Customer Experience

What is Patient Feedback?

Patient feedback is the opinions, reviews, and thoughts that healthcare organizations gather from their patients. From the healthcare contact center to the doctor’s diagnosis, each step of the patient journey presents an opportunity to learn about patient expectations and behavior.

The goal of collecting patient feedback is to pinpoint areas for improvement in healthcare operations. For instance, a hospital could have world-class medical staff delivering high-quality care. But, if patients have to endure long wait times to see the doctor, they are still not likely to report a positive experience.

Healthcare centers usually capture this feedback with the help of surveys, reviews, and conversations at different points of the patient journey. Here is an overview of when and why each institution collects feedback.

Hospitals and Clinics

In hospitals and clinics, the medical staff gathers feedback from inpatients and outpatients to see what steps in the patient journey need improvement.

Each type of patient care involves feedback collection at the following points in the patient journey:

• Inpatient care
  • Appointment booking – helps understand if the patient is satisfied with wait times or staff behavior.
  • Medical diagnoses – provides information on the patient’s experience with the accuracy and price of medical tests.
  • Hospital stay – gathers feedback on the patient’s stay in the hospital, including quality of treatment, staff support, and cleanliness.
  • Discharge – captures patient opinions on discharge, such as how long it took and how well the doctor followed up with them.
• Outpatient care
  • Check-in – gathers patient feedback on wait times and quality of staff support during the check-in process.
  • Consultation with the doctor – offers information on the patient’s satisfaction with the doctor’s communication and overall behavior.

Dental Clinic

Dental clinics capture feedback from patients to pinpoint any issues with their oral healthcare service and general operations. They usually collect patient feedback at the following points:

• Appointment scheduling – helps understand the patient’s experience with ease of booking, staff support, and wait times.
• Dental treatment – captures patient feedback on the quality of dental care, dentist’s communication, and treatment plan.
• Billing process – collects feedback on the transparency of costs and availability of various payment options.
• Follow-up – provides information on how well the dentist followed up with the patient post-treatment, including the quality of aftercare instructions.

Aged Care

Aged care facilities rely on feedback loops to make residents feel more comfortable and satisfied. The goal is to check in with them and their family at the following points to see if the center is meeting their unique needs:

• Patient admission – collects information on the ease and convenience of admitting a new resident.
• Medical check-ups – highlight issues, if any, with daily health assessments and if the resident is satisfied with them.
• Daily care – captures resident feedback on the quality of care, support from staff, and general activities.
• Family visits – collects feedback from family members on their satisfaction levels with the facility, including staff, hygiene, environment, and healthcare.
• Discharge – covers any complaints from the resident or their family about the convenience of the discharge process and support from staff.

Pharmacies

Did you know that 58% of Americans view pharmacies as a first step when faced with a non-emergency medical issue? A pharmacy gathers feedback at the following touchpoints to better understand patients:

• Prescription dispensing – helps understand if the medication was safely, correctly, and appropriately dispensed to the patient.
• Consultation – captures patient feedback on consultations offered by the staff, including dosage and general medication advice.
• Purchase and billing – collects information on how smooth it was for the patient to purchase medicine and process payments.

Why is Patient Feedback Important?

Patient feedback is primarily important for enhancing patient satisfaction and helping the healthcare organization with brand reputation management.

Feedback highlights the organization’s strengths and weaknesses when it comes to fulfilling a patient’s needs. Hospitals and clinics use this kind of insight to make data-driven decisions to improve their workflow and enhance patient satisfaction. 

For instance, if a hospital receives multiple complaints about wait times during appointment booking, it has an immediate area of concern to address.

Moreover, collecting patient feedback encourages transparency and communication with patients. By becoming proactive listeners and responders to their needs, organizations show that they value their patients’ thoughts and feelings.

As a result, patients are likely to trust these healthcare centers and give them a positive review online. Given that over 70% of patients consult online reviews before visiting a new center, it’s important to focus on practices that boost patient satisfaction ratings.

Benefits of Collecting Patient Feedback

Collecting patient feedback helps organizations make informed decisions on delivering a positive patient experience. Here are a few key benefits of capturing feedback from patients:

Higher Quality of Healthcare

A key component of performance assessment is to look at areas for improvement, especially those suggested by patients. This is where feedback is beneficial as it pinpoints the exact issues to prioritize and fix in order to deliver a higher quality of care. It provides specific answers to important questions about the patient experience.

Enhanced Patient Satisfaction and Retention

A higher quality of health care has a positive impact on patient satisfaction ratings. When patients feel that an organization successfully met their care needs, they are more likely to give it a glowing recommendation online or otherwise. 

Satisfied patients not only provide positive recommendations, but they are also likely to become loyal customers themselves. Therefore, by collecting and acting upon feedback, healthcare providers boost patient retention.

Data-driven Decisions

The last thing healthcare centers want to do is take a guess at what works for their patients. It’s important to have access to actionable data that provides specific insights into improving the customer experience. Collecting patient feedback helps organizations capture and analyze this data to enable continuous improvements in their services.

