Best Practices

In my last blog, I discussed several lessons learned from Choctaw Nation as part of our recent webinar together. This webinar gave listeners the opportunity to hear from different companies about their experiences implementing a CX program, so for those of you who missed it, I am going over each segment in a series of blog posts.

In this post, I will discuss the conversation I had with Mike Bolland of Discount Tire, regarding his company’s CX journey. As the director of omnichannel customer insights & experience, Mike is constantly looking for ways to capitalize on VoC data, and he was able to share one of the company’s innovative techniques with me: the implementation of Customer Advisory Boards.

Before I explain this technique, it’s necessary to give a little background on Discount Tire’s customer experience history. Discount Tire has had some form of VoC process in place since 2005, but they kept running into one specific problem: They knew what the existing issues were, but they weren’t sure how to continue the conversation with their customers to discover why those issues existed.

This was the genesis for Discount Tire’s Customer Advisory Board (CAB). The board started off as a group of about 20 customers who would meet with the Discount Tire team to get at the root of customer experience issues.

These boards have since become an integral part of the way Discount Tire approaches its customers, and has been even more useful since they have added InMoment’s advanced analytics to their CX efforts. They have found that their VoC program really informs the discussion in the CAB meetings, in that the insights they gain allow them to ask targeted questions and get the answers they need.

A Voice of Customer (VoC) program is vital to this process because as Mike says, “as employees of 20+ years, we can’t think like a customer.” In my own conversations with clients, I can’t tell you how many times I have heard something along these lines. The fact of the matter is that though businesses have an idea of what the customer experience issues are in their head, they do not often match up with what the customer views as the primary issues.

Using VoC and CABs in tandem is Discount Tire’s solution to this problem. With VoC analytics, unstructured feedback identifies the real issues or the “why,” which are then brought to the customer advisory board. This takes the process a step further, and allows a business to get an accurate, complete picture of the problem so they can act accordingly.

Discount Tire uses this technique consistently in order to keep tabs on their customers at the speed of business. They present new ideas and campaigns to this board as well as ask for background on existing issues. Members of the board are able to ask the Discount Tire team questions, which reveals the areas that the company could better define for their customers.

Overall, this idea of using customer advisory boards in conjunction with a VoC program creates a forum for any business to better understand their customers and better their customer experience.

There’s a lot of talk about Artificial Intelligence (AI) in CX these days, and while most CX pros won’t ever write an algorithm, understanding the fundamentals of analytics and AI is no longer an option — it’s a necessity.  Following are the top 10 key AI terms every CX practitioner must know in order to keep up with the AI conversation:

1. Artificial Intelligence

Advanced software that automates the learning and performing of tasks that normally require human intelligence, such as learning, decision-making, speech and image recognition, and translations.

2. Analytics

The detailed examination of data as the basis for discussion or interpretation. There are a variety of types of analytics processes. Gartner breaks them out this way:

• • Descriptive – Characterized by traditional business intelligence (BI) and visualizations such as pie charts, bar charts, line graphs, tables, or generated narratives.

“What happened?”

• • Diagnostics – Characterized by techniques such as drill-down, data discovery, data mining and correlations.

“Why did it happen?”

• • Predictive – Characterized by techniques such as regression analysis, forecasting, multivariate statistics, pattern matching, predictive modeling, and forecasting.

“What is going to happen?”

• • Prescriptive – Characterized by techniques such as graph analysis, simulation, complex event processing, neural networks, recommendation engines, heuristics, and machine learning.

“What should be done?”

3. Machine Learning

This is a term sometimes used interchangeably with AI, but in fact, it’s one just one component, albeit an important one. Machine learning is computers the ability to learn a task or function without being explicitly programmed. There are several different types of machine learning, including:

• Supervised – The task or function is learned from labeled training data, most often curated by a human.  The algorithm adapts to new situations by generalizing from the training data to act in a “reasonable” way.
• Unsupervised – The task or function is learned from hidden structures in “unlabeled” data. Because the dataset is unlabeled, there is no evaluation of the accuracy for the outputted model.
• Neural Networks – A number of processors operating in parallel and arranged in tiers. The first tier receives the raw data, and then passes on its “knowledge” to each successive tier.
• Deep Learning – a machine learning model that leverages hierarchical representation of the data. This is best illustrated when used with Neural Networks.

