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Recommendation
If you want to thrive in today’s competitive marketplace, you’ll need to future-proof your customer experience, according to an analysis from Boston Consulting Group. Gain actionable insights into the characteristics that companies leading in customer experience share, while learning how creating more responsive, individualized, seamless experiences drives value. Winning customer-centric brands of tomorrow will be those that connect to consumers on an emotional level, while visibly demonstrating a commitment to social impact and sustainability.
Take-Aways
- Customer experience (CX) leaders drive value creation, trigger growth and inspire trust.
- Future-proof your company by embracing the five principles of great CX.
- Achieve tangible results by prioritizing personalization and inclusivity.
Summary
Customer experience (CX) leaders drive value creation, trigger growth and inspire trust.
Businesses are improving their CX, making it faster, more personalized and responsive to customer needs than ever before – leaders wanting to future-proof their enterprises and remain competitive must follow suit. Research from Boston Consulting Group shows that leaders at companies leading in CX saw “eye-opening margins,” which include 55% higher total shareholder return (TSR) growth over five years, 190% higher revenue growth over three years and net promoter scores (a metric representing customer retention, loyalty and satisfaction) that were 70% higher than average.
“A good customer experience means never asking twice for resolution. A great customer experience means never asking once.”
Companies leading the way when it comes to CX excel because they build end-to-end customer journeys, using them to steer their CX practices. They share a customer-centric mind-set, synchronizing individualized interactions across multiple touchpoints. They’re agile and responsive, as they track metrics on all activities, gaining a deep understanding of their customers. These companies can often predict what a customer needs before the customer even knows what they need, while solving problems before consumers become aware of them.
Future-proof your company by embracing the five principles of great CX.
Create a winning CX by incorporating the following five key principles:
- Seamlessly meet immediate needs – Eliminate barriers and friction from the CX, using customer insights to optimize interactions and create value. Align your customer experience with your business strategy, structuring your KPIs and leveraging data insights accordingly.
- Differentiate – Harness the power of new technologies, partnerships and innovations to beat your competition and create customer-centered experiences. For example, Sephora helps customers visualize products by using augmented reality features that enable them to digitally “try on” makeup.
- Build emotional, human connections – Your CX should be more than just utilitarian and satisfactory: It should appeal to consumers on an emotional level, triggering feelings such as delight and excitement. Leverage human-centered design approaches to better grasp and respond to your customer’s emotional state.
- Anticipate needs and respond to change – Glean powerful insights from data and analytics and qualitative research to cultivate a deep understanding of your customer, investing in robust data governance to ensure your teams can consistently access your data whenever they need to. Encourage an agile-at-scale culture of experimentation, enabling teams to rapidly respond to change.
- Live your purpose and values – Customers want to support purpose-driven brands that demonstrate a commitment to social impact and sustainability.
Achieve tangible results by prioritizing personalization and inclusivity.
When you incorporate personalization and inclusivity in your CX design, you’ll likely spark higher customer lifetime value. Customers tend to feel more loyal to brands and advocate on their behalf when the company’s practices align with their own ethics and values. For example, consumers invested in the value of inclusion will be more likely to support and trust a makeup company that offers a wide range of makeup options for different skin tones.
“A great customer experience can bring a great competitive advantage, but raising the bar is no longer enough. Future-proofing is the new game-changer.”
Internally, when your company aligns action and purpose, positive employee sentiment also rises. Improving your CX doesn’t just increase customer retention – it also boosts employee retention. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to create a winning CX, using it as a catalyst to drive value and exceed expectations.
About the Authors
Christine Astorino, Karen Lellouche Tordjman, Phil Gerrard, Dutch MacDonald, Julie Hess and Barbara Haen are professionals with Boston Consulting Group. Rob Bell is knowledge expert with ACC in London.