The importance of customer experience is well-known by most business executives, operations specialists, and marketers. Why then, if it is so important, is it almost always given purely lip service to? Why are so many organisations still measuring it as a static, annual measurement that then gets shelved for 12 months? The answer likely lies in the separation between customer experience measurement and customer experience operationalisation.

Why does customer experience matter?

For anyone who is still unsure, why is customer experience so important? The theory goes that good customer experience leads to happier or more satisfied customers, which in turn makes them more loyal and improves business profitability. While this may or may not be true, the connection between experience and profit is often too far removed and too abstract to observe practically.

More important than this abstract relationship to profit, the reality is that consumers have more choice than ever and have access to more information, meaning they can change preferences in the blink of an eye. Where average or below average customer experience might have gone under the radar in the past, consumers now have access to and voice their experiences on multiple channels, all the time. Poor customer experience simply does not cut it in today’s business environment, and putting the customer at the centre of the value creation process is pivotable to building a sustainable business.

The drawbacks of traditional measurements.

Measuring customer experience has been around for a very long time, and forms the basis for the existence of many market research agencies. Traditionally, customer experience has been measured as a static view at a specific point in time, usually at bi-annual or annual intervals. The frequency of these measurements was largely driven by available technology: consistent, ongoing measurement through traditional research methods is costly and time-consuming; and without clear evidence of return on investment was simply seen as not worth it.

This static view of customer experience has a number of drawbacks. Most importantly, it does not allow for timeous intervention and diagnosing customer experience issues proactively. While static measures still provide useful benchmarks especially when taking a competitive landscape perspective, it simply is not good enough in today’s volatile business environment.

Real-time measurement of customer experience is the ideal, and with the right systems in place, is an attainable goal. Good results can still however be achieved with measurements that approach real-time, e.g., weekly or monthly extractions and measurements. The important thing is to measure consistently, and action potential issues as timeously as possible.

Making it practical and actionable.

Apart from traditional measurements not allowing for appropriate and timeous action, traditional customer experience measurement is often too theoretical to be of practical business value. Models of customer experience have been developed over time that are statistically sound and explanatory, but provide so little practical insight that it becomes little more than an academic exercise. We use two approaches to ensure practicality and actionability of customer experience measurement:

1. Customised attributes that are validated through consumer feedback: No business or industry can use standardised, generic attributes to generate practical insights. Understanding business nuances and using an iterative, agile feedback loop ensures customer experience insights that address the root of the problem.
2. Alignment of consumer insights with operational metrics: The individuals in an organisation who are tasked with delivering customer experience are most likely being measured on a variety of internal efficiency metrics. By matching and aligning these metrics to customer outcomes, we ensure that operational measures are understood in a customer context and customer experience becomes integrated in operational processes.

Conclusion

The importance of customer experience is an undebatable reality of business today. Understanding customer experience therefore has to evolve to match the changing consumer landscape and must allow for agile response as well as integrating with business operations to provide a seamless experience for your business’s most valuable asset, its customers.

Interested in taking your customer experience to the next level? Contact us for a free consultation at no obligation.