What is Customer Experience Management?
Customer experience management is the combination of all the processes an organization has in place, across all channels, to monitor and improve customer interactions. The main goal of CEM is to retain customers and generate positive word of mouth, among other things, in order drive change and improve profitability.
What Are the Benefits of Customer Experience Management?
Effective customer experience management benefits an organization by allowing them to:
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Monitor customers’ feedback to understand their pain points and focus on improvements that matter to them
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Provide a holistic view of customers across all touchpoints and all channels, across the entire customer journey
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Improve VoC metrics like NPS® and correlate this improvement to revenue
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Provide the right people in the organization with the right customer feedback that will help them make better business decisions
What Are the Challenges of Customer Experience Management?
Most CX experts will find that executing CX management comes with its obstacles, especially in instances where customer experience management is new to an organization. One example of these obstacles is executive buy-ins. Without upper management support and willingness to invest, acquiring the resources needed for CX success can be difficult.
Along with executive support, another challenge of CX management is the ability to achieve a holistic view of the customer. Despite being a key component of CEM, it can be easily overlooked/mishandled. Fortunately, businesses can achieve this view by finding the right Customer Experience Management software or CX platform that can provide the means to capture the Voice of the Customer, leverage external data for CX purposes, deliver role based insight and break down silos by connecting and empowering people across the organization to take action.
A final key challenge which often stalls CX programs from progressing is the difficulty in linking customer experience to business KPIs. Even if you’re in the position of running a CX program based on CX metrics like NPS or Customer Effort, ultimately the business will want to know exactly how the program helps achieve its key objectives, such as growing revenue and reducing costs. Having the ability to link CEM to financial outcomes will not only add perceived value to CEM programs but will also help solidify its place in day to day business activities.