CP2 Experience managing director Mark Gould has five steps Irish businesses should implement to recreate customer experience (CX) for a post-pandemic market. Gould says we have almost run out of adjectives to describe the current pandemic and the impact it has had on every aspect of our daily lives as individuals, families, consumers, and employees.
As the lockdown eases in the future, we will all start adapting to the ‘new normal’. But what does the ‘new normal’ mean for businesses that are preparing for a post pandemic future? Now is the time for brands to move beyond the react and respond stages and progress to recovery. But when it comes to CX, there is a fourth stage to note – reset.
Gould says Covid-19 has rewritten customer experience in indelible ink. The crisis pushed customers to the brink financially, physically and mentally. Businesses had to find solutions to the immediate and evolving needs of their customers whose behaviours and beliefs changed as quickly as the crisis deepened.
Brands with a clear CX vision came into their own as they were able to react best to the crisis. Customer behaviour changes that may normally take years to influence took just days or months, with digital first. UK research showed that 53 per cent of marketers said that the pandemic had caused ‘radical’ or ‘significant’ changes to customer journeys.
McKinsey reports that 75 per cent of US consumers tried a new store, brand or different way of shopping during the crisis. Over half of consumers say they will stick with these new brands and digital journeys after the crisis. These new habits will affect CX design, and the way your brand evolves, communicates and delivers the experiences customers want.
There are five key steps to consider in the reset and redesign of a company’s CX:
#1 Use behavioural science to understand new customer beliefs and expectations
Behavioural science is the understanding of why people make the decisions they do. With such a seismic shift in customer behaviour, applying behavioural science to CX and using insights to influence this behaviour is now crucial. Many longer-term changes in consumer behaviour are still forming, so companies have can shape the new normal.
The stickiness of this behaviour change will be dependent on customers’ reaction to new experiences. Country, consumer segment and values are also important. Habits that were accelerated will also be stickier than new habits. Get closer to customers and their data to fully understand the factors shaping attitudes and behaviour.
#2 Align your brand purpose to customer beliefs and values
Once a brand understands their customers’ new beliefs, values and expectations, they will need to revisit their brand purpose to make sure it aligns with customers personal values. Buying decisions stopped being made on price and product alone long before the pandemic. Consumers assess businesses on what they stand for, say, and do.
Brands that get this right will be able to emotionally connect with consumers around a set of shared values, influencing loyalty and advocacy in the long term. Important themes for consumers include supporting local, eco-responsibility, employee well-being and giving back.
#3 Re-evaluate your customer promise
The global health crisis has heightened financial insecurity and economic uncertainty, which means that keeping customers safe and secure is a priority. Building trust by providing assurance and showing empathy should shape the interaction marketers have with their customers. A good example is An Post, by keeping post offices open during the crisis.
An Post’s postmen and women played a key role in communities around the country by keeping in touch with elderly people living alone during lockdown, organising groceries and delivering newspapers to their homes. Their customer promise was extended to support communities and has resulted in consumer trust in An Post increasing considerably.
#4 Redesign key customer journeys
Investing in digital journeys is fundamental to any CX reset.
It must focus on quality and address consumer requirements for simplicity, speed, intimacy and consistency across channels. Recent mass migration online has exposed a lot of CX gaps. While 77 per cent of businesses have the staff to cope with new customer journeys because of the pandemic, only 58% say they have enough information about emerging journeys to make informed decisions. Businesses without the capability to map new customer journeys to create a better experience will struggle to remain competitive.
#5 Rethink your employee training strategy
Businesses that provide great CX usually provide a strong employee experience too. Your employees have been through tumultuous, stressful times and they are adapting to new ways of working. Customer-facing teams have led the vanguard on what customers experienced during the crisis, while other office staff have had their shoulder to the wheel.
Working out how your customer experience redesign aligns with changes in employee expectations and what skills and tools are needed to deliver your renewed customer promise is crucial to successfully resetting your CX. Think about how e-learning can deliver any required training to make sure your people are inspired, informed and empowered.
They also need to be motivated to deliver the differentiated experience that you have redesigned. The pandemic has accelerated profound changes in customer beliefs, values, and behaviour. These changes are the key drivers behind the CX reset that companies need to make if they are to thrive in the future.
Companies will need to get even closer to their customers to fully understand the factors shaping their attitudes and behaviour. How your brand purpose aligns with any changes in customers’ values and how your customer promise delivers the assurances customers seek on safety and security, will be the key to the future success of your business.
