For people who are just getting started in the CXM and want to know how they can improve the customer experience, chances are you’ll run into a few myths which can be confusing at times and make you question what you’ve known so far.
These myths are all too common to us as an experience management platform, and in this article, we’ll help you demystify these myths once and for all.
Myth #1: CXM is CX
CXM and CX (Customer Experience) are related concepts, but they are not the same thing. CX (Customer Experience) refers to the overall experience a customer has with a brand or company, including all the interactions they have with the company across all touchpoints and channels. CXM (Customer Experience Management), on the other hand, is the process of designing, monitoring, and improving the customer experience. CXM involves analyzing customer feedback, identifying pain points, and implementing strategies to improve the customer experience.
In other words, CX is the end goal, while CXM is the process that companies use to achieve that goal. CXM is an essential tool for companies to ensure that they are delivering a consistently positive customer experience across all touchpoints and channels.
Myth #2: CXM is only about customer service
One of the biggest misconceptions about CXM is that it is only about customer service. While customer service is an important part of CXM, it is not the only aspect of it. CXM encompasses every touchpoint a customer has with a business, from marketing to sales to support. CXM is about creating a consistent and positive experience for customers throughout their entire journey with a business.
Myth #3: The CX team is the only one needing to do the CXM works
CXM, when done right, isn’t a process that can be handled by only one team – it’s not how the customers interact with a business either. All teams in a company should work together to produce the best customer experience because a customer's interaction with a company is not limited to a single department or touchpoint. Every interaction that a customer has with a company, whether it be with customer support, marketing, sales, or product development, contributes to their overall experience.
The role of the CX team, instead, is to work with all teams to ensure that all aspects of the business are aligned with the goal of delivering a positive customer experience, as well as producing strategic plans for that goal.
Myth #4: CXM is all about giving customers what they want
Giving customers only what they want means that you’re doing just enough to get by. To really excel – to have an excellent customer experience – you’ll need to make it a “wow” experience for customers, and this means producing an experience that they didn’t think they needed before.
The “wow” experience could be something as simple as going above and beyond for customers. For example, a restaurant that provides a complimentary dessert, a retailer that offers a discount on a future purchase, or a customer service representative who goes out of their way to resolve a problem or answer a question can create a positive impression – these experiences can create a lasting impression on the customers that make them stay with you.
Myth #5: CXM is just a set of tactics or techniques
While tactics and techniques may be a part of CXM, it is important to note that CXM encompasses much more than just these elements. CXM involves a deep understanding of the customer journey, identifying pain points and opportunities for improvement, and implementing a range of practices and strategies that align with the organization's overall customer experience goals.
Effective CXM requires a customer-centric mindset that places the customer at the center of all business decisions – it involves creating a culture within the organization that values customer experience and prioritizes the needs and wants of customers. All areas of the business, including product design, marketing, sales, customer service, and more are involved in effective CXM and that’s why it’s complicated to do right.
In fact, in a survey conducted by Econsultancy, only 30% of companies surveyed were rated as having an "advanced" customer experience program, while the majority (53%) were rated as "poor" or "very poor". The actual percentage of companies that have an embedded customer-centric culture (level 5 in CXM maturity) is 3%.
Myth #6: CXM is only relevant for B2C companies
While it is true that B2C (business-to-consumer) companies often place a greater emphasis on customer experience due to their direct interaction with end consumers, B2B companies can also benefit greatly from CXM. In fact, a positive customer experience is just as important in B2B industries as it is in B2C industries, if not more so.
“Around two-thirds of B2B buyers said they would discontinue business with sellers that don’t tailor their outreach.”Close the expectation gap with your B2B customers, Deloitte 2021
In the B2B space, the customer experience is more complex, involving multiple decision-makers and touchpoints throughout the customer journey – but that doesn’t stop making B2B buyers from expecting an experience tailored for them. In fact, a higher level of personalization deepens the relationship with individual buyers, creating a halo effect that helps you keep their business, even if they change locations, departments or companies altogether.
Example of the importance of CXM for B2B companies:
Deloitte has helped B2B companies go from CX laggard to leader. They recently worked with a $7 billion global high-tech company that was seeing 25% of its B2B customers at risk of churn, citing “bad” CX as a reason. With dedicated CX improvements, the brand’s CX scores rose 15%. Better yet, buyers whose CX scores improved year-over-year increased their spend with the tech company by 23% on average.
Myth #7: Customer satisfaction needs to be maximized
While customer satisfaction (or CSAT as a metric) is a good metric to measure, it is by no means a metric that have to be maximized at all costs. For once, a high CSAT score does not necessarily equate to loyalty (measured in terms of Net Promoter Score): While it could indicate that customers are satisfied with a particular product or service, it does not mean that they will remain loyal to your brand. Customers may switch to a competitor for a variety of reasons, including price, convenience, or better features.
Conclusion
All in all, in order to avoid falling prey to myths about customer experience, it is important to look at things in the big picture. By taking a more comprehensive view of customer experience, you can avoid getting too focused on narrow metrics or short-term goals, and instead develop more holistic, sustainable strategies that account for multiple factors, such as profitability, customer loyalty, and innovation.
And by this way, you can start to understand the context and nuances of customer experience and avoid oversimplifying or misinterpreting data or feedback. Hope this helped!
