What is emotional intelligence? 

Emotional intelligence is about being aware of your emotions, how to manage them and how to use them to get along with others. It includes factors such as self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy and social-skills. The info-graphic below explains each of these in detail.

What does it have to do with CX and why is it so important?

“According to cognitive neuroscientists 90% -95% of all decisions are shaped at an emotional unconscious level, rather than conscious logical level.” The strong feelings that arise in a customer are a response to an assessment of an event. These feelings can either trigger or prohibit an action. 

In order for your business to reach CX Excellence, anyone dealing with customers should have high levels of emotional intelligence. It will enable your staff to listen, understand and connect with your customers. In fact, your whole CX strategy should include actionable insights, at every step of the customer journey, related to emotional intelligence. 

Instead of feeding your staff with monotonous scripts you should teach them to listen and be authentic during any interaction with the customer. Authentic behaviours are more likely to result in a positive reaction. This is because when we hear someone reading out a script they give the impression that they are not interested in us or what we have to say. In turn, our attitude towards the person, service and the company tilts towards the negative side. It is a two way system and the company is the one trying to get the approval … not the customer. So to all business owners: roll up your sleeves because it won’t be easy. 

As a business owner you should be working on your emotional intelligence as it will have a direct impact on your employees and how they carry out their tasks. You should lead by example and be open to discussions with your staff. Evaluate your performance and ask your staff to do the same. If they match you’ll know you are self-aware. Use your social skills and empathy to understand your staff and their issues. Remember they are the ones dealing with your customers directly so gather as much feedback from them as possible to be able to improve your customer experience. 

All of the characteristics of emotional intelligence can be improved, and the more you work on them the closer you will be to achieving CX excellence as a business. 

If you want to learn more about emotional intelligence and other ways you can use to improve your CX strategy, enrol in one of our courses today at: thecxacademy.org

As your business grows it’s harder to create a personalised experience for your customers. However, just because it’s hard it doesn’t mean it’s impossible. 

As a business owner you should empower your staff to offer a personalised experience at every step of your customer’s journey. 

71% of consumers expect personalisation. Your customers are looking for personal experience that makes them feel like a human being, instead of a ‘money-making-machine’ for your business. Personalising your customer services for them is just the first step. 

There are many ways you can empower your staff to create real bonds and connections. 

A few years ago, I was working for a world-wide sports gear provider as a customer service agent. The company empowered us to ask probing questions and to really try to understand and connect with the customer – even if it was just for that one call. 

I would always start by asking their name so I could address them by it for the remainder of the call. If a customer told me that they are buying football boots for their son, who is turning 11 this week, I could offer them a discount code, a free pair of socks or a jersey as a birthday gift. I was able to set reminders to myself to check up on the delivery status and I would call when I saw it changed to ‘delivered’, to ensure that everything was alright. Of course, I would pass on my birthday wishes. 

It wasn’t hard. It didn’t take much time, but for the customer it was a big deal, because no other company went to such lengths for her before. 

Staff Training 

If you’re managing employees, you have the power to steer the training of your staff in the direction that will not only bring increased profits but also help build brand affinity. 

Using The CX Academy Framework you can teach your staff to listen and adapt the solution for each customer individually. Their goal should be to make each customer feel important and valued. 

They should provide a warm welcome and be present in the conversation. Through active listening and probing questions they will find out the root cause of the problem. They should empathise and communicate real understanding. 

Using notes, they can steer clear from questions that have already been answered on previous calls and to find out what solutions have already been offered if the problem is repeating.  

Ultimately every interaction should be treated as an opportunity to get to know the customer better.

Technology Solutions

You can utilise AI and different algorithms to personalise customer experience. 

For example, every order’s delivery status could be monitored. If the system sees that there were no recent updates, an email informing of a new order being prepared could be sent to the customer. This way you are showing your customer that even after they purchased from you, they are not forgotten. You are taking full responsibility and ownership of the issue from the start and this is what your customers are looking for. 

Remember: Technology will never be able to replace the human touch needed in a true and complete customer service personalisation. 

Read The Digital Part of the (Customer Experience) Business to learn more about how to use technology to your advantage. 

The ‘Why’

If my opening paragraph wasn’t convincing enough let me explain the one reason why you need to personalise your customer experience.

Personalised Customer Experience directly affects customer loyalty and trust. Customers who are loyal will act as brand ambassadors and recommend your business to others. The ones hearing about your business in a positive way will be more inclined to use your products and services. 

In short: You will make a profit by investing in Customer Experience Personalisation. 

Convinced? Sign up for one of our courses today, to find out more about personalising your customer experience at thecxacademy.org. 

Why is Customer Trust important? 

Trust is the key element in every relationship. Without it, relationships are extremely difficult. By creating trust you create a bond between your customers and your brand. This increases customer loyalty. 

Customers can sometimes feel vulnerable. As they go through unpredictable processes, they must depend on companies they have never worked with before. Therefore trust is essential. Every time a new customer approaches your company they are taking a huge leap of faith when they decide to purchase or use your service. 

