Measuring customer experience is more popular than ever and not without a reason. In the quick pace of technological development, only a very few companies can compete purely based on technology and ignore the customer. Customer experience is the new competitive edge that makes it or breaks it. If you’re reading this, you likely agree.
You also understand that Customer Experience has to be on the map of everyone in the organization. This said CX is always a change program for the entire company. But the problem is how to push that program through. You have tens of or even hundreds of stakeholders to convince and change.
To this problem, we want to offer you tools to solve it in your organization!
In this webinar you will learn:
Where does your organization need to be to tackle this problem?
Who to convince and how to sell the benefits of CX to other parts of the organization?
How do you engage all the stakeholders?
How to set the CX program and process for the change?
PS! No worries if you are not able to attend in real-time. Register now and we’ll send a recording afterward!
About the speakers:
KRISTIAN STOLT CX Academy coach, COO @ Feedbackly
Kristian is the COO of Feedbackly and one of the head coaches of the CX Academy. Kristian and his team have helped many industry leaders across the world succeed with their CX programs and become CX front-runners. Among the many, they have helped the City of Helsinki, Merck, Innovasport, the Australian Government, Banregio.
JAAKKO MÄNNISTÖ Awarded CX leader, Founder, Researcher, CEO @ Feedbackly
Jaakko is a startup entrepreneur and an internationally awarded CX professional. Jaakko is a founder and CEO of Feedbackly, co-founder of CX Academy and CXforum, and the author of the CX handbook The Journey. He also is one of the developers of the Emotional Value Index (EVI®) measurement framework and a global front-runner in Emotional Experience.
According to Stickdorn, Lawrence, Hormess, and Schneider (2018) customer journey maps should always be based on the actual research and user insights so that empathy towards customers could be increased, and their credibility improved. That way, it would be possible to map both direct and indirect touchpoints, increase empathic understanding towards customers within the team, and discover gaps in customer experiences.
Therefore why should the part of the customer journey map covering the entire feedback process be any different? It is a part of the journey map, just a smaller section of the overall higher-level customer journey map. I argue that even more empathy is needed during the journey covering the feedback process. Because many times, there has been some negative experience when the customer gives feedback.
Currently, in my opinion, in customer experience measurement, the focus is too much on survey tools and metrics, and one of the most important aspects has been forgotten. Meaning, the people, customers who give feedback, and employees, who request feedback and handle received responses. It has led to poorly designed measurement models and feedback processes, which have been created only from the organization’s perspective.
Sinkkonen, Nuutila & Törmä (2009) state that an expert’s opinion about customers’ input and needs is always less valuable than customers’ input. There is a risk that when only looking at your own perspective, you might forget some important aspects which are important to customers, and which the planned solution does not fulfill. This might then lead to situations where some products allow users to make mistakes, poor user interfaces, very difficult to find feedback channels, and too complex processes to give feedback.
Customer-oriented approach
In my recent development project, I approached this challenge from a different perspective. As a result of my MBA thesis (Eskelinen, 2020), I developed a framework for developing customer experience measurement in a customer-oriented way. The main conclusion of my thesis was that developing customer experience measurement should always start from the customer, their journey, and what are the most important interactions for them, not for the company which is doing the measuring. I have further iterated the framework with service design and prototyping towards a human-centric direction and decided to select this approach for the development project.
The development challenge was that the case organization measured NPS from one selected touchpoint, the overall NPS grade was high, but the response rate was low. During the development projects research phase, I discovered that most interviewees did not respond to continuous feedback surveys sent to their emails. Context-specific reasons for this behavior were for example:
There are so many feedback surveys coming in that people do not have the time and energy to respond to all of them
If you have to respond to a feedback survey, it’s irritating
So much feedback is requested, that amount should be reduced and not asked after every interaction
Sometimes, some questions do not concern you at all. There should be an option to respond that one cannot say.
Those kinds of surveys are irritating, in which you have to answer something in every section
Are companies requesting feedback just because everybody else is doing it, or are they actually doing something to them
Separate feedback surveys are lost in the email inbox
No information about what is done with the given feedback
It irritates when you do not know when the given feedback will be handled
It is frustrating that you have to follow up on issues and use too much time to solve the issue by yourself
With user research, you can discover customers’ context-specific needs and challenges like these listed above. Some universal ones might exist. For example, giving feedback should be as easy and effortless as possible in the channels and tools that the customer is using. If it is easy, customers are more likely to respond to feedback surveys.
