Customer experience

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Customer experience is the sum of all experiences a customer has with a supplier of goods or services, over the duration of their relationship with that supplier. It can also be used to mean an individual experience over one transaction; the distinction is usually clear in context.

Contents 1 Growing recognition 2 Emerging Business Requirement 3 Managing Customer Experience 4 References

[edit] Growing recognition

Analysts and commentators who write about customer experience and CRM have increasingly recognized the importance of managing the customer's experience. ^[1] Customers receive some kind of experience, ranging from positive to negative, during the course of buying goods and services. Thompson and Kolsky say that “an experience is defined as the sum total of conscious events. As such, a supplier cannot avoid creating an experience every time it interacts with a customer” (2004). All interactions involved throughout the process and throughout the customer lifecycle culminate in a positive customer experience if customers go away feeling that their personal needs were met and they were treated with care.

A company's ability to deliver an experience that sets it apart in the eyes of its customers serves to increase their spend with the company and, optimally, inspire loyalty to its brand. "Loyalty," says Jessica Debor, "is now driven primarily by a company's interaction with its customers and how well it delivers on their wants and needs." (2008) ^[2]

The concept of customer experience was first introduced by Pine and Gilmore in their 1998 Harvard Business Review article. They believe that successful businesses influence people through engaging, authentic experiences that render personal value (Pine and Gilmore 1998). ^[3]

[edit] Emerging Business Requirement

With products becoming commoditized, price differentiation no longer sustainable and customers demanding more, companies – and communication service providers (wireline, wireless, broadband cable, satellite) in particular – are focusing on delivering superior customer experiences. The customer experience has emerged as the single most important aspect in achieving success for companies across all industries (Peppers and Rogers 2005). ^[4]

[edit] Managing Customer Experience

Customer experience is the new innovation frontier for business. Companies are focusing on the importance of the experience and, as Jeananne Rae notes, realizing that “building great consumer experiences is a complex enterprise, involving strategy, integration of technology, orchestrating business models, brand management and CEO commitment.” (2006) ^[5]

Microsoft’s Customer Experience Improvement Program gives all of its customers the opportunity to provide input into the design and development of its products. The program collects feedback on how customers use Microsoft programs and problems they have encountered. The end results are software improvements to better meet customer needs. ^[6]

Amdocs believes customer experiences should be intentional. Its customer experience systems help communication service providers and other enterprises develop an integrated customer management strategy that emphasizes a central focus on customer experiences the way that they’re intended – consistent, personalized and valuable. ^[7]

Customer-centric service providers take care of customer needs at every touchpoint in the customer lifecycle (ordering, fulfillment, billing, support, etc.) and employ all channels (contact center, Internet, self service, mobile devices, brick and mortar stores) and means of communication (phone, chat, email, Web, in-person). They develop experience-based differentiation, which shifts the focus from product features to customer wants and needs. These experience-based providers integrate both internal and external innovations to create end-to-end customer experiences. They evaluate their business models as well as business support systems and operational support systems (BSS/OSS) from the customer’s point of view to achieve the level of customer-centricity necessary to improve customer loyalty, churn and revenue (Lopez, 2007). ^[8]

[edit] References