[[{"@context":"http:\/\/schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/11\/22\/improve-your-customer-experience-strategy-4-mistakes-to-avoid\/#Article","articleBody":"Trying to improve your customer experience strategy? You\u2019re not alone. It\u2019s no surprise, since CX overtook product and price as the top brand differentiator.\nImproving your customer experience can lead to stronger customer relationships, improved brand perception, and increased revenue.\nBut getting there requires ongoing work, and a clear, focused strategy.\nWhy you need a customer experience strategy\nToo often, companies approach CX as an intuitive, instinctual practice. And while the best experiences feel effortless and intuitive, they\u2019re built on a well-designed strategy.\nYour CX strategy is not a hypothetical or theoretical idea. It\u2019s a digital document that clearly outlines:\nWho your customer is\nWhat the customer journey looks like\nYour brand promise\nHow you define and measure success\nThese four elements are the foundation of your customer experience. Invest the time and energy into outlining and aligning your team around them, and you\u2019ll set yourself up for long-term success.\n \nHow to develop a customer experience strategy 101\n Companies that focus on developing strategies for the customer experience reduce churn and increase revenues \u2013 leading to higher profits. \nImprove your customer experience strategy: 4 common mistakes to avoid\nOf course, not all strategies are created equal. Here are four common mistakes companies make that you\u2019ll want to avoid.\nMistake #1: Ignoring the employee experience\nGreat customer experience starts with a great\u00a0employee experience. In fact, high employee engagement can boost profitability by 21%\u00a0 and customer ratings by 10%. \nThis is true for a few reasons:\nYour employees are the ones interfacing with customers. From sales staff to customer service, they\u2019re the face of your brand. When they feel valued and buy into the brand experience, they\u2019re more likely to deliver a great experience to customers.\nInvesting in tools that help employees do their job more easily and effectively reduces how often customers get passed around from department to department.\nEngaged employees are more collaborative and better able to find solutions to CX problems that come up.\nNot to mention, improving the employee experience reduces turnover.\nIf you\u2019re trying to improve your customer experience strategy, start by looking at your employee experience. Identify any roadblocks or bottlenecks keeping your team from working effectively. Empower them to deliver the best possible experiences to your customers.\n \nHow to improve employee well-being: Humanity enters the workplace\n By making wellness a priority and leading with compassion, modern HR leaders are improving employee well-being and boosting morale. \nMistake #2: Assuming your customers are just like you\nIf you want to make an outstanding customer experience, you have to know what your customers want. And unless you are\u00a0your target audience, be careful not to assume you instinctively know what that is.\nUse common sense and empathy when building your CX strategy \u2013 put yourself in the user\u2019s shoes and make note of how you\u2019d choose to engage. But you also have to check your own biases.\nThe best way to do that is to turn to your customer data. Use it to build comprehensive customer profiles that help you know your audience on a deeper level. Identify their pain points and priorities and use those insights to improve your customer experience strategy. And remember \u2013 they may not be the same as yours.\n \nDiscover customer pain points \u2013 then fix them: CX will soar\n Once a business uncovers customer pain points, immediate action must be taken to improve CX, thereby building loyal customer relationships. \nMistake #3: Operating with a channel mindset\nCX strategies that break down the experience by department or channel will continue to miss the mark. No matter how your company operates internally, your customers experience your brand as a holistic entity \u2013 and will judge it as such. A bad customer service interaction won\u2019t leave them thinking,\u00a0\u201cMan, their service organization is not well run.\u201d They\u2019ll think,\u00a0\u201cMan, this company doesn\u2019t care about customer service.\u201d\nImprove your customer experience strategy by seeing the forest through the trees. How does the entire experience flow together?\nDesign your strategy with an omnichannel approach. Use journey maps to:\nUnderstand how your customers move from channel to channel\nIdentify the various touchpoints they engage with, and\nCreate a seamless experience across all those touchpoints\n \nOmnichannel examples: Brands creating their own luck\n Online retail and e-commerce require an omnichannel strategy. How do you create one? Learn some of the best omnichannel examples out there. \nMistake #4: Neglecting metrics\nOne of the biggest CX mistakes is failing to define clear, measurable goals and success metrics. You can create as many campaigns and engagements you want, but if you don\u2019t know what success looks like or how it\u2019s measured, you\u2019re not actually in control of the experience.