What are the most common CX challenges and how can you overcome them?

Customers are humans, with volition, agency, and own their journey. A common misunderstanding of the customer experience is succumbing to our consensus bias and being prescriptive versus understanding and adaptive. It's important to not only monitor and gather customer feedback, but ACT on the customer feedback and meet the customer where they are. Think of the analogy of Wave and Customer Experience: when a driver takes a break or traffic builds, Waze adapts the driver's best route accordingly. Listening, understanding, meeting our customers where THEY are, and taking action is the secret sauce to CX.

As exemplified by New York Jets season ticket holders, understanding customer needs is crucial for any business. The Jets organization must recognize that their customers value not just a ticket to the games but a comprehensive experience. They seek exciting football and a sense of belonging and community. The Jets can offer perks like exclusive access to alums, coaches, player personnel, behind-the-scenes tours, and tailgating events to meet these needs. Moreover, acknowledging that ticket holders may desire affordable options, offering flexible payment plans and pricing tiers can make the product more accessible. Ultimately, understanding customer needs empowers the Jets to deliver a more satisfying and memorable game-day experience.

CX is crucial for business success, as 89% of consumers prefer companies with a positive CX. However, a significant gap exists between expectations and delivery, with only 49% finding current experiences satisfactory. Stats show that 73% of consumers consider CX vital in purchasing decisions. Recognising that 80% expect tailored interactions, businesses must collect feedback and prioritise segmentation. Crafting personalised experiences boosts engagement. Social media’s impact is undeniable, with 67% using it for customer service. Neglecting social media risks missed opportunities and harm to brand image. Understanding customers deeply is key to success. Leveraging data and personalisation bridges the gap, creating a memorable CX.

Don't just look at personas, reports, tables and fancy graphics. Spend time with your customers and with your frontliners. Ask questions, observe, see how they use your product. If you are in a consumer business, run ethnographic research. If you are in a B2B business, visit your customers offices. Data is essential and gives you trends and volumes but qualitative insights are equally important. Do not underestimate the value of the people who interact with your customers daily. Talk to them, learn from them.

This applies the concept of being able to walk in someone else's shoes to understand the entire customer journey. Customers are humans and are driven by aspects such as emotions, timelines, pain points, etc. Being able to understand them, act on their needs, on top of being able to create a solution will not only help you have a lasting relationship with your customers but also help your customers have a great CX overall. The feeling of being heard is a great feeling for your customers.

This is probably one of the biggest challenges across industries. I would give you three pieces of advice: 1. Name a head of CX that has authority across departments. Don't have that person report into a CMO or a CRO. 2. Make sure your CEO values CX and is willing to lead by example. He must be your CX person biggest supporter. 3. Find people within your organization that are natural CX believers. You will need to leverage them to build a customer centric culture.

It is critical for brands to reflect and determine what is working and where there is a discrepancy. Analyze these missed chances further with staff and brainstorm remedies. These gatherings must be methodical and cross-departmental in order to gain a 360-degree grasp of the situation and give full-proof ideas to maximize CX. Gamification of CX implementation by the organization is required to make it more exciting for customer facing departments. This contributes to better brand-customer interactions. Apple would be an excellent use case for this challenge.

+1 on this being the biggest challenge. I believe the underlying difficulty is speaking the language of finance or the executive leadership team to achieve alignment.

For the New York Jets to create the ultimate customer experience, they must genuinely connect with their season ticket holders on a personal level. These dedicated fans aren't just looking for game tickets; they want an emotional journey. It's about granting them exclusive player encounters, revealing the magic behind the scenes, and sharing memorable tailgating moments. Offering flexible payment plans and pricing options acknowledges their diverse financial situations, showing that the Jets genuinely care. By keeping communication open and valuing their feedback, the Jets can ensure that every season ticket holder feels heard, understood, and part of a cherished football family.

A mi me ha resultado considerar tres niveles de medición. Uno táctico que busque ver el impacto de iniciativas en el corto plazo, uno competitivo para ver cómo se comporta la industria y revisar si la velocidad con la cual se ejecuta la mejora de experiencia es mayor a la del entorno y por último una bajada de métrica de experiencia a palancas operacionales y económicas que permita llevar el indicador a un lenguaje común dentro de las organizaciones.

