#19 | DCX - Perspectives and insights in digital customer experience
What does a great digital CX actually look like?; Why I love working in customer experience; Links to Industry news, ideas, insights, and the DCX Thought Leader Linkedin Profile of the week
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What does a great digital customer experience look like?
We’ve all been there: we’re scrolling through our favorite e-commerce site, ready to make a purchase. We add an item to the cart and go on our merry way. But then we get distracted by a funny cat video on Facebook and forget to checkout. Or maybe it’s just one of those days where everything feels like too much effort, and we give up altogether. Either way, what starts as an exciting shopping experience ends in frustration and disappointment because we couldn't complete our transaction at that moment or forgot about it entirely due to other priorities.
The truth is that digital customer experience isn't just about having good design or clear copy—it means creating a seamless customer journey from start to finish with every touchpoint available along the way...and no missed opportunities!
So what makes a great digital customer experience?
It is human-centered.
A great customer experience is human-centered. It starts with the knowledge that customers are people, not numbers. To treat them as such, you must focus on their needs and wants instead of your company and its product or service offerings.
When you think about it this way, it's easy to see why so many brands struggle to design a successful digital customer experience: they try to put customers into boxes based on their demographics alone—their age bracket, gender, income level...the list goes on.
But people aren't statistics! They're individuals with unique problems who need solutions tailored specifically for them by brands that understand who they are and what matters most in their lives at any given moment.
It is on the right channel.
When your customer is on the phone, you want them to be able to complete their transaction without having to jump through hoops. So you’ve already made sure that they have all of their information at hand and sent them reminders so they can ask their own questions.
When they're on email or social media, the expectation is that they will have an easy time finding answers to their questions and sending feedback if necessary.
The key here is providing a complete experience across multiple channels so that customers don't have to go through the same process repeatedly in different ways just because where they are might mean something different about how you approach solving problems or providing service.
It's as easy as possible.
Your job is to make it easy for your customers to use your product, which means making sure it's accessible in multiple ways. For example, if the user interface is confusing or not intuitive enough, people will get frustrated and disengage with your product. Similarly, if you have too many steps in a process or don't provide support along the way (like FAQs), then users may feel like they have to go through a lot of trouble to figure out what they need help with.
An excellent digital customer experience should be as easy as possible—that means every step of the way should be obvious so users can find what they need right away without having to do extra work or research on their own.
It is always available.
An excellent digital customer experience is always available. That means 24/7, 365 days a year—no matter what device, browser, or operating system they use: desktop computer, laptop, mobile phone, or tablet.
It also means that it's easy to reach your company online regardless of where they are. In addition, aIn addition, an excellent digital customer experience offers international availability in multiple languages and currencies.
Finally, it should be available across all channels—website, mobile app(s), social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter—and in the case of e-commerce or B2B communications: a call center staffed by real humans who speak the same language as your customers.
It makes customers feel in control.
Customers want to feel in control, as demonstrated by their desire for self-service options. They want to be able to solve problems on their own and find what they are looking for quickly and easily. A digital customer experience should enable customers to do this by providing easy access to information, such as account details and product information.
Customers also want the ability to contact you when they need help with something that is out of their control. Providing phone numbers, email addresses, live chat options, social media accounts, FAQs, or even videos can make all the difference in how your customers perceive your company's responsiveness--or lack thereof--to their needs.
It’s consistent across all channels.
Consistency is key to a great customer experience.
Think about how you feel when you go into a restaurant, and the menu has changed without notice or if you are trying to figure out where you parked your car, only to realize that the lot has been reconfigured. These sudden changes lead to confusion and frustration—the opposite of what you want from your customers.
Consistent customer experiences across all channels are the ultimate goal for most businesses, but it's easier said than done. With so many different platforms available (think Facebook, Twitter, Instagram), how can one brand ensure its message stays consistent?
The solution is to create a central hub where all customer-facing channels are connected and can be managed in real time. This hub should simplify the process of managing content across platforms and allow easy updates.