How to Collect Patient Feedback?

From kiosk surveys at check-in to post-treatment email surveys, patient surveys help organizations collect valuable feedback at each step of the patient journey.

Patient Feedback Survey

Surveys are great options for feedback collection because they let patients reflect on their experience right away. Moreover, surveys allow patients to be more forthright and accurate in their feedback by removing the need for an in-person conversation.

By issuing surveys at key touchpoints during the patient journey, healthcare centers gain targeted insights on improving their operations. Here is an overview of the surveys healthcare centers use throughout the patient journey:

1. Kiosk surveys

A touchscreen display device placed at strategic points in the hospital, like the reception area, is a popular way to collect feedback. 

Kiosks are typically used to survey patients on their experience after check-in, consultation with the doctor, and booking follow-up appointments.

2. Email surveys

According to a 2024 report on email statistics, 88% of respondents said they use email daily, with 39% checking their inboxes 3-5 times a day. Therefore, email remains one of the most reliable channels for organizations to gather customer feedback.

For healthcare centers, sending an email survey right after discharge is a great way to collect insights from the patient. Emails can feature a link to the full survey form or a straightforward one-click survey embedded within the email body itself.

3. Mobile app and website surveys

Healthcare providers can also leverage mobile apps and website widgets to collect patient feedback smoothly. The idea is to integrate always-on surveys within the apps and websites to prompt customers for specific (post-consultation, discharge, etc.) or general feedback.

Feedback from Online Reviews

In addition to surveys, online reviews offer another valuable method for gathering patient feedback and play a crucial role in healthcare reputation management. Beyond providing key insights and actionable data, online reviews can:

1. Authentic Patient Experiences: Reviews often capture unfiltered, real-world patient experiences, providing healthcare providers with genuine insights into what patients appreciate or dislike about their care.
2. Volume and Diversity of Feedback: Healthcare providers can gather a large volume of feedback from a wide range of patients, offering a broader view of service quality across various demographics and healthcare needs.
3. Timeliness: Patients tend to leave reviews soon after their visits, giving providers immediate feedback that can highlight pressing issues or recent successes.
4. Publicly Accessible Insights: Since reviews are public, they not only provide feedback but also shape the provider’s reputation. This transparency encourages healthcare providers to address concerns quickly and improve their services.
5. Building Trust: By engaging with reviews, responding to patient concerns, and showcasing a commitment to improvement, healthcare providers can enhance trust and credibility within the community.
6. Benchmarking: Reviews allow providers to compare their performance against competitors in the same field or location, giving insights into areas where they can improve relative to others.

Regardless of which method is used, healthcare providers will receive both positive and negative feedback:

Examples of Positive Patient Feedback

• “Efficient, friendly, and informed doctor. She carefully checked my medical records and I felt confident in her expertise.”
• “The receptionist was very helpful on the phone. He was polite and took care to answer each of my questions in detail.”
• “I visited the app to book an appointment, thinking it might take a week to get one. However, to my pleasant surprise, I got an appointment the next day!”

Examples of Negative Patient Feedback

• “Avoid going to this doctor’s clinic. He didn’t seem interested in spending time on the patients at all. He just prescribes medication and goes away without any explanation!”
• “I found that I’d been billed for services I never received! I won’t be returning to this dentist as this is unacceptable.”
• “The facility was dirty and outdated, which is not what I expect from a hospital. I didn’t feel comfortable at all.”

How to Manage Patient Feedback?

Be it positive or negative, it’s important to know how to effectively manage patient feedback. The goal is to organize the collected feedback, analyze it to gain valuable insights and focus on high-priority issues before checking in with the patient again.

Here are four key steps to follow after collecting patient feedback:

1. Organize and respond to feedback

The first step to effective feedback management is organizing the patient feedback coming from various channels.

A dedicated feedback portal or a CRM system helps integrate multiple pieces of feedback in one place for easier analysis. It is also useful to categorize feedback in this step by overall sentiment (positive or negative) for a targeted approach.

The next step is to respond to the feedback based on its sentiment. While automated responses save time, it’s good practice to have a dedicated support team to contact the patients as well.

2. Analyze the feedback for useful insights

Analysis of patient feedback reveals the exact issues and opportunities that healthcare providers must focus on. With the help of AI-enhanced customer feedback analysis, organizations can speed up the process of capturing actionable insights.

One popular method here is sentiment analysis, which leverages natural language processing (NLP) to determine if the feedback is positive, negative, or neutral. Similarly, AI is useful for detecting patterns in data, such as recurring issues faced by patients concerning wait times or staff behavior.

The results of this analysis reveal priority areas to fix immediately for an enhanced patient experience.

3. Take immediate action based on the analysis

Healthcare centers should encourage their staff to take instant action on patient feedback. For example, if the analysis shows a recurring issue with wait times, the staff should optimize their workflow or look to hire more people to reduce delays for patients.

