We all know a few customer experience Chumps—they talk a big game but don’t actually deliver on excellent customer experience. On the other hand, CX Champs understand that customer experience is a team sport and takes a lot of different elements.
At GetFeedback’s 2021 virtual event, The CX Impact Summit, customer experience experts Myra Golden and Jeannie Walters played the CX maturity game: Champ or Chump to demonstrate the different levels of maturity in CX programs.
Customer experience Champs lead by defining success and taking the proper steps to measure and improve it at every stage in the customer journey. On the other hand, Chumps have little insight into vital CX metrics, creating interdepartmental silos and a disjointed customer experience.
Continue reading or watch Golden's and Walters's on-demand session to see how you can become a CX Champ.
Scenario #1: The company is scheming to get customers to reach out
According to our experts, this is a Champ move. Golden provided an example from Armstrong Industries, a flooring company. “When you buy new flooring as a customer and install it in your home…you have to call the toll-free number that reaches out to the customer care department.”
Armstrong wants customers to call that number. “Now, it's actually really easy to remove the toll-free number. It's warm water and soap, but they are scheming to get customers to call so they can establish a connection. On that phone call, they walk the customer through some tips on how to care for their floor, so they get the best experience out of their flooring.”
Scenario #2: A leader collects feedback from customers and shares it with their team
Only sharing customer feedback data within one group is a CX Chump move. Walters elaborated, “if we are only sharing feedback data with our individual teams, we might be missing opportunities to serve the customer throughout their journey.”
In fact, 67% of customer churn can be avoided when CX teams resolve the customer's issue during their first interaction. However, if teams only share feedback within their department, they’re only able to affect one touchpoint.
Related: Learn how you can bridge the gap between CX and the rest of the organization by downloading this guide.
Scenario #3: A CX leader overhears a conversation between an employee and a customer, which doesn't go well. The leader marches right over to the employee to talk about it
According to Golden, this is a Champ move. She explained, “If you, as a leader, hear something that is…negative to your customer experience, or you spot an opportunity to immediately improve the customer experience. Why wait?”
This is where employee feedback comes into play. Ask the employee, “How did that call feel to you?”
Golden says, “You always want to tell them what they did well.” Cover what you liked about that call and provide feedback. Golden added, “You are supportive, but you are using the opportunity…to give feedback so that you protect, and even improve, your customer experience.”
Read our 2022 ultimate guide to customer service
Download nowScenario #4: Different teams have specific customer experience goals, and each business unit focuses on improving their portion of the customer journey
This is a Chump move. As Walters said, “This is a little bit of a trick question again, because really what we want to do is make sure that we are providing a consistent customer experience throughout the journey.”
When teams focus only on their individual goals, it’s challenging to grasp how the customer’s end-to-end experience is impacted. Salesforce found that 76% of customers expect that consistent service. Additionally, 54% of that group said sales, marketing, and service groups do not share information or talk to each other.
Siloed CX data results in an inconsistent customer experience. Walters continued, “Maybe [customers are] being asked the same question again and again, or maybe they are finding that they're getting different answers from different groups.”
She explained, “The best customer experiences are intentional, proactive, and positive. And the way that they become less positive is when they simply become a little inconsistent.”
Related: Learn how to create a customer journey map that will enable you to gain insights into the most common customer pain points and optimize the customer experience.
CX maturity is a journey, not a destination
The COVID-19 pandemic has taught us that customers’ expectations can change rapidly. Building a solid, mature CX program will enable your company to pivot quickly and evolve based on customers’ needs.
Take the GetFeedback Maturity Quiz to discover where your customer experience program needs improvements. You will get an overall maturity score and a performance breakdown for each of the nine key elements that contribute to the health of your CX program. Once you understand your current maturity levels, use the detailed element playbooks to advance from one level to the next.