CX Will Be Essential for Rebuilding After COVID-19: Four Steps You Need to Take Now
CX has become one of the most important ways companies can stand out from the crowd—and also one of the most confounding issues. Yet B2B companies still struggle to understand how consumer trends are driving expectations. BARE shares an article of MarketingProfs written by Christine Rimer.
The idea that needs are static can hinder any company from delivering quality CX to its customers. Solving this problem becomes even more critical now as companies are considering how to recover from the global disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The needs and wants of customers have shifted dramatically in the couple of months, and companies that continue to move forward in the same old ways will struggle for quite some time.
I recently had a chance to discuss customer experience (CX) best-practices at length with a network of top enterprise leaders. They offered some great insights.
Here are four ways B2B companies can provide helpful, impactful, and timely CX during the crisis.
1. Anticipate needs
Companies with robust CX programs have likely gathered customer information in Q4 2019, but those reports may as well be turned into bird-cage liners now. To create meaningful programs that will drive positive CX, companies need to relearn the shifting needs of their customers.
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused virtually everyone to reconsider their needs. Once people began worrying they wouldn’t have enough food, the frills and perks of traditional CX programs suddenly became uninteresting and even frivolous. Companies should focus on solving problems for customers; otherwise, they risk coming off as insincere if perceived as shamelessly promoting their product.
Listening is the key. Understanding how to address customer priorities has to come from a place of empathy with a bias toward how you can be helpful to your customers. Listening and building with that empathy will let organizations provide products and services that genuinely serve customers’ needs and generate goodwill without coming across as tone deaf or uncaring.
2. Take relevant action
One of the CX leaders I recently spoke with shared that their company is overhauling their relationship surveys at the moment. Their standard question set felt inconsiderate and less relevant to building and maintaining current customer relationships under the circumstances. Most leading companies are no doubt considering the same thing, whether that means changing the language of surveys, altering the questions or pausing them altogether.
Relevance is crucial at any time to successful CX programs, because it touches on the two primary elements at play: First, the efforts have to be aligned with business strategies and pursue the best interests of the company; second, the elements of the program have to be meaningful in the moment and in the overall context.
Taking care of the customers while looking after the business goals can be a tricky line to draw. A CX leader should build programs beginning with the business strategy and determining what is important to long-term success—even if it means rethinking valuable data sources like relationship surveys.
The more organizations can internally align on goals, the easier it is to drive momentum with stakeholders and take advantage of opportunities as they arise.
3. Be timely
In a typical business year, going to the leadership team in May with a recommendation based on January or February data would be reasonable. This year, you risk being considered out of touch and irrelevant, and incapable of running an agile, flexible feedback program.
When faced with shifting priorities and evolving needs, timely outputs are every bit as important as timely inputs.
The same is true with consumers: They are not likely to react well to outdated and immaterial CX efforts. Timeliness shows customers you respect their reality, which is more relevant than ever in this emotionally loaded environment. Companies should be taking this opportunity to follow up with people quickly, introducing meaningful solutions, and showing their appreciation more than ever before.
Customers can be moved to action by notifications, outreach efforts, and programs that are not only relevant but also timely. Companies that demonstrate the ability to connect and quickly communicate in the everchanging landscape will be rewarded with loyalty.
4. Connect on an individual level
Companies can’t begin to build CX programs without understanding that we are all riding out the same storm in different boats. Finding ways to cope during this crisis is a task that looks different for everyone, so connecting on a personal level is more important than ever.
What is happening in the world right now is a tragedy for many, a struggle for others, and an inconvenience for some, but it is stripping us all down to an understanding of the need to connect. Most of us have never gone through anything that has upended our lives quite like this pandemic, and it is putting us in a place where we can have a truly beneficial impact on lives by simply reaching out.
CX leaders can drive business objectives, anticipate the needs of customers, and deliver more humanity by giving support teams much more flexibility to simply connect. We should start all of our CX conversations by asking after the wellbeing of the people on the other side of the connection.
CX is a vital tool in an age in which enterprises struggle to differentiate, but leaders in the space often need to reduce people to measurements and study the numbers to determine success. Companies cannot meet their business objectives unless they are connecting with their customers.
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As we begin to rebuild, the benefits of CX will be essential to helping companies and customers at the same time. The COVID-19 pandemic has shattered or shifted many of the long-held assumptions about what customers need, but this is a time when B2B CX can thrive because, at the core, it’s about connecting with individuals.
Author: Christine Rimer
Read the original article in full here.
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Disclaimer of endorsement: Any reference obtained from this article to a specific business, product, process, or service does not constitute or imply an endorsement by BARE International of the business, product, process, or service, or its producer or provider.
