https://youtu.be/xr2GrRcM5Lo
Why are we talking about the ubiquity of the customer? What is—and what isn’t— customer experience? How can customer experience be measured? These were some of the questions addressed during the conference “The Ubiquity of the Customer: Impact and Measurement.”
The event, organized by the Graduate School of Business at Universidad ORT Uruguay, took place on Tuesday, June 7, in a hybrid format. It was part of the Management and Business Lecture Series. Presenters included Mariana Machado, MBA—professor of Services Marketing and Customer Experience Management at Universidad ORT Uruguayand Dr. Ricardo Kaufmann—academic secretary of the School of Management and International Studies at ORT.
Understanding the customer
“Often, within organizations, we speak in terms of ‘us’ and ‘them’: the company on one side, and the customer on the other. Today, we are in the era of the omnipresent customer. This means that the customer is everywhere,” Machado noted, adding:
If the coronavirus has taught us anything, it's that customers aren't always even in the same country—they can be anywhere in the world.
In this regard, the expert highlighted the characteristics of today's customer:
- The customer sees everything.
- Sometimes, he knows more about the organization than the executives themselves.
- She has an opinion on everything the organization does and doesn't do.
- It has an impact outside the organization, on the products and services that are sold.
- It has an impact within the organization, particularly on decision-making.
“We need to be aware of the customer’s omnipresence. It is essential to understand the customers we constantly interact with through our organizations,” Kaufmann said, adding that this phenomenon occurs across all industries.
It is essential to understand how to measure, design, and manage the customer experience as part of the journey toward competitiveness.
Measurement
Kaufmann and Machado shared tools for measuring the customer experience:
- The Satisfaction Index. This involves asking customers to rate their level of satisfaction with a product or service on a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 means “very dissatisfied” and 5 means “completely satisfied.” It is the most widely recognized index among consumers, and its use is essential.
- The Churn Rate. It measures the rate at which the organization is losing customers.
- The Net Promoter System. It is one of the most popular metrics for measuring customer experience. It is easy to implement and simple to understand. It consists of asking: “How likely are you to recommend this product or service to a colleague or friend?” It uses a scale from 0 to 10. Those who score 9–10 are considered promoters, those scoring 7–8 are considered neutral, and those scoring 6 or below are considered detractors.
- The Customer Effort Score (CES). When conducting transactions, completing paperwork, making purchases, or handling administrative tasks, we expend effort (in terms of travel, communication, and time). Customers want to minimize this effort as much as possible. The CES measures, on a scale of 1 to 7, how much effort it takes for a customer to achieve their goal each time they interact with a company.
The company's perceptions
The experts discussed what customer experience is and what it isn't. They concluded that it is what the customer actually perceives and experiences when interacting with a company or a brand.
“Customer experience (CX) is not user experience (UX), it is not customer service, and it is not what the company thinks the customer sees. It is the feelings, emotions, and perceptions that the customer has regarding our company,” said Machado.
What sets a business apart and wins customer loyalty lies in its ability to deliver on its brand promise in every interaction and in how it makes customers feel.
“Customer expectations are constantly changing. Managing, designing, and improving the customer experience must be an ongoing process,” said Machado.
Consistency and commitment
According to Kaufmann, a common problem today is that customers perceive the organization as fragmented. Ideally, however, the goal is to convey a sense of internal coherence so that customers see the organization as “a single entity.”
The expert also emphasized the importance of the employee experience (EX).
We need to manage our employees’ experience. We need to foster a sense of commitment and pride in the organization among them. If we do that, they will be able to convey that to the outside world.
Machado also highlighted the importance of communicating the organization’s actions that align with its purpose and culture. “Share them because customers connect with them—when they’re genuine and authentic—and when they feel a difference, they buy more and develop greater loyalty.”
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