systems less than useful.

Download this free eBook for additional advice on how to successfully capture and analyze CX data.