4. Algorithms

A set of rules or process to be performed in calculations, especially by a computer.

5. Models

Algorithms that analyze and visualize data through a specific lens. Some notable types of models include:

• Anomaly – Recognition of a significant change in the data being monitored. (E.g. an increase in frequency of a particular issue being discussed by customers.)
• Churn – The likelihood of loss, especially of a customer or employee leaving an organization.
• Recommendation – A set of instructions given that will improve a specific key metric.
• Financial Forecast – Using historical performance data, a prediction about future performance is made.

6. Speech Analysis

Recognition of customer tone, pitch, and volume to determine customer sentiment and emotion.

7. Automated Speech Transcription (Speech-to-Text)

Automated recognition of digitized speech wavelengths converted to text.

8. Facial Recognition

Machine learning applied to images to identify the key characteristics of human faces.  Typical applications include identifying a particular person (to unlock a device) or the emotions they may be expressing (a customer is unhappy).

9. Text Analytics

Identification of valuable concepts from human-created text data (social reviews, survey comments)

• Natural Language Processing (NLP) – The application of computer processing to deriving patterns and meaning from large sets of text-based data. There are two types of NLP, rule-based and machine learning. With rule-based, human curation plays a role in creating and refining dictionaries, rules and patterns, which are then coded into the to the computer. With machine learning, the computer learns from existing data sets and then automatically generates the rules that drive the analysis of the text data.  
• Natural Language Generation (NLG) – The automated creation of text data using computational linguistics to streamline the interaction between humans and computers. Siri and Alexa are examples of NLG.

10. Internet of Things

The interconnection via the internet of everyday computing devices enabling them to send and receive data. For example, the Bluetooth connection between your phone and car.

To read more about InMoment’s advanced analytics and the intelligence they provide, click here!

InMoment recently hosted a webinar with three of our clients to discuss the lessons they’ve learned as they worked to establish their CX program. In “Three Things I Wish I Would Have Known When Starting/Growing a CX Program,” I facilitated interviews with Choctaw Nation, Tony Roma’s, and Discount Tire, where we discussed lessons from their individual CX journeys.

The discussion was incredibly informative and eye-opening, so for those of you who were unable to tune in, I will be writing a three-part series where I review my favorite insights from each of the client interviews. Let’s dive in!

The first client we interviewed was Choctaw Nation, an Oklahoma-based business that operates gaming sites, resorts, RV parks, a printing company, travel plazas, farms and ranches, and a country market. With so many customer journeys the brand decided to implement its first formal customer feedback management program with InMoment in order to hear and respond to customer stories.

Tommy Rhoads, executive director of guest experience and operational excellence, joined our webinar to discuss his experience implementing Choctaw’s new program and shared four lessons for other practitioners who are just starting their CX journeys.

1. Set expectations.

The first lesson Tommy shared was that any organization new to a formal VoC program must set expectations for what will happen after implementation. Tommy explained, “Customers are going to complain. Yes, customers are going to have something to say about your business, and you know, that’s really okay!” He then went on to emphasize what we here at InMoment truly believe about negative feedback: that though it may feel negative at first, this feedback is ultimately an opportunity to show your customer that you’re listening to their voice.

When you start formalizing your approach to customer feedback, it is important to expect that there will be negative feedback, but instead of dwelling on it, use it as an opportunity to identify areas for improvement.

2. Anticipate and prepare.

The next lesson Tommy described involved taking a critical look at what you already know about your business’s existing customer experience. What are the known issues you have as an organization? By identifying these before customer feedback starts pouring in, you have the opportunity to start making a plan and “look at the capability of the organization versus the capacity… to [address] it and… meet the needs of our customers.”

