Becoming a More Intelligence-Centric Organization to Drive Customer Experience
The “digital revolution” has turned the traditional retail marketplace upside down. Consumer expectations continue to rise and the Internet has broken down borders and created a global marketplace, dramatically increasing competition.
In response to these new pressures, leading retail organizations are exploring ways to increase customer satisfaction while delivering on revenue and customer profitability targets. Using data collected from a variety of sources, retailers can make incremental changes to their business that improve how customers engage with them.
Customer Journey Mapping
Because customers have the ability to interact with stores through a variety of touchpoints today, retailers are taking a holistic approach to understanding the customer experience. Customer journey mapping is a methodology for clearly defining and ordering the touchpoints your customers have with your brand. Each time a customer interacts with a retailer, information about that transaction is captured and stored in a database. This data can be used to identify opportunities to improve the service experience.
Most retailers have access to this data today in the form of billing histories, online and offline order records, service reports and much more. They just lack the systems and methodology to access, understand and act on this information.
To overcome this scenario, retailers should take a methodical approach to using data to instigate transformation. The first step is to have a clear vision of what success looks like for a customer journey mapping initiative. Having this line of sight into the business outcomes you want to achieve can help accelerate projects and drive results faster.
Real World Scenario
Let’s look at an example of one customer’s journey in dealing with a particular retail brand. “Tom” wanted to purchase a new cooler. He searched on his mobile device to locate retailers who have the particular brand and model he wants. While price is a distinguishing factor, Tom had allegiance to a particular retailer based on prior experiences. So instead of opting to go with the retailer with the lowest price, he decided to go to his preferred retailer’s mobile site to order the cooler (touchpoint No. 1).
Tom received confirmation immediately after he completed the transaction on his mobile device, complete with shipping and tracking information, as well as delivery date (touchpoint No. 2). The next day, Tom checked to see if the cooler was on its way (touchpoint No. 3).
Unfortunately, the shipping information and tracking details indicated there was an issue with the order. Tom attempted to access a live chat window from the retailer’s homepage (touchpoint No. 4).
During the chat session with the agent, it was determined that the agent did not have access to customer orders – only details related to product information and specifications. Tom then called the customer service line (touchpoint No. 5).
Tom discussed his issue with the agent on the phone and the rep then transferred him to a specific group of agents who handle order fulfillment (touchpoint No. 6). These agents were able to determine that, when Tom ordered the cooler, there was a disconnect from the inventory system on the back end, which meant that the retailer was not able to fulfill Tom’s order.
Additionally, their billing and shipping systems are completely separate, so Tom wasn’t notified that there was an issue. The agent proceeded to access an alternative system to confirm that a cooler matching Tom’s specifications was in stock. Understanding that he was counting on having the cooler for an upcoming football game, the agent was able to apply next-day shipping so that Tom’s cooler would be delivered in time.
Lessons Learned
When you take into consideration the number of hoops Tom had to jump through to buy a cooler online, that is at least six interactions Tom is having with the retailer. Without mapping his customer journey, most retailers would classify this as a single transaction because it was a single online sale. However, when you consider all of the different intricacies of this particular transaction and the effort involved by Tom to complete the order, there are a number of opportunities to improve Tom’s experience.
Customers expect fast, easy and personalized service experiences. Retailers must continue to strive to gain insight into the customer’s complete journey, and avoid treating the customer like a series of individual transactions.
Applying Intelligence to Drive Improvements
By incorporating information from customer service, warranty and retail services, contact center surveys and even recorded calls and cashier interactions, retailers can identify where their systems are most efficient and where they are not. They can also use this information to pinpoint best practices from a particular division or salesperson, and share those findings across the organization.
On the other side of the equation, leveraging data from across the enterprise can also benefit your employees. Having intelligence about how your employees are interacting with customers can be a valuable resource to understand how they use the tools and technologies on their desktops.
By using desktop intelligence to understand where your employees struggle, you can plan and initiate changes that simplify how they interact with customers. Leverage desktop and robotic automation to build efficient solutions to eliminate manual “copy and paste” activities between systems. Connect fragmented processes together so there is more cohesion between systems. Making these simple changes to the way your employees work can significantly increase productivity.
Tracking to Success
For intelligence-centric enterprises, measuring performance and tracking success is essential. Retail organizations are some of the most metrics-centered businesses in today’s global economy. Using data from across the contact center, back office and retail storefront environments, companies can evolve from reactionary to more customer-focused organizations.
For most companies, the data to make these kinds of improvements already exists. Years of sales information, customer service calls and other interactional records provide the base information needed to help them improve efficiency, reduce operational costs and dramatically improve customer satisfaction company wide. With the addition of the right analysis tools and approach, companies can make significant gains in winning customers and driving increased profitability.