Customer experience trends? Get rid of them!
6 December 2022
Strong words from someone who speaks and writes about customer experience all day long. And yet I mean it: I don't really believe in those customer experience trends that are penned down year after year by all sorts of trend watchers.
The problem with Customer experience trends
The danger lies in the idea of viewing customer experience as a sprint. This year we focus on trend A, next year on trend B, and the year after that we do something else entirely. That is all well and good, but it is very bad for the consistency of your customer experience. And consistency happens to be one of the most important factors in experience.
An example to make it clear? Sure!
I recently read somewhere about 'TikTok-ise' your experiences as a trend. Oh dear, I thought. A whole string of managers reading this and then saying: we have to use TikTok in our organization, that is one of the new customer experience trends.
Before you start arguing that social media like TikTok is actually quite important: I agree with the fact that an entire generation is currently growing up with TikTok, and that you might as well learn from what this platform does well. I myself am still a complete TikTok novice, so that is another area for improvement for 2023.
BUT… that doesn’t mean: throwing your previous strategy in the trash and focusing solely on that, or thinking that this is the new holy grail.
The not-so-popular truth is, after all, that the basis of customer experience does not change all that drastically, and certainly not annually.
Why is that? Because people's deepest, most important needs don't just change every year. We want to be seen, heard, and acknowledged. It's that simple (or not, but that's fodder for another blog).
Customerry presents: 3 back-from-the-beaten-path customer experience trends for 2023, 2024, and 2025
Anyway, after reading the 5th trend list, I decided to take a different approach this year and compile my all-time favorite customer experience trends. Things I bring up in every project, during every lecture, and which – for me at least – form the basis of a thoroughly customer-centric, or better yet, people-centric policy. Would you like to read along?
Fix the basics!
I already wrote it above. People want to be heard, seen, and acknowledged. If you fix this, you fix a whole lot of existing customer frustrations. Ensure that customers can reach you easily and receive an adequate answer at a reasonable time. Need concrete examples of what you can do? Answer the phone at your company. Have your info@ mailbox actually delivered somewhere and read these emails. Ensure that messages from a contact form are answered. Don't let customers call back themselves, but be proactive.
Yes, but Sarah, surely everyone has been doing that for ages? Think again. The basics, such as a well-functioning customer service department and being accessible and approachable, are far from being right everywhere. So take a look at that first, and continue to pay attention to it. (Read: regularly check if your gold standard is still shining)
People before process.
Structure your organization so that human needs always take precedence over the process. Prioritize the human touch and ensure your employees can make exceptions where necessary. Build your customer journey based on the customer's needs, not on ease of use for the organization. While it is obviously smart to do both, you will sometimes have to make compromises. In those cases, think 'what's in it for the customer?' instead of 'what is easiest for us'.
The internal customer is also important.
Loyal followers know that they will never hear me say that the employee experience is more important than the customer experience. After all, without customers, an organization has no right to exist.
However, that does not mean you should treat the employee experience like a stepchild. With the current labor shortage, there is a high chance of a (future) staff shortage at your company as well. You had therefore better do everything possible to make your employees happy people who enjoy coming to work. Moreover, you cannot pretend to be a customer-centric organization and then pay zero attention to your internal customer. Twist it or turn it, that is simply not right.
2 practical tips you can put into practice immediately.
I can hear you thinking: that’s all well and good, Sarah, those all-time classic customer experience trends, but what should I focus on in the coming year? I’ll give you two very practical tips to get you started:
Train your people to become curious minds.
Everything starts with a healthy dose of curiosity. Therefore, ensure you have a team of curious minds who are interested in just about everything in and around your organization. People who dare to probe your customers' 'why,' who listen sincerely and build a bond in the process, and who use their antennae to perfectly figure out exactly what is on your customers' minds.
But therefore also people who constantly critically question your own organization. Who wonder why something isn't possible for a customer and who hate the phrase 'we always do it this way'.
Being curious is a mindset that you can train, and for which you can employ various techniques. I will share a few during my offline inspiration day on January 26, 2024, in Mechelen . You are more than welcome, too!
Give employees the space to be truly customer-oriented.
In other words: people before process. Give employees the mandate and the trust to do what is necessary for customers. Of course, there are standard processes (and we need them), but ensure that your people can also think outside the box. Teach them to assess when something extra is possible, and then give them the confidence to do so.
A classic I bring up in every training: create a 'happy customer fund'. A (virtual) fund containing a budget to make the customer happy. Everyone can use it to do something extra for the customer, without asking for prior approval. Relatively easy to set up, not a major customer-facing project, and both your customers and employees will feel the difference.
And you? Are you sensitive to customer experience trends?
Or do you believe, like me, in fixing the basics and could use some support with that? I’d be happy to brainstorm with you!
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