A good practice for organizations is to offer a token of apology, regardless of the exact action taken. These tokens could include a free checkup or a discount on medication. The idea is to offer a bonus that further affirms the organization’s commitment to patient satisfaction.

4. Follow up with the patient

In order to create a feedback loop, healthcare providers should follow up with the patient, informing them of the actions taken. This step builds trust as it signals to the patient that the hospital or clinic is willing to hear them out and act on their feedback.

Patient Feedback Software

When choosing the right patient feedback software to collect, organize, and analyze data, there are a few key factors to consider:

1. Multi-channel feedback collection: The software should be able to accept and collect feedback from various sources, including email, kiosk surveys, and SMS.
2. Automated survey and feedback response: The software should feature automated workflows for issuing surveys at key touchpoints in the patient journey, from check-in to discharge. Similar workflows for sending instant replies to patient feedback are also helpful.
3. Customizable surveys: Healthcare providers should invest in software that allows them to represent their brand. Personalized surveys featuring the brand’s colors and style are likely to engage more patients.
4. Analytics: The software should feature analytical tools to provide useful insights from patient feedback. For instance, it should support sentiment analysis to distinguish between positive and negative reviews.
5. Integrations: To ensure smooth patient feedback management, the software should support integration with electronic medical records (EMR) and CRM systems. By providing information like patient demographics and clinical records, these integrations enable more specific analysis.

How Pearl-Plaza Can Help Collect Patient Feedback 

Pearl-Plaza’s feedback management system lets you collect, organize, and analyze patient feedback in one place. Our integrations and award-winning technology will help you capture actionable insights into patient expectations. 

As a result, you get access to all the data you need to deliver the best possible patient experience. Schedule a demo today to see how you can get started!

It’s important to keep track of how many customers leave and why they leave so that you can make the right adjustments for future customers and hopefully improve customer retention. However, it can be difficult to measure these types of factors and produce usable data. That’s why businesses need to keep track of customer churn, which is the metric used to measure how well you are retaining customers. Discover the ins and outs of customer churn and what business owners can do to make the most of their circumstances.

What Is Customer Churn?

Customer churn occurs when someone chooses to discontinue using your products or services—or in other words, they are no longer a customer. Also known as customer attrition, customer churn gives a business owner insight into how well their business is doing over time, which is an essential part of management and growth.

More specifically, customer churn is measured and evaluated using a customer churn rate. This rate reflects the number of customers who stopped using services or products during a set period. This set period could be any relevant time frame your company is analyzing, including a year, a financial quarter, or even a single month. This churn rate is also useful in customer churn analysis. 

Types of Customer Churn

When looking at customer churn, each case can be divided into one of two categories: voluntary churn or involuntary churn. 

• Voluntary Churn: Voluntary churn occurs when a customer actively chooses to stop doing business with you. This decision is driven by dissatisfaction, a change in needs, or moving to a competitor. This may look like a customer buying from a competitor after experiencing long wait times with your organization. 
• Involuntary Churn: Involuntary churn occurs when customers stop doing business with you without intending to. This is often due to avoidable factors such as payment issues or subscription expiration. An example of this is a customer’s credit card expires, and they forget to update their payment information, leading to an unintentional cancellation of their subscription.

It is important to understand these two types of churn and how each of them can be addressed. 

Why is Customer Churn a Problem?

Customer churn is a problem that businesses should seek to solve because it directly affects revenue, reputation, and growth. 

When customers leave, your business loses the immediate sales from those customers and the potential for future revenue. Since acquiring new customers is more expensive than retaining existing customers, you will be forced to spend more to cover the churned customers’ loss. 

Furthermore, a high churn rate can be indicative of dissatisfaction with your products or services. Dissatisfied customers who have churned can harm your brand reputation by leaving a negative review or sharing their bad experiences on social media. 

These results of customer churn will ultimately end with your business struggling to maintain sustainable growth. Long-term customer relationships are important for an organization to be able to grow, and customer churn disrupts this cycle. 

Why Is Customer Churn Important?

Churn rates examine the recurring business and value lost over certain periods. It’s important to look at customer churn to prevent customers from leaving due to problems you could potentially solve, which protects your brand, money, and future. Here are some of the more specific reasons why customer churn is important to measure:

Brand Impact

Dissatisfied customers negatively impact your brand equity, and especially in a market that is driven by the internet and influencers, it can be dangerous to your company if customers leave for a similar reason and discuss it online. 

Not only are you losing their business, but having dissatisfied customers also makes it more difficult to find new customers if the brand receives a bad reputation from dissatisfied customers. This could be news spreading by word of mouth, reviews, or social media.

Costly Consequences

Customer churn costs money, not only because you would be losing someone’s immediate purchases, but because customer loyalty is a huge asset to companies. Returning customers tend to spend more money on a brand once they have made a decision to become loyal customers, and finding and persuading new customers can be very costly and time-consuming. Ultimately, losing customers who spend a lot on your brand can affect the bottom line in the present and over time.

