Your customer experience (CX) can be a risk or a competitive advantage. Nearly three-quarters of customers recommend a product or service based solely on a "great experience," according to Convince & Convert's "Chatter Matters 2018 Word of Mouth Study." Investing in customer experience training prepares your team to deliver a stronger CX strategy, boosting customer loyalty, profitability and Net Promoter Score (NPS). So, how specifically can training elevate your organization's customer experience?
Strengthen your customer experience strategy and training
Experience-driven businesses invest heavily in people, processes and technologies, according to Forrester. This includes learning and development initiatives focused on a highly effective customer experience. A positive CX requires an attentive relationship beginning at pre-sale and all the way through acquisition and your fully fledged partnership. Even when you think you and your customers get along swimmingly, monitor your customers' use patterns, retention and if they make other purchases with you. A dip in any of these metrics could indicate that it's time for internal CX training. An agile L&D strategy helps your organization realize returns on a learning management system investment by boosting the quality of your CX and, likely, profitability. Here's how to achieve an excellent customer experience strategy:
1. Map L&D to the customer journey
Customers who feel understood by brands are more likely to buy from them again, according to the same Forrester report. A customer experience strategy should involve work to identify your customers, their preferences and the buyer's journey. By mapping the customer's path to purchase, you can promote understanding of how they progress through stages like awareness, consideration and conversion. L&D content aligned with key moments in the customer journey reinforces staff understanding of customer needs and produces an experience-driven culture.
2. Use the voice of the customer
Disney's commitment to the motto "to serve the customer best" has created a 70% return rate among park visitors, according to Medium. Disney continually adjusts to customer feedback. The brand provides some park employees with knowledge and visible Special Assistance passes to provide "as seamless a transition into the park as possible" for guests with disabilities. Real feedback from customers is a powerful CX tool to build empathy. A modest improvement in CX strategy could improve a company's value by 77.5% over three years, according to a Temkin Group report. L&D should work directly with the customer support team to create a cycle of customer feedback and training content. Real-time insights from the customer, such as NPS results, can be used to adjust current training requirements and guide the rapid development and deployment of new training modules.
3. Use microlearning modules
One of the keys to exceptional CX management, according to Customer Think, involves "communicating the right insights and information to the right people at the right time." Microlearning modules that are mobile, on-demand multimedia can support employees in the flow of work and enhance foundational CX training. Employees should receive L&D content tailored to customer buyer personas or segments of the customer population. Don't forget about tracking learner skill improvement. LMS reporting provides a view of learner activity, progress and assessments to define the success of your training efforts. Once you're confident your training is sticking with your learners, real-time, tailored L&D can give your business the opportunity to pursue continuous improvement. Data analysis then shows the impact of microlearning on customer satisfaction metrics.
Exceptional customer experience training
A strong L&D strategy and the right LMS technology are key to improving employee knowledge of the customer's needs and offering exceptional services every time. Your organization has the choice of treating customer service training like another box to be checked or maximizing your LMS for customer loyalty and profitability. By helping employees access CX insights at the right place and right time, you have the opportunity to create experiences that win customers for the long haul.
