10 Steps to Building a Customer Experience Function

Recently, one of the senior management persons from a healthcare company called us, and said they would like to implement our contact center platform.

We were thrilled to hear this.

Then, he mentioned that he would like to start with two customer support agents handling calls.

This statement brought down our enthusiasm levels.

What did we do?

We had two options. One was to move away from this request politely, and the other was to take it head-on and help them set up their customer experience (CX) function from the ground up.

We chose the second option.

We set up a time to have a detailed conversation. We got on the call, had a great conversation, and understood their needs completely.

After this, we went about helping them set up their customer experience function.

Would I say the customer was happy?

You bet.

We have been helping organizations set up their customer experience function with our platform and the associated bells and whistles.

We provide a whole range of things – dialers, telephony, integrations with best-of-breed solutions, and customizations per the customer’s needs. Besides, we also add workforce management, voice analytics, list management services, and comprehensive reporting. All of these are at a per-minute pricing with no contractual commitments or minimum guarantees.

We have helped many organizations set up their CX function from the ground up. Based on our experience, we have put together 15 steps for you to implement a CX function.

How Do You Go About Implementing the CX Function?

Let me take you step-by-step to get you started on setting up the CX function.

1. Define Your Objectives

Define what exceptional customer experience means for your customers and how it aligns with your business objectives. Clearly outline your organization’s CX vision, mission, and goals.

2. Understand Your Customer Base

Conduct thorough market research and gather customer insights. This will make you understand your customer’s preferences, pain points, and expectations. This will help you tailor your CX efforts to meet their needs.

3. Build a Customer-Centric Culture

CX is not just a department or function but a company-wide mindset. Foster a culture that prioritizes customer satisfaction and encourages every employee to contribute to improving CX.

Everyone’s job should be directly linked to the customer experience you provide – from the senior management to the sub-staff you have in your organization. Everyone’s KRA should include their CX contributions.

4. Assemble a CX Team

While CX is everyone’s responsibility, you need a dedicated CX team to own the experience. Put together a team of professionals who are about customer experience.

Roles might include CX strategists, analysts, UI/UX designers, customer success managers, customer support agents, and customer service agents.

5. Develop a Customer Journey Map

You will have to understand your customer journey and map them. Different customer segments follow different journeys, which can vary for various verticals.

However, it should be reasonably simple to understand the customer journey – the touchpoints where they interact.

Once you understand the different paths and the touchpoints within those paths, you can understand the friction your customers would experience in each of those touchpoints.

You can then optimize and remove those friction points to make your CX smoother.

6. Prioritize Technology Investments

Implement CX technology tools like the contact center platform, which has list management services, workforce management, analytics, reporting, and intelligence besides dialers and telephony. Integrate the contact center platform with customer interaction apps like CRMs, ticketing software, helpdesk systems, live chats, feedback management platforms, and other best-of-breed IT systems.

This will allow you to have a single view of your customers and gather insights to streamline processes for the benefit of the customers.

7. Think Omnichannel

It doesn’t matter how many customer interaction channels you operate – phone, email, live chat, bots, social media, self-service, and mobile apps. Ensure consistent and seamless experiences across all channels, that all channels are integrated, and provide you with a single view of your customers.

8. Prioritize Self-Service

Most customers don’t want to reach your customer service or support for every challenge they face. They’d rather serve themselves.

How do they serve themselves?

Putting together easy-to-use FAQs, a knowledge base in the form of videos, and chatbots on websites are a few ways by which you can let your customers serve themselves.

9. Track Metrics

Measure the effectiveness of your CX efforts. Track metrics like customer satisfaction (CSAT), net promoter score (NPS), customer effort score (CES), customer health score (CHS), customer churn rate, and average revenue increase per customer.

Besides, gather customer feedback through surveys, reviews, and social media. Act on this feedback to continuously improve your CX strategy.

This would give you a good idea of how your CX is performing.

10. Train Your Team

Provide comprehensive training to your CX team on communication, problem-solving, empathy, and product knowledge. Equip them to handle various customer scenarios effectively.

When in doubt, err on the side of the customers.

Remember that building a CX function takes time and consistent effort. Keep refining your approach based on data, customer feedback, and industry trends to create a CX strategy that grows with your business.

The thumb rule is to iterate and celebrate successes constantly.