Onecom CX expert, Tristan King, has skilfully penned a thought-provoking blog delving into the fundamental aspects of customer experience. Emphasising the criticality of establishing a robust CX foundation, the blog underscores the imperative for businesses to prioritise the essentials in enhancing customer interactions.
I recently had the pleasure of engaging with a new prospect. During our discussion I noticed some gaps in their CX strategy. As a result, I thought it would be great to share this insight and transform it into a blog about getting the foundations of customer experience right.
Prior to meeting with this new prospect, I did what any salesperson would do – some research! Before you even speak to a client, there is a mountain of information you can learn about their business from some basic research with the tools that are now readily available at our fingertips. I often start on their website, the digital front door of any business. I don’t claim to be an expert in websites, but in line with the blog title, let’s strip it down to the basics. If I put myself in the shoes of your customer, and I’m interested in what it is that you do/sell/provide, how easy is it for me to engage with your business to get the outcome I’m looking for? This is a question I ask myself when reviewing a prospect's existing customer journey.
It might be that the nature of your business means that customers can do or get everything that they need from you on this website. Most businesses now aim to build their digital front doors to allow customers to self-serve in an easy and efficient way.
Consider Amazon as an example, the e-commerce giant. Regardless of debates surrounding its impact on traditional retail, Amazon undeniably excels in streamlining the online shopping experience of their customers. Their website is optimised to ensure swift and hassle-free transactions. Such seamless functionality is a testament to their commitment to customer satisfaction.
Back to the prospect, it became apparent very quickly that the solution that they offered was not something that was simple enough to allow you as customer to self-serve on via their website. That is fine though, it’s not every company’s goal to enable you to self-serve, nor is it feasible for many businesses. The purpose of the website was to provide you with enough information on what they do to prompt you to get in touch and contact them.
Still using the lens of a customer, I roleplay that I’m interested in their solution and want to contact them. I start to explore my options to make contact. They have two numbers on the website to show their availability, one for the UK and one for the US. I can contact them by phone, by email, or by filling out an online form.
I decided to ring the UK number to understand the what the customer experience was like for an inbound caller. I wasn’t going to needlessly waste the time of this prospect by continuing the ruse if they answered, but having looked at their digital front door it was time to take a peek at what was behind it.
Well, sadly that is where this tale ends. There was nothing behind the door.
Despite listing a UK contact number, my attempts to reach them were futile—no welcome message, no option to leave a voicemail. This raised questions about the efficacy of listing a non-functional contact option. Was it a deliberate tactic to encourage digital contact instead? A bold move if this is the case! Such ambiguity left me pondering the rationale behind their approach.
With a meeting lined up with this prospect in the afternoon and having continued with further research on their business I felt like I was in a good position to share some insight as to what I’d found. Clearly there was some pain there, whether they were aware of it or not, which I could help them to quickly solve.
During the meeting with the prospect, I raised these concerns. Surprisingly, their top management seemed oblivious to these issues. This highlighted a critical gap in their awareness of even the most basic elements of their customer-facing operations.
Despite these initial hurdles, the prospect expressed keen interest in further discussions. This reaffirmed the importance of addressing such issues promptly to ensure a positive customer experience and pave the way for fruitful business engagements.
Let's delve into some essential questions that could revolutionise your approach to customer experience, as we embark on the journey of "CX stripped bare - THE essential step to expose your realities and redress your fundamentals":
- Firstly, when was the last time you truly immersed yourself in the customer's shoes and dissected your customer experience down to its core?
- Next, let's zoom out and clarify the primary objective of your business. What is it that you aim to achieve at the end of the day?
- Now, let's simplify things. How do you plan to achieve this objective in the most straightforward terms possible?
- Of course, achieving your goals hinges significantly on your customers. So, what does their journey with your brand currently look like?
- Considering there's always room for improvement, how could this journey be enhanced? Let's operate under the assumption that perfection is a rare gem in the realm of customer experience.
- And here's the golden question: What's the value, or perhaps the untapped potential, of making these improvements?
- Finally, how can we translate these insights into action? What steps can you or your team take to breathe life into these enhancements?
AI is the latest and best technology that everyone is talking about in my industry, probably yours as well, but the takeaway of this blog is a simple one. Sometimes it’s not just the latest and greatest that we should be talking about, just going back to the very basics, the foundations, is the answer to unlocking a great customer experience.
If you're intrigued and seeking support in revitalising your customer experience strategy, let’s connect!
Book a free discovery session with Tristan today.
Tristan King
CX Expert
Onecom