The Customer Experience Toolkit for 2022

As the COVID-19 pandemic stretches on “pandemic fatigue” has set in for many businesses. Both customers and employees are exhausted and overwhelmed with restrictions, isolations, cancelled holidays, and not being able to make plans. They are also aware that life will not simply bounce back to how things were. The uncertainty of the pandemic has resulted in shifts in buying patterns and customer behaviours, business models, and ways of working. 

To overcome pandemic fatigue, business leaders must use 2022 as an opportunity to re-energise their workforces, cultivate the quality of their customer relationships, and demonstrate resilience to recharge their businesses, so they can keep pace with new market trends and growth. As Albert Einstein said: “In the midst of every crisis lies great opportunity”.

To help your business – and the contact centres that lie at the heart of your customer interactions – avoid a “COVID coma”, CCW Europe Digital has created a toolkit of insights to ensure your year is filled with exceptional customer experiences (CX).

1. Self-Service: A Win-Win for Businesses and Customers

People love convenience. Customers have always expected a prompt, friendly service, but customers are ever-more expecting personalised services that are frictionless or stress-free, and employees are starting to expect similar experiences in how they conduct business.

Customer self-service options such as chatbots allow businesses to shrink resolution timelines, foster a sense of empowerment for customers to “help themselves”, and reduce employee workloads. According to an e-book by Nice CXone, 45% of companies that offered self-service reduced their phone inquiries and had happier employees.

Similarly, Timothy Shepheard-Walwyn, Senior Manager at Sprint Reply, explains in an interview with CCW Europe Digital, that chatbots also play an integral role in advancing customer interactions with businesses in a post-pandemic era.

2. Forging Human Connections with Customers

Every customer has their go-to brands because of proven CX or a trusted product and service, however, according to a Forbes article, The Customer of The Future Wants Connection and Progress, only one-in-three companies reach the status of a “go-to brand”.

So, what does it take to be a “go-to brand” for customers today? Popular brands like Apple, Amazon, and Google, for example, stand out because they drive more growth and resilience by creating meaningful and personal connections with their customers. They offer a connection through storytelling and by tapping into the customer’s sense of identity. In addition, they enable customers to achieve progress by living up to an emotional promise when solving a problem.

Over 60% of surveyed consumers told Qualtrics that businesses need to care more about them, and more importantly, that they would buy more as a result.

In a CCW Europe Digital webinar, customer management experts from Unbabel and TuneCore explore how businesses can enhance their emotional connection with customers by using the language that matters to them. Watch the webinar on-demand here.

3. Elevating Employee Engagement to Drive CX

While employee engagement and CX are mutually exclusive and should share the “chicken and the egg” analogy, businesses looking to improve their CX and increase their return on investment need to focus on creating the best employee engagement possible.

By empowering employees in their roles, they are better positioned to advocate for customers, resolve issues quicker, and contribute towards brand customer loyalty.

In addition, according to Blake Morgan, companies with a highly engaged workforce are 60% more profitable than companies that do not focus on their employees and customers.  

For more insights on how to increase customer loyalty and retention, re-think customer value, and prioritise employee wellbeing in 2022, sign up to CCW Europe Digital's event to hear strategies from Coca-Cola, LEGO, Vodafone, and the Skipton Building Society.