But customer requirements vary between contexts and cannot be generalized that much. When designing measurement models and feedback processes, these insights listed above are ignored, which might lead to negative emotions affecting the overall customer experience.
There is a risk that even though the processes would be easy and efficient for the company, they might not be that for different customers. If these concepts are created based on assumptions, there is a risk that they would only serve the company and not fulfill the requirements of the customers. It is crucial to consider the service timeline and what feelings it raises in customers. If customers are not involved in the mapping process, it is very likely that the organization does not understand how the service flow will affect the moods of the customers’. Meaning, which interactions have a negative- and which interactions have a positive effect. (Schneider and Stickdorn 2010, 40.)
According to Schneider and Stickdorn (2010, 44–45), there are always many different touchpoints and approaches which need to be considered. They also mention that to achieve a great customer experience, these various stakeholders varying and changing needs need to be reappraised repeatedly. That is why it is very important, throughout the customer journey, to map different moods and feelings that various stakeholders have. The focus should be on different varying customer journeys, not just one solution for all stakeholders.
It affects how the company faces its customers in this specific situation. One should not forget that requesting and handling feedback is one important part of the customer journey. It is good to remember that customer experience is the sum of all touchpoints that the customer has with the company. If the measurement model has been designed poorly and is, therefore, a negative experience that might lead to the entire experience being negative.
Through user research, companies can also discover context-specific needs and emotions which customers want to experience during the feedback process. For example, during the projects research phase, I found the following insights:
Wants to be able to give feedback easily in that same context and that situation in which the issue has happened, not through a separate survey
Wants to handle the issue with a real human being, not just with faceless and impersonal systems
Wants transparency and proactivity in communication about how their given feedback is progressing
Easiness, effortlessness, and that you will be taken into account and that you will be heard
Important things are discretion, good manners, and respect for the other party and their work
Important things are friendliness, expertise, and desire to help
Feeling that you have been served and you get the package what were you seeking without big problems
Wants to know that actions will be done based on the feedback and that the issue will be handled easily and effortlessly
The discovered problem will be fixed so that it will not happen again, and the root cause is fixed
Wants that the issue is handled quickly, possible mistakes are apologized for, and clear corrective actions are presented
When designing measurement models and feedback processes, if these context-specific needs, requirements, and emotions are ignored, it will probably lead to poor solutions. Which then results in a negative effect on the overall customer experience. How can companies provide experiences and emotions the customers require if discovered context-specific insights are not used as a basis for the design process?
My tips for developing customer-centric measurement
Start from the people, not from the metrics or survey tools
With user research, first discover WHAT the real end-user needs/problems you need to solve are, not what you assume the problem to be. For example, in this development project, employees thought that the problem was that customers did not respond to sent feedback surveys. That was actually just a symptom. But in reality, it was quite different, as mentioned above.
Only after you are sure that you know what the real end-user needs/problems are, co-create the best solution just for your own context – with stakeholders (customers, employees, etc.).
Only after that, find out HOW it can be done – procuring the tool, through which the co-created solution can be implemented
Start the measurement from the touchpoints, which are the most important from the customers perspective
Use touchpoint-specific questions suitable to your own context instead of the most common ones (for example NPS)
Create metrics from the customer’s perspective with the stakeholders (customers, employees, etc.), and link them to employee objectives
If you want to discuss more the topic, just send me a message on LinkedIn.
It is not about processes, survey tools, or metrics, it is about people, do you agree?
Author: Lauri Eskelinen
Lauri Eskelinen is a passionate expert and developer of customer experience, measurement, and customer-centric business. He wants to help organizations to change their operations into a more customer-centric and transparent direction by utilizing service design and human-centric customer experience measurement.
References
Eskelinen, L. (2020). Designing a New Way to Measure Customer Experience in the Real Estate IT Services Business. Available at: https://www.theseus.fi/handle/10024/354451
Schneider, J. and Stickdorn, M. 2010. This is service design thinking: Basics – tools – cases. Amsterdam: BIS Publishers.
