EDITOR ’ S QUESTION

critical and have superseded face-to-face as the primary mode of operation . Online penetration remains approximately 35 % above pre-COVID levels and e-commerce shows more than 40 % growth over the past 12 months .

The engaged customer

Building customer and brand loyalty is one of the holy grails of customer experience . Study after study has shown that the engaged customer has a significant impact on revenue across verticals .

While expensive marketing campaigns may get customers through the door , it is up to CX professionals to retain them and realise their lifetime value .

The post-sale experience is critical

Building relationships is a long-term endeavour . In business it ’ s the experience of an organisation over time through its products , services and touchpoints . A good product will only go so far if support services are of low quality or if there are touchpoints adding friction to transacting . Weakness in any of these three pillars will erode trust and loyalty .

B2B and B2C are different

A prescient point made by the excellent HBS report Building Loyalty in Business Markets , shows that B2B is quite different from the B2C market . Relationships between companies and those between companies and individuals are very different . The B2B relationship is a different paradigm with different drivers .

The digital entity

In both B2B and B2C , the digital entity has become central . Digital services are mission

Leveraging the virtual organisation is key to providing and supporting the multi-faceted relationships between suppliers and customers . It is the most important aspect of service and touchpoint management today .

Digital experience

Customer Experience ( CX ) is Digital Experience ( DX ) dependent . It is the primary arena in which customers experience your brand and companies experience themselves .

High quality , low friction digital experiences with good self-service capability greatly enhance brand impression for the customer .

Increased interaction through digital channels provides your business with valuable data to further enhance the customer experience , reduce costs and foster loyalty .

The holistic view

Unifying business and operational systems enhances services and touchpoints . Support staff enabled with customer information can provide a higher quality of the experience , which benefits the company and the customer .

Reducing the volume of direct customer service enquiries lowers the cost-to-serve and increases job satisfaction for employees .

A customer with a holistic view of their relationship will find the interaction more satisfying and reassuring . All of which goes to increasing customer loyalty and building your brand . www . intelligentcxo . com

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