Editor’s note: Phil Durand is the director of customer experience management at research software vendor Confirmit, London.
It is rare to see customer experience and employee engagement programs aligned into one, despite the known importance of both initiatives. In most circumstances, these programs are separate organizational efforts, implemented to accomplish different goals. However, the success of voice of the customer (VOC) programs in driving enhanced customer experiences depends on the ability to seamlessly integrate the voice of the employee (VOE). The following steps can be used to converge important elements of each program to help organizations make the leap to the next level of customer experience.
1. Use the right data, not more data: The first stage in this evolutionary process is moving from VOC research to a true business tool. This transition involves an abundance of changes including the move away from infrequent, lengthy surveys asking the same queries in several different ways (just to make sure we catch the respondent when they don’t tell the truth) and toward more concise, personalized questions. It is critical for organizations to look for relevant and convenient opportunities to request that customers give short, succinct feedback. From there, this data can be presented back to the business in a format that allows people to leverage relevant information.
Many organizations have taken longer to evolve VOE programs and often lack a true marketing research department. Some are still conducting yearly surveys, which are often followed by several months of analysis, several more months of discussion around the results and then confusion about what to do with said results. VOE programs can now provide a wide range of other methods to capture employee feedback that can be accessed and acted upon in real-time.
2. Expand VOC programs across the organization: Traditionally, VOC programs could get lost in an organization’s marketing and research departments. Increasingly, VOC programs are expanding across several departments within an organization. For organizations that are keeping the VOC program in a silo, the best next step is to move away from the traditional practice of customer experience sitting within a specific function and move toward incorporating a specific position to handle the program across the organization.
In terms of employee engagement, ownership has historically belonged with the human resources department. Unfortunately, assigning ownership to HR means other employees (not in HR) can see employee engagement as outside of their concern – something that could not be further from the truth.
3. Break down silos: In order to drive improvement, it’s important to look at your own organization from another perspective; most notably, the perspective of the organization’s employees. A standard – and outdated – practice is to run a survey one or two times a year for clients, customers and employees. The findings are then assessed and turned into strategic process improvements. Often with this practice, there are no day-to-day tactical changes made by the frontline – the focus is primarily on upper- and middle-management. Customer and employee feedback is kept separate, sometimes deliberately.
In the new world of multichannel commerce, this way of doing things is too fragmented and complex. Companies can now use more transactional surveys for customers and employees, asking their opinion of the customer experience the organization delivers. Then, these abstract sources can be brought together for a more integrated approach to how the analysis is used and what is included: everything from customer relations and social media to CRM, HR and operational data. Success lies in finding a way to integrate this data across those silos, analyzing and finding meaning from the comprehensive, real-time view it creates.
4. Leverage technology to drive action: Particularly in large organizations, it is important to have the right technology on hand to support a successfully automated VOC program. The ability to listen across every channel, geographical location and touchpoint is critical. At the same time, feedback needs to be captured in a way that makes the most sense to an organization and its customers. The data can be integrated with other sources of information that are key to a strong analysis, such as financial and HR data. Once this is complete, organizations will be able to drive action at every level of business, crossing silos and departments. The beauty of technology is that organizations can automate the process of knowledge-sharing and insight to different stakeholders in a format that makes sense and helps users understand what they need to do to address problems.
5. Involve employees: At this point many organizations may ask, how do we accelerate the process of bringing these platforms together and developing a joint program? Engaged individuals drive more profitable companies because employee engagement and customer advocacy tend to go hand in hand. Thus, organizations need to see the customer experience from an employee perspective. Ask employees what they think customers would say about their service – the results are often fascinating. Organizations either see complete alignment, which adds a layer of confidence to the data, or a divergence in responses due to a misjudgement of their own performance – positively or negatively. Nevertheless, these outcomes are good early signs of future customer feedback. This can, and should, be a collaborative effort where those closest to the customer (front line) and those closest to the boardroom work together, creating ownership and engagement. Total transparency is key.
Companies can deliver consistent, superior customer service by ensuring smarter employee engagement. The marriage of VOC and VOE programs can become an organization’s navigational system if used to its potential, revealing opportunities for improvement and innovation, and also becoming a strategic tool to guarantee every interaction with the customer is as positive and successful as possible.