CX: What Is It and Why Is It Important?

Customer experience, also known as CX, encompasses the overall experience people have when they interact with your brand. It takes into account all touchpoints in the customer journey, from interacting with your website, confirming and managing orders, tracking delivery, reporting complaints, etc. It should therefore be prioritized at every stage of your marketing plan

In this post, we will address what customer experience is and why it is so important. We will also share some tips to help you measure your CX as well as best practices to help you improve your overall customer experience.

What Is CX?

Customer experience is exactly what it sounds like: the general experience that customers have with your brand. It takes into account every stage of the customer lifecycle, from website navigation and order processing to emails, social media posts, online interactions, and phone calls.

If a someone has a positive experience, they are more likely to become a loyal customer and promote your company, through word of mouth or otherwise. If they have a negative CX, not only will they not come back, but they might share negative online reviews that can damage your reputation and affect the trust people have in your brand.

The way you approach CX in your business can have a profound effect on how your brand is perceived. It’s important to understand who your audience is, and what their experience of your brand is like. Tracking the right data allows you to detect any potential problem areas and make the necessary changes so that your customers have the best possible experience.

The key to great CX is focusing on simplicity and consistency. You want your customers to have seamless interactions that reinforce a positive image of your brand. You need to offer your customers support when they need it, and make sure every interaction goes smoothly. The focus should be on the customer relationship, not the transaction.

Why Is CX Important?

The customer journey has evolved and CX is now more important than ever. The digital era of has allowed customers to conduct thorough research before committing to a purchase and buyers are relying more than ever on online reviews. This has resulted in higher consumer expectations. The average buyer now expects ease, speed, and accuracy. They want intuitive and personalized interactions, swift solutions to their pain points, and seamless turnarounds.

Positive reviews and the underlying customer experience is now one of the biggest factors when it comes to trusting a brand. In fact, according to customer review data, over 92% of consumers use reviews to guide their purchasing decisions. This means it is vital to design the best possible CX strategy to ensure a positive impression of your brand. It only takes one viral post about a customer’s negative experience with you to cause serious damage to your reputation.

How to Measure CX

The first step in building an effective CX strategy is understanding how to measure and monitor your customer experience. This will help you improve your touchpoints so that you can offer the most value to your customers.

Analyze Customer Satisfaction Survey Results

Customer satisfaction surveys are a great way to collect feedback. You should aim to send these to customers after they make a purchase so that you can keep your finger on the pulse and truly understand each individual customer experience. This will help you detect and addressed any issues before they become major problems.

A great way to measure customer experience is Net Promoter Score or NPS. This measures how likely your customers are to promote you to their friends, family, and colleagues based on their experiences with your company.

Identify Customer Churn Rates

Conducting a regular analysis of your churn rates is another great way to get a sense of your customer experience. If your churn rate increases, you know something has happened to upset your CX.

This can help you proactively solve a problem before it's too late. If it goes down, then you can focus on what you’re doing right and implement it as a long-term strategy for success.

Analyze Customer Support Trends

It’s always a good idea to closely monitor all support tickets from customers. What issues are they having? Are there any trends? Can you implement any solutions to stop these issues from occurring?

How to Improve CX

Once you understand how your customers feel about your brand, you can focus on implementing solutions to improve the customer experience. These might include building a customer journey map, creating buyer personas, acting on feedback, and focusing on meaningful interactions that help you build a positive brand community.

Create a Customer Journey Map

The first step is making sure that you understand the entire customer journey, taking into account every single touchpoint in the customer lifecycle. If you don’t already have one, this is a great point to create a customer journey map. This will help you understand which areas are having a negative impact on your CX so that you can make the necessary changes to create a positive customer experience.

For example, if you sell products on your website, you might notice that 22% of the complaints you receive relate to issues with shipping and delivery. A change of courier could be all it takes to significantly improve your CX.

Interact With Your Customers

One of the best ways to improve your CX is to interact regularly with your customers. Listen to what they are saying about you and interact with messages or posts relating to your brand. Something as simple as thanking someone for a positive review can be a great way to boost your reputation. It makes customers feel valued and improves the overall customer experience.

The same goes for negative reviews. Instead of getting defensive, respond to their feedback and address any the issues they raise. Not only will this make you seem professional and approachable, but you might even convince the negative reviewer to give you another chance!

Monitor CX & Request Regular Feedback

Finally, the best way to continue to build a solid customer experience is by monitoring it and requesting regular feedback. Send out customer surveys after certain interactions (e.g., after someone makes a purchase or contacts your customer support department). Track what you are doing well and build on it. Work out what you are doing wrong and fix it. Ultimately, listen to what your customers want, then build the experience around that.