Editor’s note: Howard Lax is principal director of customer experience consulting at CX and marketing research firm Confirmit.
Over the past several months, the context for providing customer service has been fundamentally altered. The shift to remote work disrupted distribution channels across industries and, as a result, many operations had to handle unexpected changes in the delivery of products and services. Digital tools stepped up in a big way to help alleviate the challenges of remote work, with many businesses adapting new solutions almost overnight. In addition to the repercussions of remote work, the current economy has disrupted spending patterns causing consumer behavior to change, with discretionary spending going down and customers becoming more fiscally conservative.
In this new environment, virtually every industry saw its customer service programs disrupted and stretched to capacity. For companies to move past this critical disruption, outlast the current economy and thrive in the future, they must be prepared to restructure their programs and invest their resources in what matters in the long term – their people.
Investing in employee and customer experiences
In this new CX playing field, companies need to focus on internal needs and the spaces their resources can have an impact. For most companies, trying to figure out how to handle their two most important assets – customers and employees – is currently their greatest challenge. These two resources go hand-in-hand, supported and satisfied employees offer positive customer experiences and create satisfied customers. And so, despite the fundamentally changed working world, the underlying rationale for focusing on providing excellent customer experience remains the same. Positive experiences lead to stronger relationships, which in turn create business value. For companies to maintain value, they should invest in those employee and customer experiences.
The importance of emotions
Without a doubt, the pandemic has reminded us of the importance of emotions when it comes to experiences – for both employees and customers alike. The uncertainty of the pandemic and the physical and psychological toll it’s had on individuals highlights the importance of emotional awareness and sensitivity – both internally and externally. Companies need to understand and empathize, in both words and deeds.
Employees and customers are navigating through a period of uncertainty, with stress touching every aspect of their lives. Employees are trying to navigate between their economic well-being and professional lives, as well as their physical and mental health (not to mention their family’s). Customers are frustrated with the new structures of business. Some are impatient for the world to move forward, while others are reluctant to jump back in too quickly. Regardless of what kind of reaction these individuals are having, they are all emotionally based and they are all part of a shared human experience.
It’s this human experience, not the customer or employee experience, that matters. Companies need to treat customers and employees as a community of people living through a collective crisis. By acknowledging this shared experience and building emotional connections, companies will create a rapport that will last long after the crisis fades.
A collaborative approach
To ensure excellent customer experiences, companies must first look to their employees, identifying how to keep them motivated, engaged and working efficiently throughout this period. With employee needs and safety front-and-center, teams will be prepared for the new environment. By involving employees in the process of adapting programs and protocols, companies can spread responsibility across their organization, allowing employees to equally invest in their success.
This is an opportunity to incorporate direct feedback from employees regarding customer experience problems – and a chance to augment voice of the customer work. When customers flag a performance failure or disappointment, companies should in turn mobilize employee input for possible solutions. By doing so, companies create a forum to generate ideas for how to respond to changing customer needs and concerns and actively involve employees. Maintained through consistent internal feedback and open communication, this collaborative approach creates a reciprocal bond of trust between employee and employer, which ultimately improves the customer experience.
A common goal
Business-as-usual hidden behind a thin veil of concern isn’t going to cut it. Companies shouldn’t think of the challenge as navigating between legitimate business interests and the concerns of customers and employees. Rather, they should see it as steering all parties involved toward a common goal.
For companies determining how to prepare and proceed, ensure that you lead and follow through with empathy; engage with your customers and employees as people; and focus on the emotional connection of the human experience.