Through customer recommendations you can decrease the level of uncertainty.

What affects trust?

Although there are many different factors that affect trust, the ones below are some of the most important ones. When building your CX Strategy always keep in mind that falling short on one could potentially mean losing the entire trust of your customer. 

Communication 

Good communication is key to building strong and trusting relationships with your customers. There has to be a channel through which your customers can raise concerns, issues and problems, as they arise. As a company you must listen carefully to what your customers say and you need to be able to communicate your customer promise. Also, customers need to know what is expected of them. A channel like this provides a sense of reliability and confidence in your customers as they know that they are being listened to.

Brand Reputation

Brand reputation sets customer expectations. The higher the company reputation is the higher expectations your customers will have. Customers will be less forgiving to brands with a positive reputation than those who have a neutral or negative one. This does not seem fair, but it is a fact. Customer reviews, social media activity and company values all affect your brand reputation. 

Good brand reputation happens as a result of providing CX Excellence for your customers. As they become loyal brand advocates and spread the word about your company, they give confidence to existing and new customers.

Security Assurance

All digital touch points in your customer journey need to be secure. Customers’ trust in digital services has decreased. Providing options like two factor authentication, password recovery and using known payment methods reassures customers. 

If at any point throughout the customer journey you are collecting their data, inform them why you are doing so, for how long will it be stored and how can they remove it or extract it. Privacy is a right and your customers should be given the option to refuse the collection of their data at any time. This directly affects the amount of trust a customer will have for your service or product. 

Transparency  

Information should be as transparent as possible.Steer clear from jargon and acronyms that customers may not understand. As mentioned above, always provide a valid reason for collecting data and explain how it will be used. 

Being up-front about your customer promise and clarifying limitations of your service or product will improve the trust, while promising the whole world without the ability to deliver, will only create disappointment and bad Customer Experience. 

Employee Trust

Trust is created from within the company. If your employees do not trust your company and it’s values they will not build trust with your customers. Employees need to be advocates of your company values and brand. 

Taking Responsibility

Employees must have the ability to be responsible and to deal with issues and consequences when things go wrong. We call this empowerment. It is a fundamental opportunity that can strengthen the bond with your customer. Apologising, taking ownership of the problem and putting a plan in place to fix the source of the issue will rebuild lost trust. 

If you want to find out more about how to nurture and create trust between your customers and your brand, sign up for one of our courses today at: https://thecxacademy.org/courses/.

Location:   Dublin/Hybrid working

The intern will:

• Learn the role of Customer & Employee Experience (CX & EX) relating to the insurance industry;
• Conduct customer surveys and analyse customer feedback to foster continued improvement;
•  Identify solutions to enhance customer & employee experiences;
•  Inform and influence CX & EX strategy;
•  Support the Team through various project-related activities and administrative functions.

Education/ Areas of Study:

Customer Experience, Data Analytics, Business Administration, or related field.

Experience, Knowledge & Skills:

• Possess excellent Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook skills;
• Exhibit strong verbal and written communication skills within all levels of the organization;
• Exhibit excellent project management skills and ability to advance multiple projects simultaneously;
• Learn from experience to perform in new or changing situations;
• Take initiative and set high standards for self;
• Have a positive impact through self-awareness and social skills;

For more information or to apply please send your details to: 

julian@thecxacademy.org

“I started my career at GE Medical and was involved in the launch of their first MRI scanner. I was one of the early ‘guinea pigs’ scanned to help sharpen imagery quality and patent experiences. I remember deep discussions about the potential empathy issues around parents having to release kids to radiologists and not allowed in to the room to hold their child’s hand during the procedure causing severe anxiety.

I was delighted to see GE had created a MRI experience for paediatric hospitals which finally recognised what is was like to stand in your patients shoes. They created solutions to help remove the deepest of fears facing parents and children alike. They reengineered a terrific experience from a terrifying one by designing scanners resembling space shuttles, pirate ships and magical castles. When kids saw them they were blown away and had to be dragged out of the MRI Suite as they were having so much fun. Cancellations dropped dramatically and I’m told that it has become one of the favourite areas in the hospital for kids to hang. Take a bow GE Healthcare for standing in your patients slippers!”

Delivering on your company promise is one of the most challenging drivers to deliver on today because consumers expectations are on a meteoric rise the world over. From our own experiences, you can count on your fingers the number of global companies who genuinely manage, meet and exceed their customers expectations on a consistent basis.

The one brand that stands head and shoulders above all others is Patagonia. Patagonia’s customer promise is beautifully simple ‘’To build superior products without causing harm to the planet’’. And they go the extra mile and implement solutions to help customers do something meaningful about our global environmental crisis.

