Customer experience (CX) has always been one of our greatest passions. In our CX projects, we don’t just map out a Customer Journey; we aspire to something much deeper: to bring our customers to RELEVANCE for theirs. We strive to help them grow as brands loved by their customers.

But what does it really mean to manage Customer Experience to become a relevant company or brand?

First, we need to properly manage customer experiences. Although there are many definitions of what constitutes customer experience, most highlight that it is the set of sensations and emotions that the customer perceives in the impacts and interactions throughout their life cycle with a company or brand. Beyond any definition, it is crucial to understand that Customer Experience is an emotion, something that is felt. And even if it’s an emotion, we can manage and measure it. For us, here are some of the most important CX factors :

CX Involves Empathy

Empathy is the starting point. If a company is not willing to understand and put itself in the customer’s shoes, it will never be able to connect with them. We must strive to get to know the customer, their preferences, their concerns, and their goals. In addition, it is crucial to humanize the experience, starting with humanizing the internal processes. While it is true that companies should seek to optimize resources, it should not be done at the expense of the ability to empathize with the customer.

Although it is a reality that empathy depends largely on human intelligence, we increasingly see a role for artificial intelligence in humanizing experience. A technological revolution.

CX is Trust

We seek to convey a reliable image, so that the client perceives us as a brand that cares about their well-being. Trust is built by demonstrating to the customer our knowledge, perceived quality and consistency. We must get it right again and again. There is an equation that describes it very well: Trust is the sum of Credibility, Reliability and Intimacy, amplified by customer orientation.

We highlight several characteristics of Trust:

• Knowledge. It is essential to demonstrate knowledge on a consistent basis. We must show that we are experts in what we do and that we are always learning and improving to continue being a benchmark in our sector.
• Perceived quality. Our products or services must not only be functional, but they must also inspire trust and security in customers. It’s important to proudly communicate our accomplishments and use customer feedback to continuously improve. In this way, we not only offer quality, but that quality is also perceived.
• Consistency and privacy. The experience we offer should be consistent, without ups and downs. Every customer interaction must be consistent in quality and service to earn our trust over time. We are reliable when the client feels we should be, and we show respect for their needs.

CX is Comfort

We must offer maximum convenience at all stages and channels of customer interaction. The first step is to reduce complexity. This involves simplifying processes and using technology effectively.

• Sensible processes . Both the customer and employee experience will be better if we use simple, easy-to-understand processes designed with common sense.
• The technology we offer should be easy to use and help save the customer time. Payment systems not only need to be secure, but also intuitive, and we need to be prepared with manual processes in case of technological failures.
• Help. We must be available to help when the customer needs it, establishing the customer’s preferred contact channels, and having contact information easily accessible on our website.

CX is Surprising

Innovation in the customer experience is key to avoid boring them. We must surprise from time to time to keep the customer relationship alive, whether through personalized details or unexpected experiences. Surprising the customer in a very subtle way, for example, by celebrating their customer anniversary with us, or emphasizing an event that we know will impact the customer.

These factors help us on our path to RELEVANCE, aspiring to become an important part of the customer’s life. Relevance is measurable, as shown by a study of relevant brands in Spain published by Forbes and carried out by the Pulsing Brands agency, which positions brands such as Nivea, Samsung and Netflix at the top of the ranking. It also shows the most relevant brands by sector. There we see brands such as Mercedes and ING, Mapfre and Decathlon as relevant leaders in their sector. We’re not surprised by these mentions, are we?

Let us surprise you!

In our next post, we’ll share how building a Customer Experience (CX) culture contributes to the creation of a Voice of the Customer (VOC) program.