It’s undeniable that customer experience (CX) is directly impacted by employee experience (EX). Recent research revealed only one in three companies have designed a seamless integration between their CX and EX initiatives. And when they’re not aligned, the research suggests that companies may be missing out on as much as a 50% revenue bump. It is evident for business leaders to acknowledge that empathy is often a key component to employee and customer success.
Often CX begins with EX, making it all the more imperative to integrate both aspects to enable trust across an organization and establish greater engagement among customers as well as employees.
Measuring Employee Experience
EX measurement is a metric that large enterprise organizations, including contact centers, can use to measure and evaluate the overall satisfaction, engagement and well-being of their employees. As businesses continue to struggle with retaining and engaging employees, gauging the overall EX of an organization can track signs of dissatisfaction and burnout amongst their employees. EX metrics are typically composed of a multitude of surveys, collected feedback and statistics that can emulate employee perceptions of their workplace experience.
According to a recent Gartner poll, only 16% of companies leverage technology to track employee progress and engagement.
In particular when large scale enterprise companies refrain from adopting these metrics, they run the risk of falling short of their competitors who may be adequately capturing the insights that will make their workforces more productive and well-equipped. There are several ways through which EX measurements can be analyzed over time – by individual contact center agents, specific teams, or the customer service organization in its entirety.
The ultimate goal of EX measurement is for business leaders to identify trends impacting a positive and supportive work environment that fosters employee satisfaction, engagement, and retention, while also speeding up job proficiency. By investing in the employee experience, organizations can attract and retain top talent, increase productivity and performance, and drive business success.
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Measuring Customer Experience
Occurring in conjunction with employee experience is the customer experience. CX refers to the overall engagements and perceptions that customers have with a brand or business – often via a contact center. This can occur from the point of initial awareness and consideration of a brand, all the way through post-purchase support. In the contact center, CX can be measured on every call to deliver data for personalized coaching and development plans, which is a crucial aspect of what it takes to both grow and retain your employees. In addition to these capabilities, a CX measurement can gauge the overall well-being of contact center representatives by alerting team members of potential burnout scenarios that may be present.
Just last year, it was reported that 90% of Americans use customer service as a factor in deciding whether or not to do business with a company and 89% of consumers are more likely to make another purchase after having a positive customer service experience. To make CX a more positive experience, businesses leverage a wide range of strategies, including customer feedback and user research, among other avenues, to establish strong connections between customers and the contact center agents they speak with. The key objective in adopting these solutions is to glean insight into what creates a truly seamless and satisfying experience for customers that is capable of not just meeting their needs but often exceeding their expectations.
A Seamless Integration between Customer Experience and EX
By monitoring metrics for both the CX and EX, and how they interact, business leaders in contact centers can more effectively make the business case for achieving both. For example, investing in employee training can result in improved customer lifetime value.
Additionally, research revealed that 85% of companies benefit from successful EX and CX, with improved EX and higher employee engagement leading to better CX, higher customer satisfaction, and higher revenues. Investing in better customer experiences reduces challenging conversations that can strain front-line employees. As a result, contact centers can witness improved retention rates and lower search and replacement costs.
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In order for companies to achieve a seamless integration, it is key to prioritize measuring both CX and EX to identify areas of a business where they may be lacking, such as a product line, team, or region. Having these insights effectively arms contact centers with whatever solutions they must prioritize in order to effectively resolve whatever the greatest pain points may be. Conversely, leveraging intel surrounding how CX and EX are having a positive impact, can identify aspects of an operation that are critical to emulate going forward.
Both CX and EX are equally important in this integration. A culture that prioritizes the customer experience in addition to ensuring that employees are adequately equipped and engaged can positively impact companies from a revenue standpoint. According to a recent study, companies that invest in and deliver superior experiences to both consumers and employees are able to charge a premium of as much as 16% for their products and services. In addition, by focusing on employee experience, businesses can reduce turnover and recruitment costs. Overall, integrating customer experience and EX is a concept that is fundamentally important to organizations and business leaders alike, demonstrating a balanced perspective in its entirety.