Future Growth

You need the loyalty of your customers to sustain your business, especially when you roll out new products or initiatives. If there aren’t people around to get excited about new products and services, companies can wear themselves thin because they focus on the basics that need to be fixed rather than healthily expanding.

Competitive Advantage

With every industry getting more and more competitive, it’s more important than ever to be at the top of your game. The last thing you want is a new competitor stealing clients or customers, especially if you can offer a solution for those customers. This competition should encourage organizations to focus not only on new business but also on retaining existing customers.

Proactive Business Strategies

Some problems arise seemingly out of nowhere and businesses must adapt as needed. Others, though, can be identified in advance by closely watching customer churn, which means you can put certain procedures in place to prevent serious losses. If you can predict customer churn after measuring it over time, you can do more to prevent it than wait until it is too late.

Why Does Customer Churn Happen?

Customer churn is more than a metric; it’s an indicator of how well your services, products, and sometimes employees are performing. Sometimes all companies go through a higher customer churn period, but it’s always important to know your potential blind spots and look for creative solutions. The most common reasons include the following scenarios.

Poor Customer Service

Whether you offer an immediate service or online resources for purchases, how people feel treated makes a big impact on whether or not they stick around. High customer churn rates may be an indicator that your employees or teams “on the field” directly interacting with customers may need more training or evaluations.

Misalignment with Customer Needs

You may have a great product, but you aren’t going after the right group of customers. Marketing is a key element of any business venture, including gathering research about who needs your products and how. It’s also possible that customers need new or improved features, so you may have the right audience, but you don’t understand their needs. Feedback is critical to understanding the needs of your customer community.

Pricing Concerns

If your prices are lightyears ahead of competitors and you don’t update your services, especially as other competitors join the market, even the most loyal of customers may switch to either a more affordable option or whoever gives them the biggest bang for their buck. 

External Factors

If you’re in a niche industry, you may not get consistent sales—a Christmas lights company isn’t going to have the same customer volumes year-round. You should consider this when calculating your churn rate and also see if there are things you can do during the off-season to bring in more customers. This could be adding products or services to make your offering more appealing outside of your primary season.

Furthermore, economic downturns or personal financial difficulties can cause customers to cut back on spending, resulting in churn. These factors do not affect your business exclusively and need to be taken into consideration when examining churn rates. 

Lack of Engagement

Most businesses need to have an online presence to properly promote and market their company and products. Without it, your brand awareness and loyalty will go down, meaning valuable old customers won’t stick around with a decent competitor actively drawing them away. Similarly, low-quality content and communications are also a turnoff for a lot of customers.

What is Customer Churn Analysis?

Customer churn analysis examines an organization’s customer churn rate to understand what caused customers to churn and how it can be improved in the future. Customer churn analysis is a critical part of improving your organization’s customer churn rate because you will gain the necessary information to create an action plan to reduce churn and improve overall customer satisfaction. 

An example of customer churn analysis is seeing why a specific subset of customers are churning. To do this, you can take the number of customers that churned and filter that data to represent just the demographic you are examining. Then, you can identify what caused these customers to churn and work on making customer experience improvements to prevent it from happening in the future. 

How To Calculate Customer Churn Rate

The customer churn rate is usually expressed using a percentage, and the higher the percentage, the more customers are leaving and the more business you’re losing. At its core, the customer churn rate is calculated by dividing the number of customers lost by the number of total customers in a set period.

Another way to look at it is by using a formula. The customer churn rate equation looks like this:

For example: let’s say a company has 500 customers at the beginning of the quarter, but by the end, it has 450 customers. That means the company lost 50 customers, and when you divide that by the total number of customers for that quarter (500), you get 0.1. Multiply that by 100 to get your percentage and there you have it: the company had a 10% churn rate for that quarter.

Depending on the service or product, it may be challenging to determine what losing a customer looks like. If your service is a monthly subscription to your product, it’s easy to determine when someone unsubscribes. However, if you have a one-time service, it’s more difficult to approximate when you’ve “lost” a customer. 

Some industries go months before services are needed, like home furniture stores or car dealerships. Those sales cycles are much broader and if they don’t see returning clients for even years, it doesn’t mean they’ve lost any value or money—that’s simply the nature of the field. Generally, you can estimate when a customer no longer uses your service by using the frequency of their purchases as a baseline.

Average Churn Rate
Ideally, everyone would have a 0% churn rate, but that’s not a realistic expectation to have. A 5%-8% churn rate is usually considered average, but it depends on the market, the industry, the size of your business, and more.

What is A Good Customer Churn Rate?

A good average churn rate across all industries is 4%, which can generally be used as a good benchmark for your business. However, customer churn rates vary widely by industry. 

For example, the median churn rate for the digital media and entertainment industry is 6.9%, while the median churn rate for the software industry is almost half of that at 3.5%. Knowing these industry-specific metrics will be much more valuable than an umbrella statistic. 

