Consumer experience management is a huge buzzword these days. But what is it, and why should you care? Here’s a look at the pros and cons of CEM, along with some tips on implementing this powerful new strategy.
Pro: You can switch from siloed marketing to integrated consumer experience
Customer experience management is a powerful tool for ensuring the customer experience is consistent across touchpoints. It can also make your marketing, sales and service more personal. But it’s not a one-size-fits-all solution—you need to consider the pros and cons of CEM before adopting it in your business.
Pro: You can know what your customers want and give it to them
By implementing Consumer Experience Management, you can know what your customers want and give it to them.
It’s not enough for customers to get the functional part of a product or service right anymore. They also want a seamless experience that is easy, quick and efficient. That means:
- Customers want an intuitive interface, so they don’t have to spend time figuring out how to use your product/service.
- Customers want relevant information delivered in real-time via their preferred channel (email, chatbot etc.).
- Customers want access to multiple payment options and an easy return policy; if something doesn’t work out, they should get their money back quickly and easily without any hassles.
Pro: You can save money in the long run
Consumer experience management (CXM) can help you save money in the long run. CXM helps companies improve their customer retention, reduce customer service costs, and provide better products and services to customers. All of these things can result in the following:
- Less spending on marketing campaigns
- Fewer product development costs
“Engage with your customers and employees to capture, analyze, and act on their feedback in a closed-loop process across the entire organization,” explain Verint professionals.
Con: The cost and complexity of implementation can be a barrier
While the benefits of CXM are clear, it’s essential to consider the costs and complexity of implementation. A typical consumer experience management platform can be implemented in three phases: discovery, design, build and launch.
Discovery efforts may include interviewing employees at all levels of an organization, as well as customers and prospects. The design includes creating user personas, journey maps and storyboards before the actual development begins. The build is when your development team builds the product or feature set you want to deliver to users through a digital channel like an app or mobile website. Launch occurs after testing has been completed internally by your team or agency partners if needed.
Con: You may have to contend with some cultural resistance
You may have to contend with some cultural resistance. Getting people to change their habits can be difficult, especially if they’ve been doing things a certain way for a long time and it’s worked fine. So you may need to change your culture and expectations of roles and internal processes if you’re trying to move into the 21st century.
The consumer experience is the most important thing for any business; it can make or break your brand. But it’s not always easy to get right, especially when facing so many different channels and products. So that’s where CXM comes in—so if you’re looking for a better way to manage your consumer experience with fewer headaches and more results, give us a call!
