5 Things to Understand for Better Customer Experience

For the next five years, customer experience will be a significant concern for businesses. The reason is simple: organizations that focus on customer experience minimize attrition and boost sales, resulting in higher profits!

The terms "customer service" and "customer experience" are interchangeable for many people. However, one is a single point of contact with a business, and the other affects feelings and emotions throughout the client's journey. The customer experience impacts every aspect of your organization, but where do you begin?

According to Microsoft, customer service is a crucial aspect of brand loyalty for 96 percent of consumers worldwide. Customer service is a critical part of the customer experience and a company's success. If done wrong, many other aspects of the consumer experience and relationship with the organization could (and probably will) fall apart.

There are more than five things that everyone gets wrong about customer service, but here are five that you should keep in mind as you consider the customer care that your firm provides.

• The terms "customer service" and "customer experience" are not interchangeable: Customer experience is the sum of all contacts – including product and pricing – that a client has with a firm throughout the "relationship" with the company – and, more crucially, the customer's feelings, emotions, and perceptions about those interactions.
  Customer service is one of those interactions.
  Customer experience is visionary because organizations construct or design the experience they desire – and that their customers want. Customer service is reactive, (because a business is constantly responding to challenges and demands as they emerge) whereas the customer experience is proactive.
• AI and automation will not rob agents of their employment: Right now, automation is a popular topic.  One of the most common questions is whether or not agents (or other staff) will lose their jobs due to the automation push, but here's the thing: firms now focus on automating procedures rather than people. There is a significant difference. Automating processes entails removing tedious, mundane, and repetitive jobs and systems from employees' plates so that they may focus on more critical duties like creating customer relationships and dealing with more complex issues and inquiries that demand human thought and decision-making.
  Customers benefit from faster response times, shorter handling times, first-call resolution, and connection with the right agent without queries being transferred or escalated many times. AI and automation can help agents operate more efficiently by assisting them on the phone with a customer, allowing them to be more productive and making their work easier.
• Customer Experience is not limited to the call center: When a customer's experience fails, customer service comes into play. People contact customer service for various reasons, including when the product isn't operating correctly, the documentation isn't clear, advertisements set expectations that the product didn't meet, the invoice isn't accurate or challenging to decipher. Something (i.e., the experience) went wrong somewhere down the line, long before the customer even considered – or desired to call customer support.
  Customers will be less likely to contact customer service if an organization designs and executes a delightful experience - from marketing to sales to product quality, to documentation and beyond. Get it correct and the company’s clients will be more than satisfied, and the contact center will be less overburdened.
• Customers can resolve their issues through various tools: Another argument against the advent of AI and automation in contact centers is that when customers need assistance, they only want to interact with a live person. For simple inquiries, more than 60% of consumers say they'll utilize digital self-service, such as your website, mobile app, IVR, or chatbot. Customers looking for quick answers to "simple" problems or concerns will appreciate the convenience of these self-help choices, which are available at all hours of the day and night.
• The customer is not always right: No, the customer is not always right, but they are the ones paying for the goods and services provided by companies. That means companies should always listen to the customer, be kind, respectful, and do right by the customer and the business. Listen, be thoughtful, and try to fix whatever is causing the customer distress in a way that makes them happy and wants to buy from you again. A big no-no is arguing with the customer.

Understanding the five beliefs listed above will help an organization's customer service experience, resulting in customer satisfaction, brand loyalty, and cost savings from operational efficiencies.

Through the SAP CX (Customer Experience) module, we help you take advantage of enhanced digital capabilities to deliver transformative client experiences and build long-term client relationships.

SAP CX includes Marketing, Sales and Service Cloud that combines customer data, artificial intelligence, and micro-services innovation to manage real-time customer experiences across sales, administration, advertising, and commerce. Exalogic Consulting has extraordinary capabilities that enable global enterprises to implement unique, holistic solutions across the globe while adapting to local requirements.