\nNot only that; failing to align on success metrics can lead to internal conflict, too. If your teams aren\u2019t working together with a clear understanding of the goals and KPI\u2019s, they could end up working against each other and creating experiences that are disjointed and inconsistent.\nIdentify your business goals. Which are the most critical for you to achieve?\nWork with your data team to determine what goals you can and cannot measure. If needed, adapt your success metrics to reflect what\u2019s actually measurable.\nMake sure your entire organization is aligned and rallied behind these metrics. If necessary, rank your goals and metrics so your teams know which tasks take top priority.\nThis part of the process can take a lot of time and energy, but without it, your customer experience strategy is not truly complete.\n \n5 next-gen marketing KPIs to enhance the customer experience\n Which CX metrics are most important for B2B marketers? By keeping a sharp focus on these top five KPIs, brands can evolve with their customers\u2019 needs. \nImprove your customer experience strategy, improve your brand\nCustomer experience is too important to be left to chance. Its impact on your brand and its ability to succeed long-term is too great. Arm yourself with a solid customer experience strategy and take control of your company\u2019s future.\nDon\u2019t leave your customers in the dark. Light the path to loyalty with great customer service. \ud83d\udca1Discover the ROI\u00a0HERE.\ud83d\udca1","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/11\/22\/improve-your-customer-experience-strategy-4-mistakes-to-avoid\/#Article_Person","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/11\/22\/improve-your-customer-experience-strategy-4-mistakes-to-avoid\/#Article_Person_ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/23x6xj3o92m9361dbu2ij362-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/Emily_Kelly-150x150.jpg"},"name":"Emily Morrow","sameAs":["https:\/\/twitter.com\/emkmorrow","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/emilykmorrow\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/contributor\/emily-kelly\/"},"dateModified":"2021-11-30T00:40:42+00:00","datePublished":"2021-11-22T06:15:45+00:00","description":"Improve your customer experience strategy and take control of your brand by avoiding these four common CX mistakes.","headline":"Improve your customer experience strategy: 4 mistakes to avoid","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/11\/22\/improve-your-customer-experience-strategy-4-mistakes-to-avoid\/#Article_ImageObject","height":"630","url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/profile-segmentation_1200x375-1200x630.jpg","width":"1200"},"mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/11\/22\/improve-your-customer-experience-strategy-4-mistakes-to-avoid\/","name":"Improve your customer experience strategy: 4 mistakes to avoid","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/","additionalType":"https:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/wiki\/Q1193236","description":"Relevant, timely information & analysis on commerce trends, both consumer-facing and B2B.","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/23x6xj3o92m9361dbu2ij362-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/themes\/hybris_foc\/assets\/images\/layout\/logo-new-2x.png?_=1","height":"96","url":"https:\/\/23x6xj3o92m9361dbu2ij362-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/themes\/hybris_foc\/assets\/images\/layout\/logo-new-2x.png?_=1","width":"500"},"name":"The Future of Customer Engagement and Experience","sameAs":["https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/a-call-for-a-better-experience\/id1479742201","https:\/\/twitter.com\/FutureOfCEC","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/groups\/4844282","https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/feed\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/"},"url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/11\/22\/improve-your-customer-experience-strategy-4-mistakes-to-avoid\/#Article"},{"@context":"http:\/\/schema.org","@type":"Organization","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/23x6xj3o92m9361dbu2ij362-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/themes\/hybris_foc\/assets\/images\/layout\/logo-new-2x.png?_=1","height":"96","width":"500","@id":"https:\/\/23x6xj3o92m9361dbu2ij362-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/themes\/hybris_foc\/assets\/images\/layout\/logo-new-2x.png?