The importance of processes is often overlooked when talking about customer experience, or is it? Do companies assume too much that good internal processes make for a good customer experience? In this blog, we will discuss how you can tailor your processes to make sure it goes par with great customer experience.
Don't focus too much on the process
This might come as a surprise but think about it, what do processes really do in an organization? They ensure that something is delivered as promised. This is not the part where the value of customer experience lies. It’s about figuring out how you can build on top of the process. Because the process enough isn’t enough for a good customer experience. If the waiter at a restaurant successfully delivers your food from the kitchen to your table, the process works. But if the waiter delivers your food with a smile, and succeeds in making you feel good, he figured out how to build on top of the existing process. He turned the process into an experience.
The development of processes by people that are far away from the customer is a death sentence for customer experience. This only works when customers follow the ideal scenario. In that case, you should actually be using a chatbot, because they are better at following scripts than human beings.
If unexpected questions are being asked, problems start to rise. By scripting in-depth processes, employees will think they’re doing a bad job when leaving the script. While in fact, it’s the opposite, you have to use human flexibility to your advantage. Companies have to look for the ideal balance of empathy and processes. Think about it: when you call customer service and you get redirected multiple times by different agents because they are not in charge of the specific process you have an issue with. Will you have had a good customer experience? Chances are you will just get annoyed because the solution isn't quick or straightforward.
When it comes to customer feedback, the famous quote from Henry Ford often comes to mind:
And so, Henry Ford built a car. Does this mean Henry Ford didn't listen to his customers? No, quite the opposite. His customers just wanted to get from point A to B in a faster way. He only found a better way to do so than using horses. Collecting customer feedback doesn’t mean implementing everything customers ask you to. It’s about understanding what they really need.
Similarly, customer feedback is a great resource for process optimization too. By listening to what goes well or wrong, you can link it back to the processes that are involved in specific customer interactions and you can improve. Feedback allows you to reflect on how processes can allow customers to achieve getting from point A to B in the most frictionless way.
Typically, there are two kinds of experiences organizations offer their customers:
Brand experience will only get you so far. It's what reels potential customers in, but it's the actual customer experience that will make them stick. However, the people responsible for these experiences are most of the time, not the same people. Creating that alignment between the brand and the customer experience is a big challenge that companies need to tackle. That also means streamlining your processes between all the teams involved. Whatever process you implement, it should always be done with the customer in mind.
Processes are extremely important, but the real value lies in how you can build an experience on top of that process. With process development, it's important to think about how it will benefit your customer too, instead of only focusing on how it will make the company's life easier. That's why customer feedback is crucial. Companies need to know the exact needs of their customer and fine-tuning their processes based on this. When the processes take away all frictions for the customer, that is when you can build an extremely powerful customer experience.
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