Each day, more attention and investment moves towards customer experience initiatives, and, often, marketing executives are expected to lead them.
According to the 2014 Gartner for Marketing Leaders Research Survey, leading the customer experience means transforming insight into action: When asked what are the primary responsibilities of customer experience leaders, respondents said “collecting, analyzing and reporting on customer data” (55%) and slightly fewer said, “overall ownership of multichannel customer experiences.” Therein lies the challenge, according to Jake Sorofman, vice president, Gartner for Marketing Leaders. How can marketers seize control over the entire customer experience when they own very little of the operational functions to create it?
To get there, focus on four key areas.
- Model the customer journey. Map and model the life cycle of a customer relationship, identifying key customer touchpoints and opportunities for data capture and hand offs. Create the cross-functional linkages between insight and action to ensure collected insights turn into exceptional multichannel experiences.
- Democratize CX insights. Move beyond hoarding of customer experience data to a culture of sharing insights to drive operational improvements across the organization.
- Identify quick wins for customer-facing employees. Create role-based views of voice of customer data that filter and deliver actionable customer experience insights and recommendations to customer-facing employees on the front lines.
- Identify and correct root causes. Take action to understand patterns in customer experience insights and how they reveal opportunities for broader strategic and operational improvements in your business.
The goal? Create customer experience that can help transform brand preference, loyalty and advocacy. Marketers who connect data-driven customer insights to operational improvements on the front lines will seize the reins of control.
