How to Improve CX (Customer Experience) During an Economic Downturn

The American economy has been nothing short of a roller coaster ride over the last few years. Businesses that boomed during the pandemic are suddenly seeing increasing layoffs and even reduction in valuation (think Zendesk).

Following the gig economy and mass resignation of 2021, companies are emphasizing the need for profitability, creating for an uncertain job environment as they struggle to retain top talent while cutting costs (read: layoffs) where necessary.

This often means that teams and departments that don’t have the most clear goals are the first to see the fire.

Despite the general consensus that Customer Experience is a top business priority, the varying definition of CX along with a general connect about who the customer experience responsibilities predominantly lie with are the biggest reasons why CX teams are often targeted when it comes to reduction in costs.

This, inevitably, affects the customer experience companies are able to deliver to their audience. From lack of people to manage customer support resulting in slower and inefficient customer complaint resolution, to an increasing workload falling on the shoulders of executives who do remain with the company – leading to higher burnout rates, and, eventually, churn.

So, keeping the current scenario in mind, why should we even focus on improving customer experience?

As it turns out, when facing economic uncertainty, business is more important than ever. Having loyal customers is what can tide you through time of absolute chaos (as many businesses can attest to, based on their experiences through COVID-19).

Of course, this is highly dependent on your need to perceive and meet customer expectations. So, focusing on customer experience comes with several advantages:

1. Assuage uncertainty
   With the economic upheaval taking place, it can be difficult for customers to find an anchor in the uncertainty. Having businesses they can rely on, that cater to their needs and understand their troubles, gives them the confidence to turn to you time and again.

   Think about adding on offerings that allow customers to test out your product for longer, provideadditional services free of charge enabling customers to get more value for their money, and all in all, meet them along the way to ensure that they can continue turning to your business.

 

2. Improve customer loyalty
   Once customers see that they can rely on your business, they will be loyal to you. After all, you’ve earned it.

   This not only improves the customer lifetime value, but also the brand reputation. After all, happy customers love to share their experiences and spread the word, increasing your reach and audience as more people come to your business.

 

3. Better upsell and cross-sell opportunities
   Economic downturns make it much more difficult to acquire new customers. That’s why, when it comes to growing and fueling your business, your existing customers are the ones who will tide you through.

   Not only are they more receptive to upsell and cross sell, but they are also looking to repurchase. In return, they will trust your business to help them get better service and products, and perhaps even meet them halfway when the time demands it.

Doubling down on customer experience, especially amid uncertainty, is critical to your long-term success. That’s why, amid the atmosphere of layoffs and optimizations, it’s essential to allocate the right resources to customer experience along with the perfect CX software.

However, the process isn’t as easy as that.

The first step to improving customer experience is to understand what it entails and who will be leading the charge.

So, to start off, begin by being as specific as possible about the metrics and goals to understand what the strategy is, and whose responsibility this will be.

Here’s what you can do:

• Break down the customer journey and identify customer experience gaps and pain-points.
• Not every pain-point is made equal. So, be objective. Refine the pain-points based on the financial impact it has on your business to understand the top priorities.
• Using key driver analytics, understand which are your critical strengths and weaknesses – and focus on these to maximize impact.
• Using sentiment analytics and natural language processing on customer feedback, you can also identify key drivers you might’ve otherwise missed!
• Be specific to your business. Look to track custom metrics to be able to better understand the value to your customers, and their satisfaction.
• Economic downturns aren’tjust hard for businesses, but for customers as well. Make sure you create pricing models that clearly highlight the value provided, ensuring that customers know they’re getting a bang for their buck.
• Use AI to reduce costs and improve efficiency. AI chatbots can help customers quickly and effectively solve small concerns without having to reach out to customer support.
• Keep your customer at the heartof all that you do. By truly focusing on delivering value, you can win over the trust of your customers and deliver experiences and products that matter.

Customer experience is never a one-size-fits-all strategy, nor is it a one-and-done process. To ensure you deliver winning experiences, you need to ensure that your strategy is agile and ready to adapt to the next obstacle that comes your way.

The best way to identify and create an informed strategy is with insights. That’s where customer experience solutions like Sogolytics enter the game.

Sogolytics empowers you to reach your customers and capture critical feedback. With powerful analytics that break it down, it reveals essential insights to help customers build a data-driven strategy and maximize impact.

But that’s not all. With managed services including survey design and project management, we can help you make the most of the platform all without the hassle.