Customer Experience Tools to Use Now | Tory Burch Foundation
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Customer Experience Tools to Use Now
Turning opinions into data.
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A strong customer experience can be the exact thing that boosts your repeat business. And because return customers usually spend twice what new customers do, you’ll want to make sure you’re doing your best to keep them. Have a strong customer experience strategy in place? Customer experience consultant Tia Abercrombie-Dinolfo shared essential customer experience tools in a session of our Business Webinar program.
MEASURE TO IMPROVE.
As an entrepreneur, you have many good ideas, but listening to your customers is how you see if those good ideas are ones that will really stick. Not only should you listen to your customers, you should also keep track of the issues they bring to customer support, to improve overall customer experience. While you can collect customers’ main concerns in a spreadsheet, customer relationship management (CRM) tools like Zendesk can also collect, analyze and tag that data for you. This data is so important that a standard inbox for customer service just won’t cut it, said Abercrombie-Dinolfo. You may find that a small shift is all you need to make a major impact.
Additionally, there are plenty of standardized tools business owners can use to measure sentiment outside of what goes to the support email address. Abercrombie-Dinolfo favors Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) surveys, Net Promoter Score (NPS), and Customer Effort Score (CES) as the best tools for collecting customer satisfaction metrics.
CSAT surveys gauge customer satisfaction by asking respondents to rate their experience on a numerical scale or through qualitative feedback. These surveys can provide immediate insights into customer sentiment after specific interactions or transactions.
NPS assesses customer loyalty and likelihood to recommend a brand by asking a single question: “How likely are you to recommend us to a friend or colleague?” Respondents are categorized as Promoters (score 9-10), Passives (score 7-8), or Detractors (score 0-6). NPS reflects overall customer sentiment and long-term growth potential.
CES measures the ease of the customer experience by asking how much effort was required to achieve a goal, such as resolving an issue or making a purchase. By minimizing customer effort, businesses can increase satisfaction and loyalty.
If you have customer support staff, be sure to tap them as a resource for understanding your current CX. Their unique insight can shine a light on pain points in both your customer-facing processes and your internal ones, which are also part of a holistic approach to CX. “Customer experience and employee experience are two sides of the same coin,” Abercrombie-Dinolfo said.
Each customer tool has a corresponding employee version:
CSAT→ Employee Satisfaction Survey (ESAT) or Employee Engagement Survey
NPS → Employee Net Promoter Score (ENPS)
CES → Employee Effort Score
MAKE THE BEST OF BAD FEEDBACK.
Negative reviews happen to good companies. How you handle them is what makes your business stand out. If a customer complains about a product or service in your social media comments or on Google reviews, your best bet is getting this issue out of the public eye as quickly as possible, recommended Abercrombie-Dinolfo. Once you’ve confirmed this person actually made a purchase with you, gather their order and contact information. Then respond saying something like, “I’m so sorry you had that experience. We will contact you to get this handled.” Use their email or direct message them if you have to. “It’s all about that effortlessness,” Abercrombie-Dinolfo explained. Make as little work for the frustrated customer as possible, be curious about why they had a problem, then solve it as quickly as you can.
One thing you absolutely shouldn’t do? Do not delete their comment. That will erode customer trust, explained Abercrombie-Dinolfo. Besides, once you’ve helped the customer, they often return to their original comment and explain how you helped them. Other customers will see how well you responded and your showing up responsibly created a positive customer experience for them.