Tommy said that in his mind, this initial overview before implementation is the most critical step you can take when starting your CX journey (and I’d have to agree)!

3. Be flexible.

This lesson is all about expecting the unexpected. Preparation can take you a long way, but it is just a fact of the journey that unknown issues will arise. In this case, it is imperative for businesses to be flexible.

Tommy describes this flexibility as “collaborative recalibration,” or the process in which a business sits down, faces the unexpected issue, and puts a plan in place that allows them to take action. This kind of flexible approach is what will really allow your company to bounce back from unexpected issues and find CX success!

4. Don’t lose sight of the big picture.

With the incredible amounts of new customer data you will get when first applying your VoC program, it can be easy to get caught up in the minutia. In the first 13 days of Choctaw’s new program, they received 8,000 responses. Safe to say, they felt like they had a lot of work to do.

Tommy said that in the face of what might have been an overwhelming situation, they were able to find inspiration from their big picture. They knew that this feedback would be pivotal in providing the type of experiences they wanted to, and would ultimately help them to meet all their goals as a company. They also took a look at their core cultural values as a company, and returned to their task with the intention of not focusing on the negative, but emphasizing the positive. It is with this big picture outlook that Choctaw was able to start off its formal VoC efforts on the right foot.

Starting off a new customer listening program is no easy feat, but it helps to hear from organizations who have been there before and can offer first-hand advice on how to overcome CX hurdles.

In today’s digital world, consumers’ dependency on telecom services like mobile, streaming and the almighty internet will continue to increase. And while this ever increasing demand means higher revenues for telecom, it hasn’t translated into good news for customers. While seeing some improvement in recent years, the telecom industry still hovers at or near the bottom of every major customer experience index.

The downside of being essential

With many lines of service – especially internet access – perceived by consumers as a necessity akin to oxygen, unsatisfactory experiences are magnified. When they’re working fine, however, no one is celebrating the service. And even when customers report feeling satisfied, they are incredibly stingy with the next level of relationship: loyalty.

According the our recent research, the downward spiral starts early. InMoment’s report, Customer Experience in the Telecom Industry, found that satisfaction plummets at the one-year mark – across all lines of service (TV, internet, mobile, etc.). During the initial honeymoon phase, the technology is still shiny and new, and introductory customer deals are still in place. But as service failures happen and introductory pricing is replaced by sometimes shockingly higher bills, deep frustration sets in. And while satisfaction does bounce back, it never fully recovers.

This dissatisfaction causes customers to look to greener pastures. Telecoms spend an inordinate number of resources luring new customers away from competitors. And while strong acquisition rates are highly prized by shareholders, the result is often a matter of “be careful what you wish for…”  The same study found that most of the time, these hard-won new customers are much less satisfied with their new provider than the one they abandoned. It may be a matter of inflated expectations, lofty promises, or a combination of both. Either way, these new, unhappy customers can be more tenuous and more expensive to maintain.

While telecoms face significant challenges, the research also reveals some steps they can take to make real improvements in customer relationships, and their business.

Continuously engage

Regularly engaging customers and consistently asking for feedback will help telecoms avoid unpleasant surprises and find new ways to enrich the relationships. A significant increase in a subscription fee or changes to an offering should never be a surprise. Concerted efforts to communicate changes and ensure customers fully understand and are enjoying the full value of their service can ease the transition.

Another major challenge for telecoms is service interruptions, some of which are within their control, and some of which are not. Either way, transparent and honest communication is the best policy. The Metropolitan Transport Authority in New York recently started being transparent with customers about train delays, and customers were reported to act less hostile, especially when they understood delays were not the train’s fault. Another key to successful regular and proactive communication is offering multiple, connected contact channels to alleviate customer frustration of having to restart the resolution process or have to re-enter information like their name and account number. A diverse group of channels ensures consumers can contact their telecom in the way that’s most natural and convenient for them, and have a seamless experience when they choose to switch.