Tips for Customer Churn Rate

To predict customer churn, you need to be able to identify the things that have the biggest impact on your customer experience. This involves a combination of data analysis, customer feedback, and understanding the nuances of your customer journey. Here are some steps you can take to predict customer churn:

Know Your Key Drivers

In order to identify customer churn indicators, you need to identify the key drivers behind your customer experience. If you know that sales promotions have the biggest impact on your customer experience metrics, then a lack of sales promotions could be an early sign of churn. Other factors include a drop in engagement, lower transaction volumes, or an increase in negative feedback.

Once you know your biggest CX drivers, you can continuously monitor them to keep customers from churning. 

Identify and Address Early Warning Signs

Depending on your business, there can be many early warning signs that a customer is about to churn. For example, if they become inactive or are using your product less frequently, cancel or downgrade a subscription, or start making late payments, these are all early signs of churn. 

When customers exhibit these behaviors, it is important that they become a top priority and are re-engaged as soon as possible. 

How can Customer Churn be Prevented?

Preventing customer churn is essential to your business strategy. It starts with measuring customer churn and finding the root of the problem. Then, you work on solutions. Here is a list of ideas and tips on how to tackle customer churn.

Focus on Your Best Customers

Pay special attention to your most loyal customers and make sure they feel appreciated. Loyal customers will share your content and be a promoter for your brand without being paid if they feel appreciated.

Analyze Churn in Real-Time

Analyze churn as it occurs instead of waiting to fix the issue. The more preventative maintenance you can do, the better. In order to prevent customer churn, you need customer experience software that can accurately predict customer sentiment. Being able to detect customer sentiment will allow you to predict what actions a customer is likely to take based on their feedback. 

For example, a customer might leave an online review expressing their negative feelings about their most recent purchase. With the right tools, you can recognize the importance and flag this review as a high-priority case so that it is resolved quickly, which will result in a saved customer.

Conduct Competitive Analysis

Do a competitive analysis to see what your competitors are offering that may persuade customers to abandon your brand.  Understanding their strengths can help you address gaps in your own offerings that might be driving customers away.

Lower Customer Churn with Pearl-Plaza

Pearl-Plaza’s customer experience platform gives you all the tools you need to analyze, track, and reduce customer churn. With the ability to view customer interactions from every source in one place, measure unstructured feedback, and more, it is the perfect tool to help you connect more with your customers. To see how it can help your business, schedule a demo today!

What is Customer Experience Consulting?

Customer experience consulting is a specialized service that helps businesses enhance the experiences they provide to their customers across every touchpoint—from the initial awareness stage to post-purchase support.

But what does that really mean for your business? Essentially, a customer experience consultant dives deep into your customer interactions, analyzes data, and helps you craft strategies that not only meet but exceed customer expectations. It’s about making sure every interaction adds value and strengthens the customer relationship. By partnering with a customer experience consulting firm, businesses gain insights and strategies tailored to their unique challenges and opportunities, ensuring they stand out in a crowded marketplace.

What are the Benefits of having a Customer Experience Consultant?

Why should you invest in a customer experience consultant? Can’t your in-house team handle it? The truth is, while your team knows your business inside and out, a customer experience consultant brings a fresh perspective and specialized expertise that can make all the difference.

A customer experience consultant dives deep into your customer data, identifies pain points, and develops strategies that are proven to improve customer satisfaction and retention. But it’s not just about solving problems—it’s about driving growth. Customer experience consultants, like the experts at Pearl-Plaza, can help you craft experiences that turn customers into brand advocates, increasing their lifetime value and positively impacting your bottom line. By leveraging their expertise, you can avoid common pitfalls and fast-track your way to a more loyal and satisfied customer base.

What to Look for in a Customer Experience Consultant?

With so many options out there, it can be overwhelming to select a customer experience vendor with the right consulting services but asking the right questions can help you find the perfect fit.

Experience and credentials are key. Look for consultants who have years of experience and a track record of success across various industries. Questions you should ask when meeting with a CX consultant should include:

• How many clients have they worked with?
• Can they share examples of businesses they’ve worked with that are similar to yours (in terms of industry, size, or challenges)?
• What is their specific expertise within customer experience (e.g., journey mapping, voice of customer programs, etc.)?
• How do they stay updated on the latest CX trends and technologies?
• What is their process for assessing and improving customer experience?
• How do they tailor their approach to the unique needs of different businesses?
• What frameworks or tools do they use to measure customer satisfaction and other CX metrics?
• How do they leverage data and analytics to improve customer experience?
• Can they help integrate customer feedback systems with your existing platforms?
• What kind of results have they delivered? 
• What is the average customer experience ROI have their clients seen?
• Do they have experience in your industry? 

In addition to the questions, a reputable customer experience consulting firm should offer proof of their success—whether through CX case studies, testimonials, or data showcasing improved customer satisfaction and ROI.