This part is hard and requires a good mix of qualitative and quantitative metrics. The quantitative piece tells you where the problems are and the quantitative one gives you hints sod what the problems are. For example, using the Customer Effort Score approach tells you which phases of the customer journey require more effort than expected, then feedback collected specifically during that phase can highlight what went wrong and why there was a gap between the expectation and the experience.

Measuring and enhancing the New York Jets' CX is about staying connected with their loyal season ticket holders. It involves actively seeking feedback through conversations, surveys, and listening to social media chatter. The Jets can assess CX by understanding the emotional attachment to fan loyalty, and identifying areas where fans may be disengaging. Improvements are best made when they listen to fans' voices, addressing their unique desires through personalized interactions, behind-the-scenes access, or flexible pricing that suits varying budgets. By consistently tuning into the human side of their customer base, the Jets can elevate CX, strengthen bonds with their fans, and make game days memorable.

The COPC CX Standard offers a robust and proven methodology for enhancing operational performance in CX management. Organisations achieving COPC certification signifies a commitment to operational excellence and being an industry leader in customer experience. It involves thoroughly assessing processes, benchmarking, and implementing structured methods to iteratively close performance gaps and boost efficiency. This approach ensures consistency in delivering superior CX backed by a framework supporting continuous improvement. These methods enable businesses to align their CX strategies with measurable outcomes, fostering customer satisfaction, loyalty, retention, and advocacy, ultimately driving long-term business success.

It's all about measuring the right things to drive the right behaviours. If you measure the time it takes to complete a call, then the agent is going to try and get the customer off the call as quickly as possible and CX scores will definitely drop as a result. I'm also currently getting lots of text messages asking questions with an all to obvious lean to them. For example, questions about specific Agents. If the issue the business has created is the problem i.e. an inefficient process, this can't be measured by asking me if the agent was helpful. Metrics should be insightful and have the potential to lead to positive future change for the customer. Of course call times and agent interactions are important but they are not CX metrics.

Every company should have multiple channels where customers can contact. And if these channels are busy and late in responding then there is a fault. Easily being accessible for customers is a sign of a top notch support function.

I've observed that the confluence of technology and CX is a double-edged sword. When done right, technology can act as a catalyst, amplifying the CX manifold. Yet, it's easy to get swayed by the allure of the latest tech without gauging its real impact on CX. For me, the key has been to view technology as an enabler rather than the end goal. Whether it's leveraging AI for predictive analytics or adopting VR for immersive experiences, I've always prioritized the customer's perspective. Before any tech adoption, I've emphasized evaluating its alignment with our CX objectives. Furthermore, while innovation is paramount, user-friendliness, intuitiveness and security remain non-negotiable.

Consider using a "design thinking approach" when integrating technology into the customer experience. For example: A) Empathy Driven Technology Selection - Choose technologies based on a deep understanding of your tactical and strategic customer needs and behaviours. B) Simplicity in Design - Prioritise UI and UX interfaces to simplify customer engagement and reduce effort. C) Iterative Feedback Loop - Regularly solicit customer feedback on technological features and iteratively refine them for continuous improvement. You should know your customers, consider the customer impact of everything, and keep the customer experience and the employee experience at the centre of your initiatives. Your technology should support that approach.

Integrating tech seamlessly into CX is extremely crucial these days. Think of it like upgrading from basic email responses to using tools like Freshdesk for streamlined customer service. We're not just talking about tech; it's about incorporating chatbots for instant query resolutions or using AI to personalize recommendations. Imagine a scenario where we move from traditional sales methods to leveraging platforms like Salesforce for a more connected and efficient sales process. For Example-It's not just about adopting VR for a virtual showroom experience; it's about creating a gamified journey for the users, making it not just a transaction but an interactive adventure.

The real goal of integrating technology should be to be available before the customer even knows they need you. Using technology to serve up relevant information, in various formats, in various places ensures your customer isn’t missing out on any key information. In sales, they often say that it takes 3-5 touch types to get someone’s attention. It’s really not much different for customers. Having emails, plus in-app guidance, plus a customer hub, plus videos, plus real human interaction - that’s how you ensure you’re reaching people.

