Harnessing customer feedback for outstanding customer experience By Marie Lyster and
“Your brand is formed primarily, not by what
However, while 80% of companies believe
Rory Somers
your company says about itself but what your
that they deliver a superior customer experience,
company does.”
only 8% of their customers agree (Bain & Co). Jeff Bezos, Amazon CEO
Given this drive and emphasis on customer experience it is important to understand what
The future is all about customer
is meant by the term customer experience.
experience
Essentially it is the sum of all the experiences
Customers always have an experience – good,
your customers have with you. The simplest
bad or indifferent. The challenge is to influence
definition may be that customer experience is
the customer in a way that differentiates this
the organisation’s brand promise and brand
experience and delivers value. Customer experi
values in action on the ground. If you can
ence has now overtaken price and product as
unlock what’s unique and true about your
the key brand differentiator. Organisations are
brand, and deliver exceptionally on the
fast realising that it pays to focus on delivering
promises your brand has made to customers,
excellent customer experiences – companies
then you’ll get your customers talking.
that are excelling in customer experience are growing their revenues at 4-8% above their
Employee engagement is key
market average (Bain & Co).
to delivering excellent customer
This has resulted in almost 90% of com
experiences
panies stating that in 2016, they would be
As businesses are both product and people
competing primarily on the basis of customer
based the delivery of the brand and a great
experience (Gartner).
customer experience on the ground involves the entire company, both customer-facing people as they interact with the customer, but also those in the background as they work with each other in the interests of the customer. Employee engagement and commitment is therefore key to driving improvement in customer experience, placing employees at the centre of your customer experience manage ment programme. So where does feedback/measurement fit in? “To value your customer you need to spend some time understanding the interactions they have with you, viewing your service through their eyes and designing in such a way that
104 H a r n e s s i n g c u s t o m e r f e e d b a c k f o r o u t s t a n d i n g c u s t o m e r e x p e r i e n c e