Sometimes, there is a mistake that many companies make when it comes to customer service training. They think that this is a dispensable factor and that the fact that a customer returns depends merely on the quality of the product. However, this is no longer the case, which is why it is necessary to know the benefits of a good customer experience in order to put it at the forefront and use technology such as artificial intelligence to achieve the highest possible performance.
One study that proves the benefits of customer experience and how well it performs is from Watermark Consulting. The company tracked the 13-year stock market performance of customer experience leaders versus laggards between 2007 and 2019. The best customer-centric companies posted gains of 307%, while the S&P index showed a 199.6% return. These excellent CX companies outperformed the index by more than 50%.
And what about the customer experience lags that were also tracked? Their numbers came in at less than half the S&P, with gains of only 90% over those 13 years. This clearly proves that good customer service triggers customer loyalty.
If the numbers from the top customer experience leaders weren’t enough, there are statistics from ACA’s research on customer service. They surveyed more than 1,000 consumers on the topic and here’s what they said:
– 73% will do everything they can to do business with a company that provides better customer service.
– 79% said they would switch if they knew of another company that offered a better customer experience.
– 52% will pay more if they know they will receive excellent customer service (that number is even higher if the company offers a convenient experience).
The factors for creating a winning CX
The overall experience is the main factor towards creating a winning CX. This means everything related to the entire experience, which can include how easy it is to navigate your website, how easy it is to communicate with the company, the product packaging (if applicable) and anything else the customer experiences while doing business with your company.
Another important aspect is the customer service that the client experiences along the way. It can start in the sales process and continue long after the sale when customers need support, have complaints or need answers and it is tied to each and every interaction they have with the company or brand.
The importance of training
Customer service training is the basis for providing an excellent customer service experience. In fact, you must train employees on how to do this, even if they are inherently pleasant and friendly people. In addition, the biggest mistake companies make in customer service training is that they only train the front line.
That front line usually consists of sales people and the team that provides customer service. Customer service is more than a department. It is more than people on the front line interacting with external customers. The best companies recognize that customer service is embedded in the culture and therefore train everyone in the company.
If you track the interactions a customer has with an organization, you will find that there is a lot going on “behind the scenes” where employees who never interact with a customer are impacting the experience. It may be someone in the warehouse making sure the order goes out on time, that nothing is missing, and that it is packaged in a way that won’t be damaged. That employee is impacting the customer, but never sees or talks to the customer.
You don’t need to train behind-the-scenes employees the same way you train front-line employees. But they still need to be trained properly. Everyone needs to understand what the company’s goals are and how their role impacts those goals.