8 Rules for Outstanding CX

The customer is king. We hear this all the time. But how often are customers really treated like royalty – in a way that speaks to them on a personal level, keeps them coming back, and drives them to recommend your company to their network?

Inspired by the book Service Excellence, by Jean-Pierre Thomassen and Eric de Haan, this blog contains eight spearheads for organisations that want to deliver truly outstanding customer experiences. 

Your eight rules for success

1. Understand the needs of your customer

You can’t give your customers what they want until you understand what they want, so the first step on your way to CX success is gaining visibility into your customer needs. The best way to do this is through honest, open and clear communication. Ask questions of your customers to discover the core problems they’re experiencing. And then continue to ask questions about these problems until you truly understand their underlying needs. Quantitative data relating to customer behaviour at various touchpoints can also help you gain insight into how your customers really feel, and where your interactions or processes are letting you down. Understanding these things is the vital first step in executing your customer-centric vision.

2. Develop a customer-centric vision, mission and strategy

Once you have an understanding of your customers’ needs, the next step is to make sure they are a priority going forwards. And that means putting them at the centre of your company mission, vision and strategy. It’s important that this remains a focal point across all your activities, and that you don’t deviate from your intended goal of adding value to the customer with every strategic choice you make.

3. Establish a culture of commitment and eagerness to learn

Customer focus should also be a central part of the continuous development of your company culture. Emphasise its importance to your employees regularly, and give them influence in achieving your customer experience goals. Focus on developing eagerness to learn and commitment to the cause among your employees and your customers will soon feel the benefit.

4. Make sure leaders inspire, give direction and enthuse

Similarly, it’s important that the leaders in your organisation act as role models to the rest of your employees. These leaders must fully embrace the vision of the company, focus on the customer at all times and be willing to share and learn from mistakes. Importantly, they must remove all obstacles that discourage employees from paying extra attention to the customer.

5. Customer-focused employees

For your employees to share these values, you need to ensure they are prioritised above all else when it comes to your hiring practices. This mindset should even take priority over core competencies. Customer-oriented employees are empathetic, creative and have a considerate attitude towards both customers and colleagues. These are the traits you should look out for when making hiring decisions, and continue to develop with training throughout the careers of your employees.

6. Exceed expectations

Today’s customers have more choice than ever, which means they’re harder to please. The least they expect is expertise, reliability and accessibility. So, to truly set your organisation apart, you’ll have to find positive ways to surprise them and exceed these expectations. This requires creativity and flexibility, which comes from the customer orientation of your employees. And from a genuine and organisationwide dedication to the cause.

7. Design your organisation with the customer in mind

From top to bottom, your organisation should be designed in a way that maximises value for your customers, and this means making customer experiences as simple and seamless as possible. Link processes and information for consistent experiences, minimise the number of transfer moments and touchpoints needed to achieve goals, and use the latest technology to remove barriers and personalise interactions.

8. Make customer feedback a part of your process

As we covered in our first point, understanding customer needs is essential, and taking customer feedback into account for each and every one of your processes can provide vital insights into how your customers feel. This feedback can stimulate new initiatives, facilitate a culture of continuous improvement, increase employee inspiration and fuel innovation.

In our following blogs, we’ll explore these concepts in more detail, sharing practical examples, real-world experiences, and ideas and tools that can help you deliver exceptional customer experiences. If you’d like to learn more about how we can help you on this journey, visit this page.