Every business knows the importance of customer experience (CX) strategy. In today’s digital age, though, CX has evolved into an omnichannel, go-anywhere experience. Customer expect to have the latest digital technology solutions integrated into their interactions with their favorite brands, and they expect it to be effortless on their part.
As digital integrations become a cornerstone of CX, how can brands best respond?
The Power of an Integrated Experience
Today’s customers no long want an integrated experience – they expect it, and they expect it to work effectively for them. Qualtrics reported research that found the brands with the strongest omnichannel CX strategies retained an average of 89% of their customers, while brands with weak strategies only managed to retain 33%. The same research also found that 29% of consumers say they want to see major improvements to the online resources provided by their favorite brands, and 27% want to see improvements to the actual buying process.
The omnichannel experience provides your brand with more touchpoints to connect with customers, making it more valuable and more important to get right. A study reported by the Harvard Business Review found that omnichannel customers spent, on average, 4% more on in-store shopping and 10% more while shopping online than single-channel customers did. Even more powerful: the number of channels correlated with increased spending. With each additional channel shoppers used, they spent more money in store; customers who engaged on four or more channels spent an average of 9% more in-store than one-channel customers.
Omnichannel experiences aren’t just powerful tools to boost spending—they can also increase the all-important loyalty metric. The same HBR study noted a link between repeat visits and omnichannel CX strategies. Within six months of an omnichannel shopping experience, customers made 23% more repeat trips to the stores in question. Plus, they were significantly more likely to recommend the brand than single-channel shoppers were, suggesting a link between omnichannel experiences and positive word-of-mouth marketing as well.
Core Principles of Digital CX
We know that an omnichannel strategy, incorporating cutting-edge digital experience, is a powerful tool for today’s marketers. What does that actually look like in practice? The most effective strategies avoid the temptation to constantly add “bells and whistles,” instead focusing on a few core CX principles: personalization, streamlining, and problem-solving. Digital-focused additions are most successful when they’re aimed at one or more of these values.
The Harvard Business Review suggests three core principles for digital CX strategies:
- Put the digital experience in the business context, focusing on how digital strategies can drive profit and solve a business problem.
- Recognize that customers are not identical, and personalized the experience where possible and appropriate.
- Make “zero-based” decisions, and be willing to break ideas down to their basics so you can re-evaluate strategies and prioritize those that have the highest impact.
There are two other “wants” that brands should keep in mind. Customers want seamless integration between physical/tangible and digital experiences, and they don’t want to have to repeat themselves throughout their interactions. Research from Zendesk found that 76% of customers expect personalized experiences from brands, including (but not necessarily limited to) actions such as engagement over their preferred contact method, account type or status, and product recommendations based on purchase and search history. 71%, meanwhile, said that they expect companies will have some form of internal communication or collaboration so that the customers don’t have to repeat themselves.
Developing that integrated, personalized, and user-friendly customer experience must be a priority for today’s CX leaders. In fact, having those leaders in place can be the difference between a brand that succeeds and leads, and a brand that falls behind the competition.
Hiring Visionary CX Talent
The omnichannel age presents more opportunities than ever for brands to make a positive impact on customers, but it also presents plenty of pitfalls along the way. Brands need CX leaders in place who are comfortable and experienced with overseeing a comprehensive, integrated strategy to meet customers where they are and give them the experience they’re looking for.
Those leaders are likely to possess a combination of “hard” and “soft” skills. For instance, they’ll bring a deep and nuanced understanding of data, how to gather it, and how to apply it, but they’ll also need skills that are harder to quantify, like creativity, collaboration, and willingness to try new things. Companies looking to hire transformative CX leaders may want to look for the following (non-exhaustive) collection of qualities:
- Experience with multiple components of CX strategy
- A sense of creativity and curiosity about what’s next
- Strong understanding of data – how to collect, analyze, apply it
- Understanding of the connection between CX and other elements (i.e., employee experience)
An omnichannel strategy that successfully integrates digital touchpoints is critical to a successful CX strategy in today’s competitive marketplace. In turn, brands need innovative, confident CX leadership to drive these changes and spearhead a strategy that keeps customers engaged and wanting to come back over and over. Blue Rock Search has extensive knowledge of the CX landscape, plus a robust and diverse pipeline of exceptional talent ready to take the reins. Contact us today to learn more about our CX recruiting solutions!
By Dawn Russell
About the Author
As Managing Director and CX Executive Search Practice Leader for Blue Rock, Dawn brings her Social Talent Black Belt skills and deep analytic abilities to bear, developing quality talent pipelines for a variety of diverse industries focused on Customer Experience. Dawn is the only Managing Director at Blue Rock Search that is equally knowledgeable in three of our five specialties, including Customer Experience, Franchise, and Human Resources.