This challenge is spot on. Who could have predicted the pandemic or the recent changes in customer expectations from the explosion in Generative AI? The speed of change has increased 10x this year, and the leaders were monitoring these changes and surveying and consequentially have already started on their journey to keep abreast of the current leap. While many use cases have started internally, they are shifting towards customer-facing use cases. So 2024 is also looking like an exciting year in CX.

The dynamism of customer behavior and expectations, influenced by various external factors, presents a continuous challenge. Keeping pace with these shifts requires a commitment to understanding and adapting. Regular market research and competitive analysis have proven essential in identifying emerging trends and preferences. It's equally important to be open to testing new CX concepts and gathering feedback. By fostering a culture of adaptability and staying receptive to change, organizations can more effectively align their strategies with evolving customer needs, ensuring a consistently relevant and valuable CX.

A customer experience isn't something rigid. As customer expectations evolve over time, with new technologies or trends, so must the experience you tailor for your customers. From the tone you use, to the channels of communication you offer, to the way you train your people or the way you design your website, everything must constantly evolve to remain as close as possible to customers expectations.

Supervisar continuamente las tendencias del mercado, para anticiparse a las necesidades y expectativas emergentes de los clientes, con innovación y diferenciación, proporcionando soluciones de valor distingan tu CX de la competencia. Implementar nuevas ideas y conceptos mediante pruebas y experimentaciones ayudará a identificar lo que funciona mejor para adaptar los servicios de manera eficaz. Por otra parte, la capacidad de responder rápidamente a los cambios es vital. Recoge y analiza regularmente el feedback de los clientes para ajustar y mejorar continuamente la experiencia que se ofrece.Esto no solo mejora la satisfacción del cliente,sino que también fortalece la lealtad y la retención, posicionándote como un líder de sector.

Being able to adapt to customer expectations is one of the core purposes of having a CX team in general. CX should be the "boots on the ground" who hear from the customers daily, log their feedback actionably, and help be the customer advocate back to your product leadership team. The value of your CX being a daily "machine" that drives insight and innovation is incalculable.

A few folks on here hit it on the head about having some empathy and I'll take it a step further - all of these will continue to be problems unless you create a plan to act, and a way to empower your teams to act on your brand's behalf to fix any parts of the customer experience that are broken. I'll even take it a step further - if you are creating all manner of places to measure the experience, but you haven't thought through the actions you will take on feedback, you are setting your brand up for some heartache. I wouldn't even recommend that a brand measures CX if they don't have a plan to fix issues, respond to gaps in service or product, etc. Creating a methodology for action and empowering your teams is paramount to success.

Agree with the writting. But getting the full attention of the BOARD is another common CX challenge. It is the voice over the vision and the business strategy. The practical situation is most of the Board members are subject experts from relavant fields but less focus is for CX expertise. For that Board should have atlest an Executive Director from the company itself or independent outside party to have a voice for this.

Here are my 10 most common CX challenges: 1. Lack of leadership commitment 2. Silos of any kind (data, departmental, hierarchical etc,) 3. Poor data quality, inadequate data collection methods, and not knowing how to use customer data 4. Short-term gains are often prioritised over long-term customer relationships. 5. Assumptions to know customers needs and what's best for them 6. Lack of employee engagement, lack of the necessary training and involvement of employees in CX improvements 7. Outdated or incompatible technology systems 8. Complex and bureaucratic processes 9. Products and services not designed with the customer in mind 10. Lack of customer-centric culture

An important factor to consider is that organizations should have a strong brand identity and purpose behind offering their service/product. Helping customers understand the value-add the brand is offering, boosts customer retention and creates brand loyalty where the brand and customer values align. However, customer expectations are always evolving and organizations must know when to stay true to their brand identity and when to pivot to meet new preferences.

From what I've seen, having the big bosses, even the CEO, in the loop of the customer experience journey is a game-changer. It's like everyone's on the same page and gets why customers matter. And you know what else? Keeping the CX team pumped with training, but in a cool, positive vibe, not a forced one, makes for happier staff and, in the end, happier customers. Oh, and we can't forget about looking out for our team's mental health, right? Lastly, involving everyone – from the marketing Rockstar's to the sales champs – helps us see the whole picture and gives customers a seamless journey.