DYK # 18: Did you know that there are 3 distinct ways to drive CX improvements?

When I speak with clients or potential clients for consulting projects, I always emphasize the importance of doing something with the feedback we gather, i.e., acting on it.

In our DYK # 5, we introduced the Insights to Action Framework, and we went through the 3 stages of the framework. Namely: listen, analyze, act. Feel free to check it out.

This DYK builds on the “act” stage and we discuss 3 distinct ways to take action on the feedback you collect, with our DYK # 18 “Did you know that there are 3 distinct ways to drive CX improvements?”

So let’s look into it.

There are generally 3 distinct ways to drive experience improvements by taking action on customer feedback:

1. Closing the loop

2. Operational actions

3. Strategic actions

1. Closing the Loop

• Closing the loop with customers means getting back to customers who had an unpleasant experience, or require further support. It’s the most basic form of acting on feedback.

• Traditionally that’s based on specific survey feedback, e.g., a low score or key words picked up from the survey verbatim.

• Tip: Be sure to have permissions set up to contact your customers on the back of their feedback. It’s a good idea to have them opt into being contacted.

2. Operational Actions

• Driving operational actions from customer feedback means we’re “fixing” the (operational) problems our customers encounter.

• It’s important to share the feedback with the right teams and enable them to act. It’s typically something a single person or team can resolve.

• Examples here are: fixing a broken link on the website, coaching staff, tweaking a new product feature, etc.

• Tip: Democratizing data to share it with the right teams and empowering them to act is key for success here.

3. Strategic Actions

• Enabling strategic decision making and driving strategic initiatives based on “the voice of your customers” is the hardest of all 3, but also the most rewarding.

• Strategic actions tackle those large underlying and often systemic issues to find a solution to enhance the Customer Experience. It often enhances the Employee Experience as well, and can drive efficiencies and cost savings at the same time.

• Driving strategic actions typically requires budget and resources, and a centralized team that’s responsible for governance.

• Tip: A culture of customer centricity is your cornerstone to have those difficult budget and prioritization conversations.

Setting you up for success

Customer feedback comes in all shapes, forms and sizes, and now that we can listen to our customers beyond the traditional survey approach and tap into unsolicited feedback as well, it’s important to think about your internal structures, data & analytics capabilities and your technology stack.

With feedback coming from different sources, yet needing to be routed to the appropriate teams to take actions, we recommend:

• A centralized data repository with a centralized governance function, yet

• data / insights are democratized (i.e., the right people having access to the right data).

Earlier this year we created a visual on this very topic, you can find it here.

And as always, feel free to reach out if you have any questions or need some support. 

#VoC #CX #customerexperience #InsightstoAction #customerfeedback #CXimprovements