Prioritize human interaction

Although AI and automated chatbot usage have increased and can add efficiency to the brand-customer equation, deploying these technologies at the wrong times increase frustration. Easy access to human representatives — especially for complex issues — is one of the best things companies can do to effectively solve problems.

The study found that customers across nearly every service line who had a personal interaction with a brand representative reported higher satisfaction levels than those who had not. Another report found that 67 percent of customers have hung up the phone if they weren’t able to talk to a real person, and another revealed that a bad phone experience would send three quarters of consumers to a competitor. That’s why it’s vital to both provide live human channels, and conduct comprehensive training for those in client-facing roles to ensure they’re well-prepared to thoroughly address each customer issue.

Technology investments should augment human efforts, providing agents with the information and context to handle more service requests faster, and more effectively. However, this cannot happen if customer queries and user information are not seamlessly exchanged between intelligent systems and their human counterparts.

Offer a range of engagement options

Because customers’ needs are varying, they should have access to varying channels for customer support as well. After all, different situations call for different paths to customer service.

For example. landline phone issues aren’t conveniently solved at a physical location—the device can’t even be brought into the store, so perhaps an online chat portal is a better fit. But when it it comes to issues surrounding mobile connectivity, in-store could be the perfect opportunity to bring in the actual device and dialogue face-to-face with a representative for a troubleshooting session.

The challenge to this upgrade in contact channel options means more experiences for telecoms to manage, though no matter where the telecom and customer interact, the experience should remain consistent. As telecom technology moves forward and a fast, quality internet connection becomes all-the-more a necessity, the investment will prove itself more than worth it in due time.

The most important piece of counsel any brand can receive is to invest generous resources in really listening to customers. Listening is more that doling out surveys, providing comment forms on your website, and even offering a real human to hear a complaint. With today’s technologies, customer listening can be always-on, multifaceted, and feel a lot more like a reciprocal conversation than an interrogation. Listening also consists of letting the customer know you’ve heard them, and taking their advice. Just like any human relationship, it’s not nice to ask if you have no intention of responding with integrity.  The logistics in doing this may be infinitely complex, but the rules of good human relationships remain pretty simple.

If telecoms will let them, customers can serve as valued consultants in helping these organizations focus resources in the right places to have an impact that matters to both customers and the bottom line.

Ninety-one percent of unhappy customers refuse to give your brand another chance. However, resolve that customer’s complaint, and they’re 70% more likely to become a repeat customer. Each customer complaint represents a fork in the road that contains the opportunity to make your business stronger or tear it down little by little. Multiply it by the number of complaints you get in a year and that’s either a big liability or a whole lot of potential for your customer loyalty, depending on how you close the customer feedback loop.

Successful case management, or “closing the loop” on customer issues is a foundational element of any successful CX initiative. Now that customer experience has become the rage, it’s tempting for brands to jump ahead to the more trendy and scintillating areas like AI, personalization and “delight.”

However, without mastering this essential first step, all other efforts will fall flat. And while the process has hurdles, the benefits are well worth the effort, and there’s a fairly straight forward ROI naturally built in. Studies show that an increase of just 5% in customer retention can boost profits by up to 125%. And whether that accurately reflects your business, one thing is clear: For every customer you save, many dollars are earned.

Here’s how to get started on creating, or evolving your closed-loop program:

Understand the loop

Forty-two percent of consumers said that when they contact a brand for support, they expect a response within 60 minutes. Given this expectation, understanding what’s behind the customer feedback loop is essential in understanding how to close it.

In the world of customer experience, the term “closing the loop” was popularized by Fred Reichheld and Bain & Co. in their Net Promoter System, a comprehensive way of structuring immediate resolution of customer concerns, and applying the intelligence inside that feedback to improve all areas of a business. And while NPS is a popular and useful model, closing the loop as a concept that can be successfully applied to any customer experience framework.

We’ve developed our own take on a closed loop visualization. The inner circle represents the process of identifying and resolving individual customer issues, and also communicating those actions back the customer, and the employees who serve them. This “inner loop” is also often referred to as case management. The outer loop represents the bigger picture — the process of identifying and resolving larger organizational patterns and trends based on the aggregation of customer feedback, or identifying and taking action on root cause.

