![\"cx](\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/audit1.png\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Businesses that provide an excellent customer experience (CX) have better sales and brand loyalty. However, how do businesses know the state of their CX?<\/p>\n
Often, companies rely on opinions and guesswork to identify customer pain points. This subjective data can be misleading, outdated, or anecdotal. The lack of hard data can lead to continually bad customer service<\/a>. Instead, businesses should gather data from different sources to determine their CX.<\/p>\n The collection of this data should be formalized in a CX audit. These audits will help you identify any pain points for your customers. According to Dimension Data\u2019s 2017 Global Customer Experience (CX) Benchmarking report<\/a>, 71 percent of organizations cited CX as a competitive differentiator. However, only 13 percent of brands rated their CX delivery a nine or better.<\/p>\n Regular audits will help you improve your customer experience delivery and improve your CX rating. You will be able to see all aspects of your customer experience in a holistic and impartial way. The audit will help your business:<\/p>\n This article will explain the steps of the CX audit. By working through these steps, your business can improve service quality, which will lead to the benefits listed above. An audit will determine customers\u2019 perceptions of your brand<\/a> and what that means for your business. After this, you can make the changes so perception lines up with your company\u2019s vision and goals.<\/p>\n First, you need to get an outline for your customer lifecycle. Customers can be broadly broken down into two groups: pre-sale and post-sale. Each group has different roles and needs within your business.<\/p>\n Understand where customers interact with you before they purchase goods or services from your company. Document your outreach strategy and determine if it is working. Does this strategy lead to sales? Are customers satisfied with this experience?<\/p>\n As well as the overarching stages, there are different points within each group you should pay particular attention to. In pre-sale, these points are at the awareness, nurturing, and decision phases. The post-sale points are satisfaction, loyalty, and advocacy. If you understand how people move through these points in the customer lifecycle, you can identify any problems you may have.<\/p>\n There are different places customers and leads interact with your company. You need to identify these touchpoints across the lifecycle. It may be helpful to start with the two basic groups. Then, investigate how customers progress through each step from awareness to advocacy. Afterward, you will know if you are converting leads into customers<\/a>. You will also make sure you retain those customers and turn them into brand advocates.<\/p>\n Make sure you document all the touchpoints. This includes social media, trade shows, trial offers and products, email, and direct mail. Then you should gauge the influence of each touchpoint. Determine if each are effective and provide an excellent customer experience.<\/p>\n Then, you need to compare your technology with your business functions. Determine if your digital platforms support your business. Does your technology work to improve your CX? If it doesn\u2019t, then you can expand and adapt to fit market demands and provide a positive experience for your customers. You may find that you need to re-evaluate technology\u2019s role in serving your customers<\/a>.<\/p>\n Also, investigate whether your tech sits in silos. Customers want a seamless transition between their digital and physical worlds. Communication about customer initiatives should flow freely from department to department. Here are some things to look at:<\/p>\n Communication is vital to business success. One way to ensure your customers can reach you is through business call forwarding<\/a>. This will help the flow of communication by making sure calls get to the right person or department. Making sure you have effective telecommunications will save your customers time and frustration and improve your CX.<\/p>\n After looking at your technology, turn your eye to your business. It will determine if every aspect of your company has the same vision. Ask your leaders what they want the outcome of CX to be. Everyone should have the same definitions of customer experience. They may have different perspectives, but it should all lead to the same goals.<\/p>\n Your C-Suite should look at your retail sales channels<\/a> and how they are working. Do you have more than one channel? Are those channels working together or is there a disconnect? Your C-Suite consists of the people managing your operation. Therefore, it is vital that they have a clear vision for your CX.<\/p>\n From the upper levels, you can identify any problems that will increase as they work down your business. Having your C-Suite on the same page will provide consistency to your employees and your customers. This will lead to a better customer experience and better service overall.<\/p>\n Nobody knows your CX better than your employees. They can determine if your customer experience is driving business growth<\/a> or hampering your success. Complete internal surveys on a regular basis to keep up-to-date data.<\/p>\n This will make sure your CX program reaches every aspect of your business. Take the opportunity to make sure that each employee understands their role. Gauge their dedication in providing excellent customer service.<\/p>\n In the survey, make sure you investigate both positive and negative experiences. This includes the experiences of the customer and on the employee side. Happy employees provide better customer service. If you have a call center, you can determine if you are using the best call center software<\/a> for your business, for instance.<\/p>\n Making sure that your employees are satisfied with their job is an important part of your CX audit. Businesses who make sure their employees are included in their vision will have better CX strategies and outcomes.<\/p>\n Some questions you should ask are:<\/p>\n After you get feedback from your employees, evaluate the results. Investigate if there is anything you can do to improve employee satisfaction. For example, if your employees are stressed about the volume of calls they receive, make changes. You can utilize an auto attendant phone system<\/a> to make your employees’ day easier. It will also improve your customer service because of increased efficiency.<\/p>\n Throughout your audit, ask yourself what the next steps should be. Each phase of the audit should identify different areas of improvement. It should also bring to light where you are succeeding. The strategies that work in one area of your business may be able to be placed in other departments. What departments have implemented exemplary customer service skills<\/a>?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/div>\nFormally Document Customer Lifecycle<\/h2>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n![\"presale](\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/audit2.png\")
<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nLook at the Tech<\/h2>\n
<\/div>\n![\"a](\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/audit3.png\")
<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/div>\nAudit your C-Suite<\/h2>\n
<\/div>\n![\"group](\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/audit4.png\")
<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nExplore Your Employee Data Goldmine<\/h2>\n
<\/div>\n![\"bar](\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/audit5.png\")
<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/div>\nTake Action<\/h2>\n
<\/div>\n![\"idea](\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/audit6.png\")
<\/p>\n<\/div>\n