Why ‘good’ CX isn’t good enough anymore

When was the last time you experienced customer service that really impressed you? If something comes to mind, what was it about that particular experience that made it stand out?

We’ve been thinking about the difference between “good” and “great” a lot recently. Recently, we had Shep Hyken on our podcast to discuss his 2024 Achieving Customer Amazement report. He shared some numbers that put into perspective how make-or-break providing a standout experience is:

• 85% of customers would go out of their way to use a company that provides great customer service, even if there’s a more convenient option.
• 79% would be influenced to switch providers for better customer service.
• Nearly a quarter would never use a product or service again if they received only “satisfactory” support.

 This post originally featured in our CS newsletter, The Ticket.

 

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To understand what a remarkable experience really looks like for our customers, we conducted some research of our own. We learned that fast response times and streamlined resolutions are not enough anymore (they’re table stakes). What really resonates with customers as being “remarkable” is when customer service teams connect with them on a deeper level and demonstrate real problem ownership.

“Providing a ‘remarkable’ experience is a very high bar, but what sets apart a remarkable experience from a good one is problem ownership”

Taking ownership of problems involves more than just answering a question and resolving the ticket. It’s about placing as little burden on the customer as possible to solve the issue, proactively engaging the right people and resources to find a meaningful solution, and taking the time to help solve the broader business challenge.

So, how do you do this?

Go AI-first to free up time for strategic work

Until recently, providing a high level of attention and care to every customer hasn’t been humanly possible for any customer service team. The introduction of AI has changed this.

An AI-first customer service solution can handle manual tasks and help your team work more efficiently. With more capacity, your team can become more strategic and commit more time and attention to going above and beyond for your customers.

Define what remarkable looks like for your customers

Getting to a point where you have more time to make things better for your customers is exciting, but it also has the potential to become overwhelming. Rather than trying to improve everything all at once, keep your focus sharp to yield the best results.

Get clear on what areas matter most to your specific customers and intentionally work to keep improving those. Don’t know what these are? Talk to your customers, survey them, and ask them:

• What are your biggest pain points with our customer service?
• What would you consider as going above and beyond?

Break down silos between teams

One of the most interesting findings from our research was this: a remarkable customer experience transcends silos. Instead of passing your customer’s query from person to person and team to team, make the lines between teams feel invisible to your customers.

For example, where possible, work billing queries out with your sales team or pass product bugs to your product team so customers don’t have to. When you do have to pass queries to other teams, make sure there’s full context and someone is actually owning the conversation. AI makes all of this more seamless.

Be intentional with measuring the customer experience

“Remarkable” is a moving target. Once you’ve defined what “remarkable” means for your specific customers, it’s important to measure their experience and track how you are (or aren’t) raising the bar to meet changing expectations.

AI can give you more meaningful signals than traditional measures like CSAT, NPS, or CES because it can track every interaction you have with customers and provide detailed insights on the actions you can take to drive continuous improvement.