When it comes to implementing a customer experience program within an organization, this closed-loop model is a great process. However, there’s an additional element missing that’s essential to both that immediate and broader success: the frontline employees’ viewpoint, or Voice of Employee feedback.

Empower your employees

Understanding how the customer feels is obviously valuable, but it’s only part of the story. Frontline employees have a unique view to the customer’s journey. They can offer pointed insights into which processes are and aren’t working, and ideas on solutions to optimize the customer experience. This type of feedback is called Voice of Employee, or VoE, and differs from the traditional employee survey feedback where companies ask their workforce to weigh in on their experience as employees. VoE is employee feedback about the customer experience.  This type of intelligence is powerful. In fact, a study by InMoment and CustomerThink found that 66% of CX professionals consider employees the top source of actionable insights about their customers’ experiences.

And when you’re closing the loop, don’t forget to let employees know that you’ve heard them, and how their participation in the process is helping improve the customer experience. Creating authentic areas of contribution and ownership makes for a more effective CX strategy, and more engaged, effective, and loyal employees.

Get executive buy-in

It may be a cliche notion, but it doesn’t make it any less true: success starts at the top. Customer experience is more than a survey. It’s more than personalizing emails or offers. It’s more than resolving every single customer concern. Simply stated, CX is a comprehensive way of doing business. And thanks to this high-order nature, even the most basic elements, like case management, must be prioritized by leadership in order to be successful.

Gaining that executive buy-in is best done by CX pros who are part diplomat, part sales person. If you don’t already have this buy-in, understanding what really matters to both the personalities who make the decisions, and the business is critical. Take time to understand what moves those needles, and focus early initiatives on those areas. Has your business prioritized efficiency? Make sure to track action and report what you learn during customer interactions that streamlines interactions, decrease call-ins or returns, or gets rid of processes or policies that create pain for customers. Maybe your company is focusing on employee retention. The VoE element of closing the loop is an ideal way to boost that metric, given you measure and report on the impact.

If you’re starting with a resistant CEO, case studies, news articles and other stories about CX leaders they admire can be helpful in getting something started. In this case, however, it’s especially important to focus your efforts where you can get relatively fast, and easy to quantify results. An effective case management process is ideal for this scenario, and when done well, can open the door to even more opportunities to elevate your customer experience — and the value it can bring.

To engage more leaders across the business, CX leaders should repeat the same pattern: look for what matters to various stakeholders and how they’re rewarded (or punished). Look for insights from your closed-loop system that can help them make data-driven decisions.

In short, look at your organization’s leaders as an important customer segment. Listen intently. Understand what they want and need. And then deliver value that supports their success.

Break down the silos to act quickly

Businesses, especially large enterprises, are nearly always siloed: From policies and processes, to data and technology. And while separate areas of the business may not cross paths regularly, the customer data they’re collecting at the touchpoints they own (be it billing, legal, marketing, ecomm or retail) are all parts of the larger customer picture. You can close the loop all day long on customer complaints, but if you never fix what’s broken upstream, those efforts will have limited impact: like bailing water out of a boat with a large hole in the bottom.

And when silos prevent timely responses, the impact can be immediate–and harsh.  Time is of the essence, since 42% of consumers said that if they contact a brand for support, they expect a response within 60 minutes. Fifty-seven percent said they expect that turnaround time regardless of time of day or day of week.

Again, here’s where your diplomat-sales skills comes to the rescue, rallying colleagues and leaders to ditch “the way things have always been” and be bold to more strongly communicate across departments. Having a leader to blaze the trail in increasing that communication is essential because it brings clarity the entirety of the customer journey, and the integral role of employees. Open communication is key to a more open and cohesive corporate decision-making process–not to mention bottom line.