_=1"},"name":"The Future of Customer Engagement and Experience","sameAs":["https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/a-call-for-a-better-experience\/id1479742201","https:\/\/twitter.com\/FutureOfCEC","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/groups\/4844282","https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/feed\/"],"additionalType":"https:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/wiki\/Q1193236","url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/","description":"Relevant, timely information & analysis on commerce trends, both consumer-facing and B2B.","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/"},{"@type":["Article"],"@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/11\/22\/improve-your-customer-experience-strategy-4-mistakes-to-avoid\/#Article","@context":{"@vocab":"http:\/\/schema.org\/","kg":"http:\/\/g.co\/kg"},"url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/11\/22\/improve-your-customer-experience-strategy-4-mistakes-to-avoid\/","publisher":[{"@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/"}],"author":[{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/11\/22\/improve-your-customer-experience-strategy-4-mistakes-to-avoid\/#Article_author_Person","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/11\/22\/improve-your-customer-experience-strategy-4-mistakes-to-avoid\/#Article_author_Person_image_ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/23x6xj3o92m9361dbu2ij362-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/Emily_Kelly-150x150.jpg"}],"sameAs":["https:\/\/twitter.com\/emkmorrow","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/emilykmorrow\/\nhttps:\/\/twitter.com\/emkmorrow"],"url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/contributor\/emily-kelly\/","name":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/contributor\/emily-kelly\/"}],"subjectOf":[{"@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/11\/22\/improve-your-customer-experience-strategy-4-mistakes-to-avoid\/#Article_subjectOf_FAQPage","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/11\/22\/improve-your-customer-experience-strategy-4-mistakes-to-avoid\/#subjectOf_FAQPage_mainEntity0","name":"Why you need a customer experience strategy","acceptedAnswer":[{"@type":"Answer","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/11\/22\/improve-your-customer-experience-strategy-4-mistakes-to-avoid\/#subjectOf_FAQPage_mainEntity0_acceptedAnswer_Answer","text":"Too often, companies approach CX as an intuitive, instinctual practice. And while the best experiences feel<\/em> effortless and intuitive, they\u2019re built on a well-designed strategy<\/a>.\n
  • Who your customer is<\/strong><\/li>\n
  • What the customer journey looks like<\/strong><\/li>\n
  • Your brand promise<\/strong><\/li>\n
  • How you define and measure success<\/strong><\/li>\nThese four elements are the foundation of your customer experience. Invest the time and energy into outlining and aligning your team around them, and you\u2019ll set yourself up for long-term success."}]},{"@type":"Question","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/11\/22\/improve-your-customer-experience-strategy-4-mistakes-to-avoid\/#subjectOf_FAQPage_mainEntity1","name":"Improve your customer experience strategy: 4 common mistakes to avoid","acceptedAnswer":[{"@type":"Answer","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/11\/22\/improve-your-customer-experience-strategy-4-mistakes-to-avoid\/#subjectOf_FAQPage_mainEntity1_acceptedAnswer_Answer","text":"Of course, not all strategies are created equal. Here are four common mistakes companies make that you\u2019ll want to avoid.This is true for a few reasons:\n
  • Your employees are the ones interfacing with customers. From sales staff to customer service, they\u2019re the face of your brand. When they feel valued and buy into the brand experience, they\u2019re more likely to deliver a great experience to customers.<\/li>\n
  • Investing in tools that help employees do their job more easily and effectively reduces how often customers get passed around from department to department.<\/li>\n
  • Engaged employees are more collaborative and better able to find solutions to CX problems that come up.<\/li>\nNot to mention, improving the employee experience reduces turnover.If you\u2019re trying to improve your customer experience strategy, start by looking at your employee experience. Identify any roadblocks or bottlenecks keeping your team from working effectively. Empower them to deliver the best possible experiences to your customers.<\/span><\/span>If you want to make an outstanding customer experience, you have to know what your customers want. And unless you are <\/em>your target audience, be careful not to assume you instinctively know what that is.The best way to do that is to turn to your customer data<\/a>. Use it to build comprehensive customer profiles that help you know your audience on a deeper level. Identify their pain points and priorities and use those insights to improve your customer experience strategy. And remember \u2013 they may not be the same as yours.CX strategies that break down the experience by department or channel will continue to miss the mark. No matter how your company operates internally, your customers experience your brand as a holistic entity \u2013 and will judge it as such. A bad customer service interaction won\u2019t leave them thinking, \u201cMan, their service organization is not well run.\u201d<\/em> They\u2019ll think, \u201cMan, this company doesn\u2019t care about customer service.\u201d<\/em>Improve your customer experience strategy by seeing the forest through the trees. How does the entire experience flow together<\/em>?<\/span><\/span>Design your strategy with an omnichannel approach. Use journey maps<\/a> to:\n