Additionally, consider their approach to consulting customer experience. Are they focused on understanding your unique needs and challenges, or do they offer one-size-fits-all solutions? The best consultants take the time to understand your business and tailor their strategies accordingly.

What Services Should be Included in Customer Experience Consulting?

It’s not just about receiving advice—it’s about a comprehensive partnership that equips your business to succeed. A comprehensive service package should include the following:

• Onboarding and Training: Your consultant should provide a thorough onboarding process, ensuring that your team understands the tools, strategies, and processes involved in the new CX approach.
• Journey Mapping: One of the first steps in consulting customer experience is creating detailed customer journey maps. These visual representations of the customer experience help identify pain points and opportunities for improvement.
• Regular Meetings and Reporting: Ongoing communication is key. Expect regular check-ins and detailed reports that track progress, analyze data, and adjust strategies as needed.
• Tool Integration: Whether it’s a CRM system, customer feedback tools, or analytics software, your consultant should help integrate the necessary technology to support your CX strategy.

This is where Pearl-Plaza’s CX services shine. Our customer experience consultants are dedicated to setting you up for long-term success, offering a personalized approach that aligns with your business goals.

Working with Pearl-Plaza’s CX Experts 

At Pearl-Plaza, we believe that exceptional customer experiences are integral to business success. Our mission is to help you drive business value by being bold in the moments that matter. Our CX experts bring years of experience across diverse industries, offering best-in-class technology and comprehensive consulting to ensure you achieve outstanding results.

We don’t just provide consulting services—we become an extension of your team. Our approach is hands-on and collaborative, ensuring that we understand your unique challenges and goals. From the initial consultation to ongoing support, our customer experience consultants work closely with you to design and implement strategies that resonate with your customers, improve customer experience KPIs, and drive measurable outcomes.

Whether you’re looking to enhance your current customer experience efforts or need a complete overhaul, Pearl-Plaza’s CX experts are here to guide you every step of the way. With our support, you’ll be equipped to deliver experiences that not only meet but exceed your customers’ expectations, fostering loyalty and driving sustained growth. 

Pearl-Plaza’s integrated CX approach has proven to boost customer lifetime value and accelerate bottom-line performance in just 12 months—well ahead of the industry average of 25 months. Get more insights and details with our ROI calculator. 

Final Thoughts

In today’s market, customer experience is no longer a “nice-to-have” but a critical component of business success. By investing in customer experience consulting services, you’re not just improving customer satisfaction—you’re building a foundation for long-term growth. Whether you’re looking to enhance existing strategies or start from scratch, a skilled customer experience consultant can guide you every step of the way. And when you choose Pearl-Plaza, you’re choosing a partner committed to your success. Schedule a CX demo to get started on transforming your business.

Did you know that over 70% of consumers expect personalized communications and tailored products/services from companies they buy from? Of those customers, 76% get frustrated when they do not receive any level of personalization. When companies do offer personalized experiences, 78% of those customers who receive that level of personalization are likely to make repeat purchases.

With these statistics in mind, it is clear that delivering consistent, memorable experiences is a must for any organization looking to build and sustain a loyal customer base. The only way to do this is by listening to what your customers are saying, which is referred to as the Voice of the Customer.

What is Voice of the Customer?

Voice of the Customer (VoC) is the process of gathering information regarding what customers think and feel about their experiences with a business. The goal is to learn about their expectations regarding the business’ products or services. 

Often applied as a market research technique by firms looking to achieve a better and more complete understanding of the customer, Voice of the Customer can also help companies measure and understand the experiences that they deliver to customers. Armed with this knowledge, companies can build stronger brands, function as more efficient organizations, and deliver a better customer experience.

A Voice of the Customer program helps your business reap the benefits of listening, acting, and responding to what customers say about your brand, product, service, or business location. This can help you deliver improved experiences, offer better products and services, and create more value for customers.

Why Voice of the Customer Is Important

Voice of the Customer data is important for several reasons in business and product development. Primarily, Voice of the Customer programs help organizations become more customer-centric by understanding customer needs, preferences, and expectations. This customer-centric focus is crucial for developing products, services, and experiences that align with what customers truly want.

VoC data is also a valuable source of insights for innovation. Understanding customer pain points and desires can guide the development of new products or features that address unmet needs, giving companies a competitive advantage.

Essentially, once fortified with this extensive and comprehensive data, CX leaders can: 

• Discover why feedback scores, such as net promoter scores are not up to par. 
• Comprehend customer desires, needs, and criticisms. 
• List the above data in order of importance for improving performance. 
• Fully grasp customers’ perception of the value of a company’s product(s) and/or service(s) offer. 
• Learn if and where the company is fulfilling its promises and areas where it fails to do so. 
• Utilize all the data to inform improvements in the way products and services are created and offered to a now better-understood customer demographic.
• Solicit customer feedback to evaluate new ways of gaining a competitive advantage.
• Generate advanced marketing insights and opportunities.