The journey toward high-value customer relationships may sound daunting, and it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the task.  The key is taking one step at a time, starting with building a healthy foundation of resolving customer concerns quickly and well, and inviting employees to become true influencers in transforming your brand.

Every company provides some level of customer experience, whether they create it consciously or not. The question your brand needs to be asking is: Are you investing enough in your CX initiatives? In most cases, the answer is “no.”

There are dozens of reasons why your brand should be investing in customer experience. As a matter of fact, McKinsey & Company, notes that “Optimizing the customer experience typically achieve(s) revenue growth of 5-15% and cost reductions of 15-25% in just 2-3 years.” So why do so many brands choose not to invest, or invest enough, in customer experience?

We’ll dive into four of the most common reasons why many businesses put off investing in a CX program until it’s too late.

1. “I’m not sure how to prove ROI.”

Many businesses struggle to identify the ROI of a CX program and they use that as a reason to justify forgoing CX initiatives, and it is not an illegitimate concern. The ROI of CX can be hard to establish because it is not usually a single number. Measuring the ROI of CX is possible, it just requires a different approach.

The way your company measures ROI can depend on how the program is structured and whether a specific team owns it, or whether it’s a cross-functional endeavor. Some key items that can determine ROI are things like increasing lifetime customer value, reducing customer churn, increasing employee retention or reducing operational costs.

For more information on how to hone in on the ROI of CX, you can check out our eBook, The Five Steps to an ROI-Focused CX Program.

2. “It seems expensive.”

Doing business is expensive and spending even more money on customer experience can seem like just another extraneous expense. However not taking the time or spending the money to understand your customers, however, is even more expensive. By operating without the full context of your brand’s customer experience, your organization might be focusing on improving experiences that are not important to the customers, or that might not contribute economic benefits to the company..

By putting the customer first and understanding the experience from their point of view, brands are able to identify key areas for improvement and are better able to prioritize those that will have the most financial impact. When managed properly, most CX programs will pay for themselves.

According to Jocelyn Wieser, senior retail business intelligence analyst for Cabela’s, “Through the implementation of ….technology and best practices, we’ve tripled our feedback rate, created a more customer-friendly and effective survey, responded to nearly 9,000 customer concerns, and realized almost $9 million in new revenue. In under six months, the program paid for itself many times over.”

3. “I can’t please everybody, so I won’t rock the boat.”

The reasoning behind this excuse is based on the assumption that customers as a whole are hard to please. This leads to unfortunate idea that if not everyone can be pleased, why spend the extra money and make the effort?

Contrary to this idea, our 2017 CX trends report, “The Power of Emotion and Personalization,” uncovered that—regardless of industry or country—customer expectations are reasonable. Our research found that 38% of consumers worldwide ranked “satisfied” as the number one emotion they associated with positive brand experiences. However, this number doesn’t do the actual requirements for a positive experience justice.

Contrary to popular belief, consumers are generally pretty easy to please. The opportunity is there to create positive interactions with your brand. With such reasonable expectations, your organization can’t afford to do the bare minimum—or nothing at all. There is so much more to gain from investing in a CX initiative. To ignore the obvious benefits of these is to refuse the possibility to turn customers to brand advocates.

4. “CX doesn’t appear critical.”

The impact of a negative experience can ripple through any organization and have an adverse impact on your brand’s bottom line. Studies have found that it takes 12 positive experiences to make up for one unresolved customer experience. CX programs help to single out those negative experiences and close the loop with your customers, stopping the negative ripple effect in its tracks.

By using a dedicated program and advanced technology to measure the customer experience, businesses are able to realize the value of putting the customer first. Understanding that there is more to the customer story than just being satisfied or unsatisfied is the first step in creating a truly robust CX strategy that will ultimately impact business performance.

If you are considering investing in customer experience, you’re probably considering all sides of the decision. And though negative reasons (such as the ones listed above) do exist, they are more often a result of misunderstanding or a lack of information. A strategic, comprehensive CX program can clarify perspective to reveal the obvious answer: It is always beneficial for brands to spend their time and money on improving their customer’s experience.