3 Highlights from Customer Experience Experts at the XI Forum Singapore
This year, the Pearl-Plaza team put together the first ever XI Forum Singapore—and what a day it was! With 100 delegates and five customer experience experts from the leading brands in Southeast Asia, this day was one to remember.
On the main stage, customer experience experts from Alliance, HSBC, and Foot Locker taught delegates what to do to elevate their experience program. In case you missed it, here are three things you can apply to your own program to start seeing high impact.
3 Things Customer Experience Experts Had to Say at XI Forum Singapore
Highlight #1: For Customer Retention, Closing the Loop Is a Must
Put simply, “closing the loop” means following up with each dissatisfied customer to try and mitigate their negative experience. This is a big job, and typically has an entire team dedicated to closing the loop on customer feedback. To make sure these teams can act as quickly impossible, brands can empower the individuals in their teams to act autonomously. Set up escalation alerts tied to poor customer experiences to trigger the teams to take immediate action.
Highlight #2: Your Frontline Employees Are Your Greatest Asset—Keep Them Incentivised
We know that frontline employees are in charge of delivering customer experiences every day—and we also know that in some businesses, these are contractors or third parties that you don’t exactly have control over. What’s the key to incentivising these third party employees? These frontline employees need strategic communication. If you explain to them WHY they need to deliver good experiences, you are likely to see a higher uptick in excellent customer service. On the flip side, you can explain to them that if customers have negative experiences, they are less likely to return, which has negative implications for the third party contractors. It’s a tricky job to keep these employees engaged, but it’s possible with the right communication and action plan.
Highlight #3: Capture Internal Data from Employees To Unlock Insights Into Emerging Markets
Again, employees can be a goldmine of information—but are you listening to them? In Foot Locker’s case, the brand relies on employee data to understand when and how to expand into emerging markets. With your employees interacting with customers every day, don’t forget to ask them what they’re seeing and experiencing—chances are their insights will point to cost savings and retention opportunities.
