- Customer Experience
- Uploaded In: 2024
Why Customer Experience is Pivotal to an Organisation's Competitive Advantage in 2024
The very profile of the customer base has undergone a drastic change over recent years. Today's customers are younger, more impulsive, well-informed, and unabashedly vocal about their demands. This makes it imperative for companies to keep a close ear to the ground.
In our well-connected world, where service experience is paramount for any customer, two major shifts in customer experiences have become increasingly visible. First, the rapid technological development of mobile devices and other access points is deeply integrated into consumer behavior, changing the paradigm of how consumers view and use services. Secondly, due to this increased mobility, speed in services, and reduced human interface, people are seeking more assurance regarding the security and reliability of the services offered.
Listening to the Digital-Native Generations
In a dynamic business environment, there is a need for organisations to proactively seek a more in-depth understanding of their customers as part of their corporate DNA. With a predominant customer segment being Millennials and the rising Gen Z, organisations need to be listening to them on frequently used social media platforms, which are highly expressive mediums of communication to preempt their needs.
Using big data to interpret Customer Experience (CX) can drive operational efficiencies and expand revenue. When incorporated successfully across business lines, the organisation's brand value and reputation can take a significant step forward from the customer's perspective. It is important to remember that sustained customer loyalty is driven by consistent communication and receptive feedback that directly results in quicker turnaround times in meeting customer needs.
Synergising Feedback and Innovation
Ensuring consistency in CX at each point of contact can be a challenge for businesses today. For predominantly customer-facing organisations, standardising a world-class experience for clients across geographies remains a top priority. To maintain a consistent brand experience across multiple business channels, it is necessary to invest in technology and infrastructure, including developing a holistic data-driven feedback system.
Once achieved, this foundation allows for both gauging the customer in a more comprehensive manner and for developing innovative product solutions. Synergising these processes becomes a key differentiator for the organisation in having a competitive edge.
Gauging Customer Feedback, Not a Checkbox Exercise
Businesses that do not proactively check whether their strategies are operational or identify processes in the CX program that need improvement often face backlash from their customers, despite having strong products or services. In such scenarios, gathering and analyzing CX data can be a major leverage point for organisations to determine their strategic direction. At this stage, social media plays an important role by engaging with customers and gathering relevant big data.
The key reason for slow growth often lies in adopting a product-centric approach over a customer-centric one. A fully functional CX process should gather customer experience data accurately the first time, or else it risks becoming a checkbox exercise that can only serve to burn a hole in the organisation's pockets.
Empowering Employees with Customer Knowledge
To foster a strong customer-centric work environment, employees should be empowered not only with technology but also with insights into their customers. These insights can personalize interactions at the front end and develop authenticity about the brand and services. While newer technologies and breakthrough innovations can provide a competitive edge, the success of these initiatives depends on the CX levels prevalent in an organisation.
Customer-Centricity in a B2B Business
Even companies in the B2B category must gather knowledge of serving and guiding customers and constantly innovate to improve their experiences. Customer-centricity is the cornerstone of any service-driven business, and the focus must remain on using this knowledge to adapt to the needs of clients or vendors who ultimately offer this service to end customers.
As an organisation, our strategy has always been to continuously work on our strengths: leveraging technology, maintaining a strong process-orientation, and focusing on customer service to meet the requirements of our customers in a secure and reliable manner in all our client partnerships.
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