Customers have become the central focus for businesses around the world because globalization has intensified competition and has opened up more choices for customers than before. As a result, if businesses do not provide quality customer service, then their customers can simply opt for the products of its rivals.
To prevent this switching, and also to engage with customers over a long period of time, businesses are looking to spruce up their customer experience management (CEM) process. Recent analyses have shown that when companies reduce their defection rate by five percent, their profitability goes up anywhere between 25 to 125 percent.
What is CEM?
It is the process of understanding the needs and expectations of customers, and to provide products and services that match these expectations. The core aim of CEM is to improve customer experience which in turn generates increased customer loyalty. As customer expectations are dynamic, it is important for businesses to engage with customers using many tools such as social media to stay on top of what they want. This engagement is the key to a successful CEM initiative.
To focus on CEM, many contact centers are changing their technology and processes. However, contact centers in some countries are doing it faster than others. For example according to a recent study by Avaya:
These high numbers translate into a higher degree of customer retention and loyalty in the above countries when compared to places like Singapore, where only 48 percent of companies have adopted CEM.
With the benefits of having a good CEM strategy and infrastructure in place, and with improving the customer experience now a top, if not the #1, priority of organizations of all sizes around the world, managing those experiences is key. However, it is not just about listening. It is about hearing the voice of the customer and using the wealth of information generated from state-of-the-art customer experience solutions to be more responsive. The numbers relating CEM to customer loyalty make the case very well.