Benefits of a Voice of the Customer Program

Businesses without a Voice of Customer program observe which of their products or services are being sold most frequently, and assume that is what customers want more of. However, this approach leaves out key qualitative details such as which areas of the buying experience customers would change. 

Voice of the Customer programs allows organizations to gain a deeper understanding of their customers and the decisions they make. These benefits can range from operational improvements to changes in product development. Here are some common benefits of effective voice of the customer programs: 

Improve Customer Retention

It is no secret that your existing customers are easier to sell to and will spend more than first-time customers. By implementing a Voice of the Customer program, you can open a direct line of communication for customers to address their concerns and frustrations so that the company can act on those frustrations to improve the overall experience. This will allow you to decrease customer churn and improve customer retention. 

Improve Brand Reputation

A Voice of the Customer program enhances brand reputation by ensuring timely and thoughtful responses to customer feedback. By staying connected to the platforms where customers share their experiences, your business can quickly address online reviews, demonstrate attentiveness, and show a commitment to customer satisfaction. This responsiveness not only resolves individual concerns but also builds trust and reinforces a positive brand image across your customer base.

Reduce Customer Complaints and Faster Resolutions

By systematically gathering customer opinions and experiences, businesses can identify issues early on, even before customers actively complain. Early detection allows for proactive problem-solving.

Moreover, Voice of the Customer programs help businesses understand the severity and impact of different issues. This allows for the prioritization of problems based on their urgency and potential impact on customer satisfaction. Addressing high-priority issues first contributes to faster resolution.

Drive Product Innovations

Voice of the Customer data helps companies stay aligned with market trends and shifts. This knowledge is crucial for driving product and service innovation, adapting strategies, staying relevant, and ensuring that your offerings remain in tune with evolving customer expectations. 

Boost Your Revenue

A natural consequence of expanding the customer base and retaining customers is an increase in revenue. As companies monitor customer feedback and trends, they have a clear picture of what products and services customers want and are willing to pay for, which means that the company can provide those with greater accuracy.

If you want to see how much revenue Pearl-Plaza can deliver for you with Voice of Customer surveys, check out our ROI calculator!

Improve Customer Experience 

All of these benefits work together to create a more cohesive and satisfying customer experience. By actively listening to customer feedback, addressing their needs, and continuously improving products and services, businesses can deliver a personalized and seamless experience at every touchpoint. This holistic approach not only meets but often exceeds customer expectations, fostering loyalty, encouraging positive word-of-mouth, and ultimately driving long-term success.

3 Questions to Consider Before Building a Voice of the Customer Program

These three questions can guide companies’ efforts to implement an effective Voice of the Customer program to improve the customer experience, retain customers, and boost revenue.

1. What Is the Goal of the Voice of the Customer Program?

Without a clear goal, it is difficult to start a Voice of the Customer program since the strategies used should reflect the business objective. Before companies start building a program, they should first examine potential objectives and determine which will be the most beneficial for their specific needs. 

The objectives of a voice of the customer program can be divided into two main categories: benchmarking and continuous improvement. 

Benchmarking

Programs that focus on benchmarking as an objective tend to be more comparative. This means that the surveys used to gather customer feedback will use the same set of questions for every respondent, typically in a rating format, and then compare those ratings to each other to find areas for improvement. Often, the focus is on the scores themselves instead of the reason for those ratings, so companies that use this objective will get more general feedback and causality. 

Continuous Improvement

Continuous improvement objectives, on the other hand, can be more personalized based on certain aspects of the customer and their interaction with the company. While the accompanying surveys can include rating questions, there will also be some open-ended questions that allow respondents to clarify their reasons for the scores they gave. This method can give more detailed insight into the causes of dissatisfaction.

Companies should choose one of these objectives based on the information that they wish to gather to work towards certain goals. Some of the possible goals are:

• Customer research: For this, companies gather the information that helps them better understand the needs and wants of their target customers.
• Customer retention: Learning how to best keep existing customers satisfied with the products and services offered is crucial for customer retention.
• Acquiring new customers: Just as important as retaining customers is acquiring new ones. With this goal in mind, companies should learn how to increase interest in their brand to attract new customers.
• Improving brand image: This goal focuses on finding out how customers view a company’s brand and what can be done to improve that image.
• Cost reduction: Focusing on cost-effectiveness by recognizing where you can reduce spending will help you increase profitability and prove ROI. 
• Increasing customer lifetime value: Customer lifetime value is the revenue earned from a single customer over time. Increasing that will cause your customers to promote your brand for you.

2. What Metrics Should Be Measured Throughout the VoC Program?

Once a company has chosen a goal to drive its VoC program, it should define which metrics will be measured to demonstrate progress and focus the efforts for more improvements. Some common metrics in a Voice of the Customer program include customer experience KPIs such as Net Promoter Score, Customer Effort Score, and Customer Satisfaction Score.