Sinkkonen, I., Nuutila, E. and Törmä, S. 2009. Helppokäyttöisen verkkopalvelun suunnittelu. Helsinki: Tietosanoma.
Stickdorn, M., Lawrence, A., Hormess, M.E. and Schneider, J. 2018. This is Service design doing: applying Service design thinking in the real world: a Practitioner’s handbook. First Edition edn. Sebastopol, CA: O’Reilly Media, Inc.
More than ever before people are used to getting what they want now. The pace of life is getting faster and this also has an impact on how your customers behave and what they expect from you. The only way to engage with your customers at the correct time and place, and therefore provide them with a personalized Customer Experience is to use marketing automation.
At this webinar, we will open up more about how you can use marketing automation to collect as well as use your customer feedback. Nowadays, marketing automation has become an essential part of a CX infrastructure.
Why and how to use marketing automation as part of your CX infrastructure
How to use marketing automation to drive business and engage your customers throughout the customer journey
How to automate the measurement of the entire customer journey
Practical examples of how to utilize customer experience data at different points of the customer journey to maximize profits
PS! No worries if you are not able to attend in real-time. Register now and we’ll send a recording afterward!
About the speakers:
JOHANNA HÖGLUND Sales and CX Professional, Regional Sales Director @ APSIS
Johanna is a sales professional with a passion for people and customer success enablement. She has long experience in sales, customer success management, and business development in various industries from logistics to network marketing and pharmaceuticals, and the past decade working with sales in different positions within the digital marketing software industry.
JAAKKO MÄNNISTÖ Awarded CX leader, Founder, Researcher, CEO @ Feedbackly
Jaakko is a startup entrepreneur and an internationally awarded CX professional. Jaakko is a founder and CEO of Feedbackly, co-founder of CX Academy and CXforum, and the author of the CX handbook The Journey. He also is one of the developers of the Emotional Value Index (EVI®) measurement framework and a global front-runner in Emotional Experience.
Every business wishes to provide people with products and services that they find valuable. To make it happen, your existing and potential clients need to find your product and the product needs to provide them with value – that makes sense, right. By mapping and understanding your customers’ journey, you can do exactly these two things mentioned – you will know where to find your customers and you will know how to provide them value.
Customer Journey is a structured overview of each buying stage your customer goes through from finding information about your products or services to purchasing them and coming back for more.
Stages of a typical eCommerce customer journey could be Awareness, Consideration, Purchase, Delivery, Product/Service, and Loyalty. The exact journey steps vary based on your business type (brick-and-mortar, B2B, etc.).
Pro tip! Always remember to approach the journey mapping from customers’ eyes – what are the stages that your customers go through in a buying process.
Next, you would need to map a couple of aspects for each stage that will give you the perfect overview of how you can provide your customer with the best possible products/services and Customer Experience as a whole. Luckily, there is no need to invent the wheel, because there is an existing ready-made Customer Journey Map Template that you can very easily fill up with your business information and you are ready to rock!
This free Customer Journey Map template helps you map your:
Customer goals and activity
Customer touchpoints with your business
Customer feedback collection methods and KPIs
Company goals and activity
Challenges and the main KPI for each customer journey stage
Ownership of processes
Thank you Feedbackly, for sharing this very highly valuable document with us. This template is used by thousands of CX and marketing professionals around the world. We hope you will find it useful, too!
Download your free Customer Journey Map Template here:
Liity seuraamme rentoon takkakeskusteluun kuulemaan, miten ja miksi Stockmann, yksi Suomen suurimmista vähittäiskaupan toimijoista, mittaa tunnekokemusta.
Milloin? Tiistaina 29. maaliskuuta 2022 klo 16:00 Missä? Verkossa Kesto: 60 min
Tunnekokemuksen on todettu olevan käänteentekevä sitä mittaaville yrityksille. Asiakaskokemuksen ja markkinoinnin ammattilaiset ovat entistä kiinnostuneempia oppimaan, kuinka he voivat mitata ja hallita asiakkaiden tunteita.
Tästä syystä kutsuimme Sara Toivakaisen, Stockmannin Chief Customer Experience Officerin istumaan alas kanssamme ja keskustelemaan tarkemmin siitä miksi Stockmann mittaa tunnekokemusta, kuinka he sitä mittaavat ja millaisia vaikutuksia tunnekokemuksen mittaamisella on havaittu sekä asiakaskokemusstrategian että liiketoiminnallisten tulosten näkökulmasta.