My son Mikey lives in Bend, Oregon, one of the most environmentally friendly destinations in the USA. Mikey is a forest fire fighter emersed in helping protect our environment. He called me recently to tell me about Patagonia’s ‘WORN WEAR’ programme where they invited him to visit their WORN WEAR travelling repair van. He was invited to bring his damaged and old clothing to have them fixed rather than go out and buy new ones. This was all about helping to save the planet and avoid filling up landfills. What other company do we know of who advise their customers buy less products and to wear their gear longer? This company delivers on their customer promise – turbo style!

“I was browsing online for dog food for my dog. I wanted something that would provide regular deliveries and I would not need to keep reordering every month nor would I need to go to the store every single time that I was out of food.

I came across a couple of companies that do this service. All the companies would charge delivery and charge for a portion of the food (to try out). I ended up registering myself with some companies but I didn’t want to pay for a food sample and neither for delivery as I didn’t know if my dog would like the food.

Only one company contacted me back, asked if they could add me on their whatsapp, asked me for some details, such as my dog’s name, weight, favourite flavours, etc.

After a week I got a delivery from this same company for free, the food came wrapped individually with my name, my dog’s name and descriptions. It was a lovely surprise. The attendant then texted me after a couple days to see how I was doing and asked if my dog liked the food. She was extremely nice.

I absolutely loved the service and the gesture. It was something very personalised and made me feel unique. I now subscribed for regular deliveries with them.”

A great story of the power of personalisation – the company is called Phoenix Bark (hilarious as we have a famous park here in the centre of Dublin called Phoenix Park!) and their website address is here.

“The hardest part of the pandemic for me is missing out on celebrating life’s milestones with loved ones. Although we currently don’t get to relish the moments in person, I want to ensure that I mark the occasion with a token, whatever that may be.

Having exhausted sending flowers and meal kits, I really wanted to do something special for my friend’s 30^th.

Chupi, a luxury Irish jewellery brand seemed like a fantastic alternative. I booked a virtual appointment with one of the staff who was able to assist me in every part of the decision-making journey. They asked for photos of my friend, analysed her hair, eye colour and interests. They really took the time to get to know her so they could advise on the jewellery that would best suit her personality and style.

I decided to go with a ring that had her birthstone, but I wasn’t sure of her ring size, they sent her out a free ring sizer free of charge so that it would be the perfect fit.

Chupi took the time to listen and really get to know my friend so that they could make compelling recommendations that will keep me and everyone I recommended to them coming back. This is a great example how personalisation can gain a customer for life!”

The ‘You Know Me’ emotional driver is all about treating me as an individual and understanding my needs. It is the most impactful of all the emotional drivers.

This is by far the best course I’ve taken since my uni days. What stood out for me:

The depth and the quality: the course directors have really done a wonderful job at encompassing all the different elements of Customer Experience in a clear, thorough and rigorous manner. It has reinforced my passion and knowledge in this field, and has given me new tools and methods to approach Customer Experience. Be it in its planning, strategy and implementation.

Hands on, practical application: this course isn’t just about learning, it’s about gaining knowledge and using it, then and there. The assignments at the end of each module, really made me think long and hard about the common challenges and opportunities in the CX field. Applying the theory to real case scenarios was invaluable. This was my favourite part.

The format: the short videos made it so much easier for me to retain all the information. There is A LOT to take in, but the bite size videos makes it all manageable. The summary notes were also a great help.

The service: the customer service was absolutely brilliant – any question was answered within 24 hours (and I live in Sydney!). I could really feel that there was time and effort put into each and every answer I received. Although it was all done online, I could feel the warmth and genuine care from the whole support Team as well as the course Directors.

All in all, this CX Diploma gave me new tools, new perspectives and most of all the knowledge, insight and confidence I needed to pursue my CX career.

It didn’t feel like a course as much as an exhilarating, intelligent and inspiring experience. I’m actually really sad it’s over!

Jeanne Ogilvie, CX Consultant, Sydney, Australia

There are many CX dashboards that allow you to undertake and analyse Voice of the Customer surveys but you should be looking for deeper knowledge and more advanced tools that allow for dynamic data, integration, interpretation and sentiment analysis.

Remember that while data is important there are many, many influences on your results. There is no ‘magic pill’ that gives you crystal clear vision of your CX and all data must be interpreted correctly incorporating all current influences.

Your dashboard must:

• Give snapshots and dynamic customer sentiment
• Consolidate and integrate customer data from various different sources
• Let you see and monitor trends over time
• Give you the communications tools to raise CX awareness across your organisation
• Be visually appealing

The following platforms are in no particular order but all are worthy of consideration. Getting a demo from each supplier below will get you a stage further in your understanding of dashboards and which one may be suitable for your organisation. we’d also love to hear you opinions and experiences.

The pioneers of online customer feedback, Survey Monkey, have a CX product called GetFeedback

The Athena dashboard from Medallia

Qualtrics have many CX and EX products including their XM Series that you can view here

You may not have heard of CX Index but they are definitely worthy of your consideration. Check out their platforms and integration possibilities.

Aimed at Frontline teams and managers Ask Nicely pops up again and again. Check them out here.

Cloud Cherry was bought by Cisco several years ago and is worth a look.