While AI and chatbots can often step in at several points, most businesses looking to deliver a great customer experience and improve retention will ensure the human touch. After all, talking to another person can build trust and it also makes it easier to help customers with the more complex concerns.<\/p>\n
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Talking to empathetic and concerned employees who are invested in the concern at hand can make customers feel secure and reassured. However, the opposite is also true. Talking to a disengaged and frustrated employee can make customer feel frustrated, and increase churn.<\/p>\n
As a result, it takes only one negative interaction with a customer service agent to make or break the entire customer experience. That\u2019s a frightening prospect when you consider the following:<\/p>\n
- \n
- Studies in 2022<\/a> show that 66% of customers lost patience with business representatives delivering inflexible, dysfunctional service, falling short of the fast, convenient, and personalized experience they expected.<\/li>\n
- 33% of customers<\/a> admit they\u2019ve vented at an incompetent employee on more than one occasion.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
When you think about human nature, people on both sides of the divide pass through different moods, have a bad day, or experience a lapse in patience. So, anything can happen in any interaction. That’s why it’s important to see both employee experience<\/a> (EX) and customer experience<\/a> (CX) under the same spotlight, providing a more holistic perspective of the entire process.<\/p>\n
<\/div>\nIt doesn\u2019t take a long article to tell us that unhappy, unengaged employees are likely to corrupt a CX if they get the chance to do it – consciously or unconsciously. So, the following sections dive deeper into the subject to explain in detail how an engaging EX relates to the ideal CX for every organization.<\/p>\n
<\/div>\nWhat is employee experience?<\/h2>\n
Every employee passes through a lifecycle in the company, stepping from one touchpoint to the next from the time they join to retirement or resignation. EX embraces dives into how employees feel about their time in the organization. It extends from boss\/subordinate relationships to peer interactions, fitting in with the organizational culture, learning curve, and realizing ambitions.<\/p>\n
<\/div>\nMaintaining an immersive EX<\/a> – the epitome of employee commitment and loyalty – is vital before allowing staff to connect with customers. Long-term employees (i.e., reflecting high retention) are more likely to contribute to a productive and cooperative work environment as part of a team that shares accomplishments.<\/p>\n
<\/div>\nInterestingly, everyone glibly says, \u201cCustomers come first!\u201d There’s nothing wrong with that, except many strategists believe one must instead focus on employee satisfaction as a priority. It makes ultimate sense if you feel a happy, productive, and satisfied team from the top down will resonate with customers.<\/p>\n
<\/div>\nFrom another angle, it doesn\u2019t take much imagination to visualize the sales revenue damage a disgruntled, dissatisfied workforce can wreak. Strategizing doesn\u2019t mean choosing between EX and CX – they\u2019re not mutually exclusive. In my view, all the resources management can harness to create a superior EX should work for CX as well. Of course, there are other CX touchpoint responsibilities, but from an EX viewpoint and its impact on customer retention, there\u2019s no conflict.<\/p>\n
<\/div>\nHow does EX impact revenue?<\/h2>\n
Harvard Business Review<\/a> researched a large global retail brand, connecting relevant P&L financial data to EX quality metrics (such as longevity). Straightaway, they discovered that customer-facing employees had a seismic impact on revenue, even pointing out that the undeniable correlation rating was understated due to qualitative constructs one can\u2019t measure (such as staff health\/wellbeing and corporate culture influences on decisions).<\/p>\n
<\/div>\nThe takeaway from this study is that improving just a few KPIs related to a better EX can boost revenues by 50%. It shows that customers will probably invest their time and money in brands where they feel employee enthusiasm and company contentment.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n<\/div>\nHappy employees and happy customers: Which comes first?<\/h2>\n
Glassdoor reviews of companies across 13 industries reflected customer satisfaction (indicated by ratings from the American Customer Satisfaction Index). Harvard, in another study<\/a>, assembled the latter for analysis, concluding that a steadfast integration between employee and customer satisfaction exists. The researchers further said that any organization aiming to put the customer first cannot get there without initially investing in employee engagement.<\/p>\n