Otamme kysymyksiä vastaan myös yleisöltä, joten olet lämpimästi tervetullut osallistumaan keskusteluun ja hyödyntämään mahdollisuutesi esittää myös kysymyksiä.
Keskustelun chattia moderoi Feedbacklyn Jaakko Männistö.
Tule kuulolle tai osallistu mukaan keskusteluun esittämällä päivän polttavia kysymyksiä asiakkaiden tunteiden mittaamiseen ja hallintaan liittyen. Tervetuloa!
Stockmannin Chief Customer Experience Officer, (M.Sc.) Sara on pitkän linjan asiakas- ja työntekijäkokemuksen ammattilainen sekä tietojen käsittelyopin maisteri, joka on innostunut muotoiluajattelusta. Saran intohimo on tehdä aidosti ihmiskeskeistä liiketoimintaa, asiakaskokemuksen optimointi ja asiakas- ja yritysarvon maksimointi. Sara on myös Stockmannin johtoryhmän jäsen. Sara ja Stockmann ovat olleet tiiviisti mukana kehittämässä Emotional Value Index (EVI®) – tunnemittarin mittausmetodologiaa.
Stockmann Group:illa on noin 460 myymälää ja omaa toimintaa 19 maassa. Stockmann on yksi Suomen suurimmista vähittäiskaupan jälleenmyyjistä, jonka valikoimiin kuuluvat monipuoliset ja laadukkaat muodin, kauneuden- ja kodintuotteita.
JAAKKO MÄNNISTÖ
Palkittu CX johtaja, Feedbacklyn toimitusjohtaja, CX Forumin Co-Founder Jaakko on startup-yrittäjä ja kansainvälisesti palkittu asiakaskokemuksen mittaamisen ammattilainen kasvuyhtiö Feedbacklyssä sekä Suomen suurimman yrittäjien digitaalisen yhteisön Yrittäjä.io:n perustaja. Hän on myös Emotional Value Index eli EVI® -mittariston kehittäjä ja tunnemittaamisen globaali edelläkävijä sekä yksi CX Forumin perustajista.
PS! On March 29th took place a fireside chat with Stockmann in the Finnish language. You can get a recording of it here.
Emotional Experience is found to be a game-changer for businesses measuring it. CX and marketing professionals are interested more than ever before in learning about how they can measure and manage customers’ emotions.
This is why we invited Sara Toivakainen, Chief Customer Experience Officer at Stockmann, to sit down with us for a cozy fireside chat where we will discuss why Stockmann is measuring Emotional Experience, how they are measuring it, and what has been the impact on their CX program as well as on the business results.
We’ll also be taking questions from the audience – welcome to join and ask your questions! The chat will be moderated by Evely Kaasiku from Feedbackly.
Welcome to join us and use a chance to ask questions from a CX colleague with experience in measuring and managing customers’ emotions, or join us to listen only.
Chief Customer Experience Officer at Stockmann Customer & Employee Experience professional, Master of Science in Knowledge Management, design thinking enthusiast. Sara’s passion is to truly do people-centric business, optimize customer experience and maximize customer & business value creation. At the moment, she is a part of the leadership team of Stockmann, one of the biggest retailers in Finland. Sara and Stockmann have been part of developing the Emotional Value Index (EVI®) – Emotional Experience measurement methodology.
Stockmann Group owns about 460 stores and has operations in 19 countries. Stockmann is one of the biggest retailers in Finland offering a diverse and high-quality selection of fashion, beauty, and home products for a wonderful everyday life.
EVELY KAASIKU
Marketing Manager at Feedbackly, Head of Community at CX Forum Evely is a full-stack marketing professional who has always been interested in human psychology and its impact on decision-making. She has almost 10 years of experience in marketing, which includes various experience at B2C as well as B2B. During her career, she has even led her own startup with a goal to change the world of customer feedback collection – Customer Experience has always been in her heart. Today, she is Marketing Manager at Feedbackly, the only CX platform that provides an all-in-one solution for measuring customers’ emotions.
PS! On March 29th takes place a Fireside Chat with Stockmann in the Finnish language. Learn more about it here.
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