As a CX consultant, one of the most common questions I get is—what is the best way to grow loyalty? Without a doubt, the answer is customer experience. A growing base of loyal customers is one of the most critical factors to long-term growth.

According to Temkin Group, improving customer experience can have a major impact on the bottom line. For a company with 1 billion in revenue, even a marginal focus on CX can generate a revenue increase of over $800 million over three years—and reduce operational costs. Unhappy customers are expensive.

5 Tips to Improve Customer Service from a CX Consultant

As a CX Consultant with over 20 years of experience, I’ve worked in various industries including medical, technical, and agricultural for multi-million-dollar businesses trying to improve customer experience. While the specifics range depending on the industry, here are five tips that can be universally applied in just about any business:

Listen to and Empower Team Members

Empowered teams generally mean happier customers. For example, if a team member knows a customer has had a bad experience, they should be able to authorize a deal, refund, or discount without going through the chain of command. A survey can be a useful tool to discover pain points preventing team members from delivering the best service possible. Your frontline members have the most face-to-face time with customers. Make sure your team members know they are valued—and that corporate is listening.

Make it Personal

Personalization is increasingly difficult as more goods and services roll out online, but customers want personalized interactions. Epsilon found brands focused on CX had customers about 80% more likely to make a purchase. A few ideas to integrate personalization online include:

• Personalized survey questions
• Websites that make it possible to filter preferences
• Recommendations based on past purchases

Get Chatty

One of the easiest ways to personalize a website is through chatbots. Today many systems can launch a helpful, natural-sounding dialogue to assist with inquiries and complaints. Chatbots are particularly relevant to younger generations and make personalization scalable and affordable while making customers feel listened to and care for, creating a breakthrough experience.

Try Customer Journey Mapping

A journey mapping can visually spell out needs, processes, and roadblocks throughout the customer relationship. It’s a powerful tool to understand issues and opportunities and create a customer-centric culture.

Customer Service

Customer service and customer experience go hand-in-hand. Customers today can buy from almost anywhere. Lots of options are available. They stick with businesses that offer trust, service, reliability—and great service. Ensuring your team delivers a top-notch experience may require training, support, and coaching.

Improving CX Experience

The most effective path to improve CX depends on the industry. As a CX consultant, I collaborate with businesses in Canada and the US looking for meaningful ways to boost the CX experience.

It could be reducing waits time in a hospital—like one of our most recent case studies, increasing support channels, or even implementing a policy to turn every negative into a positive. It doesn’t matter. The important thing is getting started and measuring results for continuous improvement.

Let’s talk about the most meaningful way to improve your experience in your industry. Set up a free consultation with CX Consultant Leslie Barker at 416.528.7990.