You head to the nearest coffee chain on your way to the office after placing your go-to order on the chain’s mobile app. When you walk in, your order is waiting for you at the mobile orders counter. The barista greets you by name and tells you to have a great day. You walk out with your favorite iced coffee in hand and 25 reward points toward a future purchase.
This process – one that emphasizes convenience, friendliness, enjoyment and rewards – is an example of a positive customer experience. And there’s more to it than meets the eye.
Tom DeWitt developed North America’s first master’s degree in customer experience management, or CXM, at Michigan State University’s Eli Broad College of Business. He is the director of CXM@MSU, an industry-facing program dedicated to the advancement of customer experience management. An expert on consumer psychology, customer-centric organizations and employee engagement, DeWitt understands all the components that go into creating a positive customer experience. Here, he shares insights on how companies can truly put consumers first – and what that process entails.
What is customer experience management?
Customer experience management is understanding customer needs and wants and consistently delivering on them. It is a dedicated function within an organization that is tasked with ensuring consumer expectations are met or exceeded across every contact point with your business.
For example, when you leave a restaurant, you want not only to feel full, but you also want to have enjoyed the meal and the interactions with the servers, hosts and staff. You want to walk away in a positive emotional state and, hopefully, come back to the establishment again as well as recommend it to others.
What does a customer-centric organization look like?
Customer centricity is not just something that you say, it’s something you do. It’s when customer needs and wants are married to your business strategy on a daily basis.
A customer-centric organization:
- aligns customer satisfaction goals with financial goals;
- encourages and values feedback from customers (monitors online reviews, conducts surveys);
- encourages and values employee feedback;
- empowers employees to respond effectively to customer needs;
- encourages employees to take thought-out risks;
- educates all employees about all the touchpoints an organization has with consumers;
- manages each touchpoint effectively to ensure a positive, uniform experience for consumers.
What influences today’s consumers – and what role does customer experience management have in this process?
Consumers have never been so knowledgeable and so empowered and so informed about other people’s experience. With the emergence of online reviews, consumer expectations are no longer formed largely by advertisements, but rather by the experiences of other people. Taking ownership and accountability of that process – listening to customer reviews and feedback and acting on suggestions that align with your business goals – is a huge responsibility that lies on the shoulders of organizational leadership.
What are some challenges of customer experience management?
Large organizations that use franchise models, like restaurant chains, can have hundreds or thousands of locations, each with different managers and employees. This makes it difficult to create a consistent customer experience.
Employees are often rewarded for achieving monetary goals rather than meeting customer needs. The future of customer experience management really rests on the ability to link customer experience management goals to ask questions such as:
- How is customer experience management advancing the organization?
- How are we helping to reduce costs and increase revenue?
- How are we helping to grow market share?
Why is employee engagement and leadership buy-in important for customer experience management?
Even with technology, like artificial intelligence, it falls on human beings to deliver the customer experience. It’s about operating standards and procedures. It’s about creating a culture in an organization that supports employees in their roles.
Support from leadership is so important in determining priorities and understanding the role that experiences have in impacting the bottom line. A more customer-centric organization is highly correlated with higher employee engagement levels. People want to work for an organization where they feel they are making a difference and are valued.
DeWitt’s new book, “The Customer Excellence Enterprise: A Playbook for Creating Customers for Life” will be available on Oct. 22. Wayne Simmons, fellow CXM@MSU faculty member and global customer excellence leader at Pfizer, co-authored the book.
