Face the New Changes in CX and EX in Customer Service (Updated)

Face the New Changes in CX and EX in Customer Service (Updated)


Jack Welch understood change, saying “If the rate of change on the outside exceeds the rate of change on the inside, the end is near.” Businesses must evolve as the people who work for them and those who buy from them evolve. Changes in CX and EX in customer service have to come at the speed of change in the world as a whole. Today’s world looks much different from the world Jack Welch left just three months ago.

The Rise of CX, EX and Customer Expectations 

It is no longer simply customer service. The awareness of the importance of customer experience and employee experience has caused the industry to be much more nuanced. This was true prior to the virus, and today takes center stage.  You want everyone 6ft apart, wearing masks and taking precautions to keep each other safe. So much of traditional customer experience is now hidden by distance and masks.  Service with a smile? Who knows? We can’t see anyone’s mouth anymore. This makes everything that we can influence that much more important. 

Changes From UX to CX

It used to be that “user experience” (UX) was the hot term. UX and CX are not the same. The difference is significant though subtle. From CustomerThink: “The goal of CX is not only to ensure that users enjoy the product but to ensure that users have positive emotions toward the entire organization and will return for additional products or advocate for the organization within their networks.” Whereas, UX focuses on how the user operates or interacts with a product on a more technical level. 

This advancement has been fueled by the change in what customers want and what they have come to expect as their options increase. If customers can email, text, chat, facetime, or call their friends they want to be able to access companies through multiple channels too. 

They want speed, accuracy and their personal preferences anticipated. That kind of detail requires great agents who know both the product and their customers. 

The EX Connection

Employee Experience has been turned inside out. Whereas employees used to work in vast contact centers, now many are working from home. This can add layers of lag time between agent interactions and that agent receiving feedback. The contact center manager who used to stand in the eye of a hurricane conducting customer service agents like a maestro is out of sight.

Today’s agents are overwhelmed with childcare and working from home. Pulled in multiple directions all needing immediate attention, even the best veteran agents have difficulties in these circumstances.

Investing in employees is good customer service. Employee engagement directly affects CX and the bottom line. From The Gallup “State of American Workplace” report 2018: “Compared with business units in the bottom quartile, those in the top quartile of engagement realize substantially better customer engagement, higher productivity, better retention, fewer accidents, and 21% higher profitability.”

Ben Granger, XM Institute Sr. Principal, believes that EX is at the core of many upcoming positive changes. The initial investment in EX is worth it : “EX programs are kind of like diesel engines – they take a little while to get going but once they are running, they just keep on going.” https://experiencematters.blog/2019/07/12/talking-employee-experience-and-xm-with-ben-granger/

Another important part of the changes in CX is the growth of EX. It’s been said many times, happy employees equal happy customers. Happy employees benefit their companies by sticking around longer. Companies get improved ROI on their employee training and the great veteran employees know the business so well the longer they stay the harder they are to replace. Employees want to matter to a business as much as the customers, and they should. Churn and burn is costly and not part of a long term view. 

Changes to CX and EX are inevitable

Thankfully, there are tools to keep your agents on track even as they juggle multiple mission critical tasks. Employees need to know that they are on track without increasing their stress. Give your team the tools they need to provide great CX, and at the same time, have great EX.

CSAT.AI supports customers and agents by providing gamified feedback and quality assurance for 100% of engagements. Choose CSAT.AI because winning is still fun and amazing CSAT pays dividends well into the future.