Where To Go From, "It Depends"

THE SITUATION:

While 35% of consumers are interested in using chatbots for service support, only 4% are currently doing so.

(Source: PWC, 2023)

THE OPPORTUNITY:

As topics like artificial intelligence and tech-driven development become more prominent in the customer experience (CX) space, I can’t help but wonder – are these things that customers actually want?

To be clear, that question is about genuine curiosity rather than skepticism. Tech has a lot of benefits like streamlining processes, strengthening consistency, and increasing personalization. So, it’s certainly important to stay ahead of the competitive curve and remain open to how CX is evolving. But, at the same time, it’s also important to stay in alignment with the wants and needs of our unique audiences. Part of what we see in The Situation is that most consumers (65%) are not interested in using chatbots for support. Or at least not yet. This ought to be kept in consideration when making decisions on their behalf.

For me, The Situation raises further questions about CX development. If it’s not something people want, might pushing technology too soon start causing unnecessary pain points? Is it hurting the customer experience more than it’s helping? Do things like chatbots and automated touchpoints make sense for our respective brands and industries in general? The easy, and often frustrating, answer is “it depends.” But that’s the truth. It depends on your specific target audience. It depends on the products and services you offer. It depends on your strategic objectives and ideal outcomes for customer experience development.

Fortunately, “it depends” is a launch point rather than an endpoint. It’s a window of opportunity to dig deeper in structured and strategic ways that will produce meaningful and actionable knowledge about your customers. I find it exciting when I reach “it depends” because it means I’m on the verge of learning something new. But, with this, we reach a crossroads. In one direction, we address “it depends” with facts and data-driven insights. In the other direction, we rely on hypotheses, assumptions, and best guesses. I think you can guess which direction I’m inclined to go when presented with this opportunity.

THE CHALLENGE:

If you’re with me in turning toward data-driven insights rather than assumptions, fantastic! But this path is not without its challenges. Most notably, where do the facts come from? If you’ve been following this newsletter, it’s likely no surprise that my go-to source is customer feedback. Hearing directly from your target audience is a great way to strengthen your customer experience development efforts because they’re holding the answers we’re looking for. After all, they are the ones having the experiences. So, it’s their wants, needs, and expectations we need to understand.

That said, forward-thinking topics like technology and AI are unique in that they are still emerging. People might be wary, unsure, or just unfamiliar with the benefits. Perhaps The Situation is more about limited awareness and familiarity than it is about willingness and interest. A Henry Ford quote comes to mind here; “If I asked people what they want, they would have said faster horses.” This is commonly cited as a reason for not looking to customer feedback for answers, which presents another challenge in pursuit of knowledge; do people know what they want? Personally, I feel that quote oversimplifies the purpose of gathering customer feedback. People do know what they want and need, but it’s up to us to ask the right questions – which brings us to the solution.

THE SOLUTION:

I often say that effective customer feedback projects are about asking the right people the right questions at the right time. That is the basis for seizing The Opportunity and overcoming The Challenges.

Looking back at the Henry Ford quote, understanding what people want is the foundational research prompt, not a literal question we ask customers. So, “faster horses” or “a car” aren’t the type of answers being sought. Instead, we explore the underlying drivers of their wants, needs, and expectations. What are their day-to-day goals, challenges, thoughts, feelings, and preferences? The more we learn about these topics, the better equipped we are to understand what people want because we’re going beyond the what to uncover the why behind it.

A great approach in this scenario is conducting a customer experience feedback survey. But, again, the key is digging deeper into the experiential elements, the demand drivers, and the underlying emotional/psychological factors at play. While rating existing touch points and performance are beneficial, use those aspects as starting points for further exploration.

Additionally, be sure each feedback question asked is aligned with specific customer experience development goals and objectives. Ultimately, we want the findings to be actionable rather than merely observational. We want to capture insights that guide decision-making and yield knowledge that directly applies to CX development efforts.

Circling back to The Situation, the point of gathering this type of feedback is to identify when, where, and how technology can add value to your customer’s experience. Rather than doing something because it’s trending, emerging, or because competitors are doing it, we leverage data-driven insights to guide customer experience development decisions based on their actual wants and needs.

If AI and chatbots make sense based on your customers’ underlying needs and decision drivers, then it makes sense from a goal-oriented standpoint. If you’re struggling to find alignment between the benefits of certain technologies and customers’ underlying needs, then perhaps now isn’t the right time for implementation. Either way, having taken the road toward data-driven insights rather than relying on assumptions or best guesses has increased confidence and strengthened success likelihood.

MY ADVICE:

The Solution focuses mainly on the “right questions” part, but there’s also the “right people” and “right time” to consider. Not all questions will be relevant to all customer groups. This is based on their level of experience with your brand and their respective positions along your customer journey map.

Rather than sending one general survey to all customers, try segmenting your audiences and asking targeted questions most relevant to them. Rather than conducting one annual survey asking everything you want to know all at once, try a series of surveys throughout the year that are more detailed and focused on specific topics. The more strategic we are in our customer feedback efforts, the more strategic we can be with the resulting insights.

HOW WE CAN HELP:

At MacKenzie, our strategic approach to customer experience development is based on nearly 40 years of experience working with brands of all sizes across a variety of industries. We leverage actionable customer insights to guide decision making in goal-oriented ways. That way, each branded touch point aligns with the wants and needs of target audiences while achieving desired outcomes and objectives.

Through market research and active listening, we can help expand your understanding of what customers want, need, and expect from your brand. So, whether you’re looking for high-level strategic guidance or ground-level tactical support, we have a suite of service packages to fit your needs.

If you want to learn a bit more about our approach to customer experience development, click here .

YOUR TURN:

I’d love to see your comments and thoughts about customer experience development. How are you balancing emerging trends and technologies with customer wants, needs, and expectations? Are you incorporating customer feedback into your CX planning? Do you have any tips or best practices to share for others facing some of the challenges referenced above?

By sharing your thoughts, ideas, and suggestions, we’ll foster a collaborative community where actionable insights are the foundation and collective success is the outcome.

Do you have a stat, trend, or topic you’d like me to write about? Send me a message or share it in the comments. I’ll add it to my list of newsletter topics!