Investment in customer experience is not a one-off cause. It takes time and it requires continuous iteration and pivoting to ensure that the ever-changing needs of customers remain at the centre of strategy and solution.
Because customer experience inherently ties to the perceptions of customers about a firm’s o erings, what businesses can do is to establish the models and systems that can translate to good customer experience. It is not just by quick run-off-the-mill marketing, rather it is by the establishment of omnichannel touchpoints, the assurance of support in real-time, seamlessness in the customer journey, and overall, consistent adaptation and evolution to meet customers where they are and serve them right.
How to invest in customer experience for a successful business transformation? We have identified 3 major areas of investment.
1. Training
This form of investment involves time and financial resources depending on the extent to which an organization chooses to fast track the inculcation of CX tenets. To mainstream a CX mindset, build skills of staff on CX tools and technologies and ensure continuous improvement, training is a key area of investment.
In some situations, training can be targeted at Senior and mid-level managers and cascaded down to team members. In others, they could be mainstreamed broadly and widely.
Effective training covers the understanding of the value of CX, the ways to improve customer awareness, ways to craft sustainable customer experience strategies, and measure their effectiveness, best practices in customer experience management.
Training should also cover upskilling staff to utilize new touchpoints effectively.
2. Technology
With CX turning digital swiftly, it is without mention that investment in technology is pivotal. Either in the form of an expansion of touchpoints to digital for example, or a migration to a Content Management System platform, a cloud-based internal system or AI-powered data systems, these investments often involve vendors.
It is important that in addition to the financial cost of vendor hire, vendor relationships are built such that collaboration with an organization to iterate, improve, optimize and personalize is imbibed beyond the delivery of the digital product, service or platform.
In adopting advanced and futuristic technology, it is helpful to start with a low-level solution to provide a baseline assessment of the need and reception and what the most ideal delivery will look like. Such experimentation can build the case for larger investment in new-age infrastructure for reasons that will be clear and apparent from the experimental set-up.
3. Hire a specialist
In engaging CX professional services firms, a business must filter thoroughly to ensure that they collaborate with a firm that tailors their solutions to the needs of the customer. The role of specialist service support often centers around data and analytics with assistance potentially in the form of experiential and operational data collection, AI-powered data analysis, helpdesk service and support systems and more.
Some organizations would only look at these investments in terms of the perception of high costs associated with them. However, when businesses have tested low-level prototypes for these investments and put their hypothesis and assumptions to test, the implementation would require intentionality, commitment and sustainability.
To be most optimal, businesses can start by focusing on implementing strategy targeted at the consumer behaviour most relevant to their business, and by gauging satisfaction or response to that, build on more improvements in other layers and facets of the customer experience.
Even if a firm doesn’t scale up all the facets of their customer experience strategy at once, what is important is to maintain a progressive rhythm once investment kicks in and keep it up.