Great digital customer experience means being there for your customers 100% of the time, no matter what device they use or where they're engaging with you.
An excellent digital customer experience does not happen by chance. It separates your brand from the pack, starting with being there for your customers 100% of the time, no matter where they engage with you. Digital is everywhere, which means if we want to be successful in creating a great customer experience, then we need to be able to provide service when and where they need it—and that includes both mobile and desktop.
It’s easy to get lost in the details of digital customer experience, but at the end of the day, your customers want to know that you care. So it's important to remember what matters most when creating a great digital experience for them—it's about being there for them 100% of the time, no matter what device they use or where they're engaging with you.
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Why I love working in customer experience
Working in CX can be incredibly rewarding, and here are seven reasons why it’s such passion of mine.
1. The opportunity to make a positive difference in someone else's life.
2. The people I get to work with are unique, and each of us brings something different to the table.
3. Building a great customer experience is central to the success of any business.
4. It's an environment where creativity is encouraged, and it's exciting to experience the different ways that people solve problems.
5. New trends and technologies are constantly emerging
6. I’m constantly broadening my skills and expertise.
7. It's the perfect combination of what I love to do—helping people and solving problems.
The rush I get from helping people is priceless—I feel lucky that my work makes a positive difference in other people's lives.
Etc.
Links to Industry news, ideas, insights, and the DCX Thought Leader Linkedin Profile of the week
Lemonade is an insurance company that delivers an easy, seamless customer experience. See how far the Lemonade app has come (video below) since this article (link above) was written in 2019.
A beautiful confluence of Conversational AI, thoughtful journey management, integrated e-commerce, access to a human being from within the app, and so much more. A true delight.
Japan’s transcosmos and NTT Launch Demo of Virtual Contact Center in the Metaverse - Dash Network
Japanese organizations transcosmos and NTT Communications recently launched a demo test of a virtual contact center in the metaverse that sought to find new ways of working for remote employees in the post-pandemic era.
The initiative aims to improve working conditions for employees while also supporting communication between businesses and their customers. The test also hoped to establish operational rules and a standardized model for virtual contact centers, accompanied by a corollary verification target that information sharing and escalation in the Metaverse can reduce managerial needs.
Seven Top Digital Customer Experience Trends For The Next Five Years (forbes.com)
By putting human needs at the center of design decisions and leveraging digital technology for delivery, you can create truly personalized experiences that are highly relevant to each customer.
Artificial intelligence will become (even more) more prominent.
Virtual reality (VR) is quickly becoming more real and less virtual, immersing customers and employees in ever-more realistic, sensory-rich scenarios (sight, sound, space) that can create strong emotional connections with users and provide companies with the ability to observe and record physiological markers as they do so.
As individual-level digital data increasingly accumulates, it is compiled, stored and shared in often opaque and sometimes unintended ways.
DCX Thought Leader Linkedin Profile of the week
Every week, I share the profile of a person on Linkedin that I think will benefit your life and career.
This week, I want to call out Stacy Sherman, VP, Marketing for LiveOps, a virtual contact center solution.
I am on a mission to create and inspire better experiences so that REAL human connections and happiness exist. - Stacy Sherman
Stacy Sherman is a CX dynamo. Her energy and enthusiasm are infectious, infusing everything she touches with her love of CX and EX.
In addition to her day job, she’s also the founder and host of the DoingCX Right podcast and the DoingCX Right Blog, she's written two best-selling books on CX and speaks and coaches as well.
Reach out, say hi, and follow her on Linkedin.
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A 1:1 Coaching Experience for Customer-Obsessed Leaders
When I was 26, I landed my first leadership role and felt like a complete imposter. I needed help prioritizing, speaking up, taking action despite fear, and ultimately support in staying the course. I hired an accountability coach and with his methods ingrained in me, I helped the company create five new subsidiary companies and grew the top line by over 30x, and went on to become an executive at a Fortune 50 company.
DCX Accountability Coaching combines my life experience and the accountability system with my passion for customer experience. My goal is to help others like me achieve the results they seek for themselves.
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