  • Understand how your customers move from channel to channel<\/li>\n
  • Identify the various touchpoints they engage with, and<\/li>\n
  • Create a seamless experience across all those touchpoints<\/li>\nNot only that; failing to align on success metrics can lead to internal conflict, too. If your teams aren\u2019t working together with a clear understanding of the goals and KPI\u2019s, they could end up working against each other and creating experiences that are disjointed and inconsistent.\n
  • Identify your business goals. Which are the most critical for you to achieve?<\/li>\n
  • Work with your data team to determine what goals you can <\/strong>and cannot<\/strong> measure. If needed, adapt your success metrics to reflect what\u2019s actually measurable.<\/li>\n
  • Make sure your entire organization is aligned and rallied behind these metrics. If necessary, rank your goals and metrics so your teams know which tasks take top priority.<\/li>\nThis part of the process can take a lot of time and energy, but without it, your customer experience strategy is not truly complete."}]},{"@type":"Question","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/11\/22\/improve-your-customer-experience-strategy-4-mistakes-to-avoid\/#subjectOf_FAQPage_mainEntity2","name":"Improve your customer experience strategy, improve your brand","acceptedAnswer":[{"@type":"Answer","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/11\/22\/improve-your-customer-experience-strategy-4-mistakes-to-avoid\/#subjectOf_FAQPage_mainEntity2_acceptedAnswer_Answer","text":"Customer experience is too important to be left to chance. Its impact on your brand and its ability to succeed long-term is too great. Arm yourself with a solid customer experience strategy and take control of your company\u2019s future."}]}]}],"image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/11\/22\/improve-your-customer-experience-strategy-4-mistakes-to-avoid\/#Article_image_ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/profile-segmentation_1200x375-1200x630.jpg","width":"1200","height":"630"}],"mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/11\/22\/improve-your-customer-experience-strategy-4-mistakes-to-avoid\/","articleBody":"\n Trying to improve your customer experience strategy? You\u2019re not alone. It\u2019s no surprise, since CX overtook product and price as the top brand differentiator.\nImproving your customer experience can lead to stronger customer relationships, improved brand perception, and increased revenue.\nBut getting there requires ongoing work, and a clear, focused strategy.\nWhy you need a customer experience strategy\nToo often, companies approach CX as an intuitive, instinctual practice. And while the best experiences feel effortless and intuitive, they\u2019re built on a well-designed strategy.\nYour CX strategy is not a hypothetical or theoretical idea. It\u2019s a digital document that clearly outlines:\n\nWho your customer is\nWhat the customer journey looks like\nYour brand promise\nHow you define and measure success\n\nThese four elements are the foundation of your customer experience. Invest the time and energy into outlining and aligning your team around them, and you\u2019ll set yourself up for long-term success.\n\n \n How to develop a customer experience strategy 101\n \n \n Companies that focus on developing strategies for the customer experience reduce churn and increase revenues \u2013 leading to higher profits.\n \n \n\nImprove your customer experience strategy: 4 common mistakes to avoid\nOf course, not all strategies are created equal. Here are four common mistakes companies make that you\u2019ll want to avoid.\nMistake #1: Ignoring the employee experience\nGreat customer experience starts with a great employee experience. In fact, high employee engagement can boost profitability by 21%  and customer ratings by 10%. \nThis is true for a few reasons:\n\nYour employees are the ones interfacing with customers. From sales staff to customer service, they\u2019re the face of your brand. When they feel valued and buy into the brand experience, they\u2019re more likely to deliver a great experience to customers.\nInvesting in tools that help employees do their job more easily and effectively reduces how often customers get passed around from department to department.\nEngaged employees are more collaborative and better able to find solutions to CX problems that come up.\n\nNot to mention, improving the employee experience reduces turnover.\nIf you\u2019re trying to improve your customer experience strategy, start by looking at your employee experience. Identify any roadblocks or bottlenecks keeping your team from working effectively. Empower them to deliver the best possible experiences to your customers.