<\/div>\nMoreover, Harvard points out that some suggest happy customers make employees happy (i.e., the other way around). Their sensitivity tests showed that while it occurs, it\u2019s unusual. Employee contentment is predominantly the cause, not the effect.<\/p>\n
<\/div>\nHow can you build an EX that works?<\/h2>\n
Firstly, stakeholders can\u2019t build an HR structure on quicksand. In other words, if the fundamentals are missing, all EX efforts will gain little traction. For example, non-competitive compensation packages or inappropriate leadership styles will erode all employee engagement initiatives<\/a> that follow.<\/p>\n
<\/div>\nWith basics taken care of, three things will have a massive impact:<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n- \n
- Empower employees:<\/strong> Provide employees with the resources and training they need to do their jobs well, especially when it meets with CX. It can make the difference between a collision and a mutually happy engagement.<\/li>\n
- Encourage employees:<\/strong> Listen to employees’ suggestions aimed at making the customer journey as smooth as possible.<\/li>\n
- Recognize employees:<\/strong> Don\u2019t hesitate to acknowledge and celebrate achievements meaningfully. The most substantial confirmation of an employee\u2019s worth is adopting their ideas and letting the team know where they came from (creating peer recognition simultaneously).<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
Focusing on the human connection<\/h2>\n
Let’s go back to another aspect of EX and CX interaction (or lack thereof): digital intrusion into the CX arena. It\u2019s no secret that AI has powered mobile ordering and other customer connections such as request for support, removing CX from human interaction to software facilitators. While it\u2019s possible to conceive an entire tech-guided CJ without talking to a live person, what\u2019s missing from this?<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n- \n
- Empathy<\/li>\n
- Encouragement<\/li>\n
- Interactive stress release<\/li>\n
- Kindness<\/li>\n
- Interpretive expertise<\/li>\n
- Enthusiasm<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
So, it\u2019s impossible to build the sense of identity and belonging a company can derive from an engaging EX using a machine or software. In addition, it\u2019s challenging to program a digital device to follow a moral compass or think on its feet, recommending unorthodox solutions. How do you inspire a technology to go the extra mile in promoting a brand image for the best possible CX? You simply can\u2019t.<\/p>\n
<\/div>\nWho killed the sale?<\/h2>\n
I want to tell you about a 16 MM black-and-white education movie filmed in the 1960s. It\u2019s ancient vintage but relevant to the CX\/EX conversation titled – \u201cWho killed the sale?\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/div>\nThe movie covered a series of events around a B2B sale where a dynamic, motivated, energetic salesman gets an order against significant competition. The only thing left to do is a successful execution. Unfortunately, it involves a warehouse manager who sends the wrong product and a truck driver who leaves late and gets pulled over for speeding.<\/p>\n
<\/div>\nWhen the buyer complains, he interacts with a rude receptionist and a technical client support agent who doesn\u2019t know much about anything. So, unsurprisingly, the deal falls through. The befuddled salesman asks, \u201cWho killed the sale?\u201d The answer, we can see, is disgruntled staff who, despite his efforts, adopted a “couldn’t care less\u201d attitude, dropping the ball.<\/p>\n
<\/div>\nThe EX impact on CX differs in every business. B2B decisions these days are in the realm of committees that involve buyers, engineers, finance departments, transport, warehousing, and legal. In instances like this, the customer journey<\/a> can go on for days, weeks, or even months. Business developers must connect directly with all influencers in ways and at times that suit them. In short, it’s a networking process that requires knowledgeable and motivated participants. Unhappy personnel in these positions is a disaster, likely to derail the journey long before a satisfactory conclusion.<\/p>\n
<\/div>\nOn the other end of the spectrum, buying an impulse item or a food takeout moves through a faster process but still requires touchpoints, any one of which can disrupt a customer\u2019s experience. For example, you\u2019re not likely to return to a restaurant where the food was cold, the service poor, or the waiter was rude to you. Unfortunately, CX\u2019s success or failure hinges on something as flimsy as one unwanted incident on the way to the cash till. Sometimes, the culprit is digital, but mostly, an employee goes rogue.<\/p>\n
- Encourage employees:<\/strong> Listen to employees’ suggestions aimed at making the customer journey as smooth as possible.<\/li>\n
- 33% of customers<\/a> admit they\u2019ve vented at an incompetent employee on more than one occasion.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n