For my article I chose Calabrios text about Delivering the next-generation customer experience. The main message of the text is how important customer experience is for companies. Consumers’ expectations have evolved a lot in the past few years. In the text it was that 32 % of consumers think that businesses don’t understand their needs. Especially corona pandemia made a big difference to consumer expectations, which forces the companies to keep up. People now a days wait for things like fast response, personalized service, empathy and human connection, and Omnichannel experience. This article shows what positive affects you can get if you use a third-party contact center. (Calabrio 2021, 4.) Consumers’ expectations are getting higher and higher, and they really wait for good CX. For example, the thought of fast responses is modern but really forces companies to be available 24/7. That is another thing, how okay that is morally.
In the article there was introduced nine different strategies for developing next-generation customer experience. All of the strategies had concrete tools that contact center use. Companies really have to work hard to actually keep up with improving the CX. One strategy can work maybe for a few months, as customers’ expectations improve fast. I really recommend all of you to check the strategies of the text out, because the article was very universal. I chose three strategies to bring up and to give my thoughts and opinions about them.
The first strategy I would like to introduce is strategy 4: Increasing customer Retention. It costs 500% more, on average, to attract a new customer than to retain an existing one. Focusing on keeping existing customers is often more cost-effective and profitable than finding new ones. It’s much cheaper to retain a customer than to attract a new one, and even a small improvement in keeping customers can boost profits a lot. However, today’s customers have many choices and can easily switch if they’re not satisfied. (Calabrio 2021, 16.)
The second strategy I thought was excellent was strategy 7: staying ahead of evolving customer needs. This startegy is about the things I already brought up in the introduction. This strategy is to always be one step ahead of your customers. In the business world companies have to work hard to always have their portfolios optimized. The trend is that companies are trying to eliminate services with low customer demand and at the same time try to capture unmet needs. In the article they argue that BPO can capture the full voice of the customer. BPO has access to customers from very upset to extremely satisfied and importantly, to those who fit between. That allows us to have a bigger picture of the customers’ needs. For this strategy there was a real example: customers search “I can’t find…” and that’s when BPO offers a full information package for the user. (Calabrio 2021, 22–23.)
The third strategy I chose to bring up is strategy 1: Optimizing the omnichannel experience. The main point of the strategy is that contact centers omnichannel strategy offers smooth and consistent experience for customers. People now use different ways to interact with businesses, like social media, phone calls, emails, or visiting stores. A strong omnichannel approach ensures that no matter which channel they use, the experience feels connected and personalized. This improves customers’ happiness and loyalty, as they feel valued. It also helps businesses respond more quickly and effectively to customer needs. (Calabrio 2021, 10–11.) This is something that I personally would like as a customer, as it really is annoying to get information from many sources.
BPO would be a very possible tool for me to use. The third-party contact center sounded very trustful and the strategies in the sounded impressive. It is very important for me to face customers with empathy and offer meaningful meetings. These strategies were so useful that I think I could use them by myself when facing customers. I think that behind every good customer’s experience there is also well-being staff, who need quality tools and education to offer good service and to improve as a worker. Even though customer experience can be very 24/7 job, workers need rights to also have a free time and not always be available.
References
Calabrio 2021. Delivering the next generation customer experience. Accessed 10.9.2024. Available at: https://lucit-my.sharepoint.com/:b:/g/personal/paivi_hanni-vaara_lapinamk_fi/EeOrEr7KYslHvbjmvsOz_10BRzKCs2-Np_znJcKQWejVTg?e=iuW4qf