\n\n \n How to improve employee well-being: Humanity enters the workplace\n \n \n By making wellness a priority and leading with compassion, modern HR leaders are improving employee well-being and boosting morale.\n \n \n\nMistake #2: Assuming your customers are just like you\nIf you want to make an outstanding customer experience, you have to know what your customers want. And unless you are your target audience, be careful not to assume you instinctively know what that is.\nUse common sense and empathy when building your CX strategy \u2013 put yourself in the user\u2019s shoes and make note of how you\u2019d choose to engage. But you also have to check your own biases.\nThe best way to do that is to turn to your customer data. Use it to build comprehensive customer profiles that help you know your audience on a deeper level. Identify their pain points and priorities and use those insights to improve your customer experience strategy. And remember \u2013 they may not be the same as yours.\n\n \n Discover customer pain points \u2013 then fix them: CX will soar\n \n \n Once a business uncovers customer pain points, immediate action must be taken to improve CX, thereby building loyal customer relationships.\n \n \n\nMistake #3: Operating with a channel mindset\nCX strategies that break down the experience by department or channel will continue to miss the mark. No matter how your company operates internally, your customers experience your brand as a holistic entity \u2013 and will judge it as such. A bad customer service interaction won\u2019t leave them thinking, \u201cMan, their service organization is not well run.\u201d They\u2019ll think, \u201cMan, this company doesn\u2019t care about customer service.\u201d\nImprove your customer experience strategy by seeing the forest through the trees. How does the entire experience flow together?\nDesign your strategy with an omnichannel approach. Use journey maps to:\n\nUnderstand how your customers move from channel to channel\nIdentify the various touchpoints they engage with, and\nCreate a seamless experience across all those touchpoints\n\n\n \n Omnichannel examples: Brands creating their own luck\n \n \n Online retail and e-commerce require an omnichannel strategy. How do you create one? Learn some of the best omnichannel examples out there.\n \n \n\nMistake #4: Neglecting metrics\nOne of the biggest CX mistakes is failing to define clear, measurable goals and success metrics. You can create as many campaigns and engagements you want, but if you don\u2019t know what success looks like or how it\u2019s measured, you\u2019re not actually in control of the experience.\nNot only that; failing to align on success metrics can lead to internal conflict, too. If your teams aren\u2019t working together with a clear understanding of the goals and KPI\u2019s, they could end up working against each other and creating experiences that are disjointed and inconsistent.\n\nIdentify your business goals. Which are the most critical for you to achieve?\nWork with your data team to determine what goals you can and cannot measure. If needed, adapt your success metrics to reflect what\u2019s actually measurable.\nMake sure your entire organization is aligned and rallied behind these metrics. If necessary, rank your goals and metrics so your teams know which tasks take top priority.\n\nThis part of the process can take a lot of time and energy, but without it, your customer experience strategy is not truly complete.\n\n \n 5 next-gen marketing KPIs to enhance the customer experience\n \n \n Which CX metrics are most important for B2B marketers? By keeping a sharp focus on these top five KPIs, brands can evolve with their customers\u2019 needs.\n \n \n\nImprove your customer experience strategy, improve your brand\nCustomer experience is too important to be left to chance. Its impact on your brand and its ability to succeed long-term is too great. Arm yourself with a solid customer experience strategy and take control of your company\u2019s future.\n Don\u2019t leave your customers\nin the dark.\nLight the path to loyalty\nwith great customer service.\n\ud83d\udca1Discover the ROI HERE.\ud83d\udca1\n \n\n\n\n\t\n ","name":"Improve your customer experience strategy: 4 mistakes to avoid","dateModified":"2021-11-30T00:40:42+00:00","datePublished":"2021-11-22T06:15:45+00:00","headline":"Improve your customer experience strategy: 4 mistakes to avoid","description":"Improve your customer experience strategy and take control of your brand by avoiding these four common CX mistakes."}],{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"2021","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"11","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/\/11\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"22","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/\/11\/\/22\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Improve your customer experience strategy: 4 mistakes to avoid","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/11\/22\/improve-your-customer-experience-strategy-4-mistakes-to-avoid\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]