Customer experience management: what it is and how to implement it. Customer Experience Management is the practice of designing and reacting to customer interactions to meet or exceed customer expectations and, therefore, increase customer satisfaction and loyalty. It’s the product of a customer’s perceptions after interacting rationally, physically, emotionally and/or psychologically with any part of an organization. This perception affects customer behaviors and generates memories that drive Customer Loyalty and affect the economic value an organization generates.

Customer experience reaches all interactions from attraction and interest generated by marketing, discovery, purchase, usage, customer service and even termination, regardless of the channel through which they occur. Its scope is integrative, uniting the business around the customer’s vision. Companies cannot fully control the customer experience because it involves mastering customer perceptions, emotions and behaviors, which is impossible in reality. But they can be prepared to deliver ideal experiences and correct what harms their customers.

Several experts say that customer experience is not just about a rational experience. More than 50 percent of the customer experience is unconscious.

So how do you succeed in customer experience management?

First, you need to understand that providing the best experience for your customers doesn’t mean that you have to quickly answer a call to the call center or support team, or that you have to provide 24/7 attention.

It’s really about how your customer feels about the experience they received when they answered the phone or how they felt when they visited your store.

Small actions can bring big rewards, including customer satisfaction, lower employee turnover, higher revenue and greater employee satisfaction.

Why it’s important to excel in customer experience management

As competition grows, so does the need to explore ways to differentiate yourself and stand out from the crowd.

Improving your customer experience management is seen as a way to create a point of differentiation. Companies that can deliver personalized experiences are the ones that take a competitive advantage.

Advantages of customer experience management

Reduce customer processes

Businesses are constantly trying to “win over” customers with competitive offers. Whether they are influenced by better prices or better service, a good customer experience can keep them from leaving with your competition. Strive to offer an unparalleled experience. A solid customer experience will make it very difficult for any customer to leave.

Increase customer satisfaction.

Happy customers are loyal customers. Over time, continually delivering a good customer experience that goes “above and beyond” expectations will lead to customer loyalty, and they will be willing to stay with your brand, even if your competitor offers a lower price.

More word-of-mouth recommendations.

By focusing on customer experience management, referral rates will improve, as will customer satisfaction. Can your company afford to ignore customer recommendations? Of course not, they are vital to the growth of your business.

Create unparalleled customer experiences

Your company should not only compete on price. Your customers want more: they want an emotional connection with your company. You can implement simple ideas for a better customer experience. Always keep in mind that amazing experiences will keep customers coming back for more.

Customer Experience Management Challenges

Consistency across all channels. Customers care about each of the experiences they accumulate throughout each of the channels you offer them, about the overall experience they have. Every touch point must be taken care of.

Key points. Focus on the entire customer journey, not individual experiences. Leverage your sales, support, customer service and marketing to create a consistent and coherent customer experience.

Use new technologies. It’s good to combine the customer experience with technology, but to enhance it, not to build on it. A good strategy for customer experience management is to think about whether that technology is really going to help make the customer experience better or more efficient.

I recommend reading: how to improve the customer experience

Define the customer experience you want to deliver and then find the necessary technology that you think can help you improve this experience or make it more efficient. Email marketing programs or customer satisfaction survey software are excellent tools for any type or size of business.

Make customer experience management a culture

A customer-focused culture can help define the actions of your employees. Culture is formed in the workplace, implementing values and rules. Through these, your employees know how to properly engage, interact and communicate with customers.

To create a world-class customer culture, your company needs to embody the values required to create amazing customer experiences.

Customer experience management needs to be done right by everyone in the organization, regardless of whether or not they deal directly with customers.

Make sure you communicate well to your employees the company’s mission and can provide the best customer experience throughout the customer journey.

How to solve customer experience management problems

Listen to your customers. By collecting their feedback, for example through a survey, you can continuously adapt and improve your customers’ experience. It is an opportunity to get an idea of what your customers really think about the experience you are offering them. Customer experience is not about how the service is delivered, but how the customer feels about it. Take advantage of new technologies. Technology is a great enabler of the customer experience. We live in a world that is constantly changing, today your customers use multiple platforms and channels to communicate with your company. Whether they still use the phone, email, Twitter or Facebook, customers expect a quick response.

In addition, customers also expect you to remember the conversation they had when they called customer service six months ago for a query or problem. How do you make sure your entire team knows the details of the customer’s needs and responds consistently? Innovating in customer experience management is a challenge you must meet. Give your customers a superior experience than they expect and stand out from the competition. Design value propositions focused on customer experience, strive to deliver added value to the customer time and time again, and success is guaranteed.