When EX and CX are aligned, it can have a profound impact on a business’ performance.
The success of any company depends on its relationships with its customers and employees. That’s why a relentless focus on, and alignment between, customer experience (CX) and employee experience (EX) is critical to success.
Experiences matter more now than ever before. A report from PwC found that “73% of customers point to experience as an important factor in their purchasing decisions.” The payoff for companies with great CX: a 16% price premium and higher customer lifetime value. For employees, it’s not just about money. McKinsey found that 70% of workers want their job to be a significant source of purpose in their lives.
When EX and CX are aligned, it can have a profound impact on a business’ performance. In fact, businesses that prioritize EX and CX efforts together witness double the revenue growth. When Forrester looked at what sets apart customer-obsessed firms, they found that their employees were “28% more likely to report being happy at work, which contributed to higher employee accountability, more innovation, and lower attrition, among other benefits.”
Related Article: 3 Ways to Improve EX and CX at the Same Time
Leverage AI to Delight Customers Across All Touch Points
Customer experience continues to be a high priority for organizations. According to a report from Gartner, “By 2023, organizations at advanced stages of digital transformation will find that poor customer experience is their biggest barrier to further success.”
We’ve reached the point where being digital isn’t enough. Customers expect seamlessness across their digital journeys.
But most businesses continue to face information gaps. Over the years, they have rolled out new channels, like chatbots, to keep up with customer expectations, but these channels remain siloed and continue to create disjointed experiences for customers.
To create an extraordinary and unified customer experience, businesses need to be able to analyze the behavior of an individual’s journey across all digital touch points. AI has evolved to the point where the same technology that led to Amazon’s rise is now readily available to everyone.
They also must acknowledge that customer journeys have evolved and consumer attention spans are getting increasingly short. Being relevant is the only way to successfully compete and win shoppers’ attention. At a time in which customer intent can change in a heartbeat, it is critical to understand behavior based upon every single click and customer data point and to serve relevant experiences tailored to such intent.
Today, machine learning can learn from the current user intent and react quickly within a few clicks based on the signals shoppers emit while browsing online.
Related Article: The 2022 Golden Rule of CX: Treat Employees How You Treat Your Customers
Unify CX and EX
Many companies are using a “total experience” approach to win customers and support employees. According to Gartner, “by 2024, organizations providing a total experience will outperform competitors by 25% in satisfaction metrics for both CX and EX.”
Yet despite the heightened digital expectations, from both employees and customers, for many brands’ CX and EX technologies — especially when it comes to search and communications — remain separate.
Now is the opportunity to take a leap forward with the right technology to drive a total experience. Take a moment to look at your current solutions stack, find the silos and gaps that are hindering the best customer and employee experiences — and survey your customers and employees on them. Test the platforms out there, speak to experts and see what works for you.
The bar is raised, it’s time to meet it.