When selecting metrics, consider the holistic picture they paint and how they align with your business goals. Combining quantitative metrics with qualitative insights from customer feedback ensures a comprehensive understanding of the Voice of the Customer. Regularly review and adjust your chosen metrics to stay responsive to changing customer needs and business objectives.

3. How Should the Success of the VoC Program Be Measured?

A Voice of the Customer program is only effective if it drives action. To determine whether the feedback being gathered is useful, it is important to look at what has changed since the program was implemented. Measuring success is dependent on setting a clear goal and choosing specific metrics that align with that goal. Because of this, companies should consider whether the metrics being measured are improving over time. The changes made to improve the metrics should help the company work towards its main objective.

Building a Voice of the Customer Program: Best Practices

Before you jump in and begin building your Voice of the Customer program, you’ll need to earnestly attempt to see through your customers’ eyes and link their experience to your business outcomes. Here are some areas of focus and best practices to follow:

Identify Customer Touchpoints 

Customers form their impression of a product or service through multiple interactions with an organization. For instance, folks may find a business by doing an online search or via an ad. They might be introduced through blogs or site reviews, then shop on the company’s website, stop by at a brick-and-mortar retail location, and later on, get in touch with the customer service department. 

A Voice of the Customer program often starts with customer journey mapping and identifying the various touchpoints that will add up to the full customer experience with the company. Keep in mind that combining insights from multiple touchpoints provides a comprehensive view of customer experiences and helps drive informed decision-making.

Collect and Connect Feedback Across Data Channels

Successful Voice of the Customer programs are founded on a company’s ability to listen to customers. To do that successfully, your Voice of the Customer program needs to work as part of your omnichannel customer experience so that you can monitor what customers are saying across all different platforms.  

Analyze Customer Data

After gathering a sufficient amount of data, it’s time to make sense of it. Whether you’re working alone or as a part of a team, you will need to come up with a standard way to understand the Voice of the Customer. 

Analytical methods like natural language processing (NLP) and sentiment analysis can help your business pin down customer sentiment data, emotions, and feelings, helping you see more clearly than ever what customers like and dislike about your brand. 

By translating information into vision, you can achieve a better understanding of the needs, wants, feelings, sentiments, and expectations of your customers. The insights you gather from the Voice of the Customer data will help your entire organization more accurately measure — and more efficiently improve — customer experience.

Collaborate with Teams Across the Entire Organization

Collaboration with other teams within your organization is crucial when managing Voice of the Customer data. This enhances the effectiveness of your efforts and ensures a more comprehensive and integrated approach to customer-centric strategies.

Cross-functional insights are also made possible with greater collaboration. This is why it is important to understand what CX teams in an organization work for your business. When you understand what time is heading the Voice of the Customer program, they can facilitate collaboration across the business. By working with other teams, you gain insights into the end-to-end customer journey, enabling a more comprehensive analysis of customer interactions and pain points.

Take Action and Deliver Insights to the Right People

With all the data and analysis done, you’re ready to create a custom, on-brand Voice of the Customer plan that spurs your team to action in ways that meet the needs of your customers. But it’s not enough to just create a plan and execute it. You’ll also need to monitor its effects regularly. Integrated customer experience platforms allow you to create custom reports that inform company leadership of the effects of Voice of the Customer data on a daily, weekly, or even monthly basis. 

Don’t forget to share your Voice of Customer insights with key stakeholders and decision-makers. This will unite your company around the goal of meeting customer needs, and to guide and empower everyone to foster improvements in customer experience.

Monitor and Act on Customer Experience Trends

Ongoing monitoring assists in tracking a company’s progress as time goes on. Companies can get stuck debating what metrics they should target. What is more important is to stick to a metric, build a system that lets feedback flow in effortlessly, and watch the metric improve over time, as employees act on this valuable feedback.

How to Collect VoC Data

There are multiple ways to gather or capture Voice of the Customer data. Each of these has benefits and drawbacks, which is why a company may choose to use a combination of these sources and techniques instead of a singular method of collecting data.

As you collect Voice of Customer data, it’s good practice to select the right touchpoints and consider the variety of channels that customers use to interact with your brand throughout their journey. With customer data fragmented across different systems and departments, it may be challenging to identify or prioritize opportunities for improvement without a holistic or integrated approach to managing Voice of the Customer and the customer experience.

Customer Interviews

The traditional technique of gathering data through a customer interview has stuck around for so long because it is a direct way of gathering feedback. Interviews can be done in person, over the phone, or through email depending on the preferences and needs of a company. This technique allows companies to better understand the point of view that a customer or group of customers shares in their interaction with the company.

Surveys

Different types of surveys can be useful when collecting customer feedback. Online, email and SMS customer surveys can include different types of questions to help your team gather meaningful insights into issues that customers face. Some of the different survey questions include multiple-choice questions, drop-down questions, and open-ended questions. The key is to ask the right questions at the right time to gain a better understanding of customers and their expectations at any given point in the customer journey.

Live Chat

A live chat feature on the website is becoming increasingly popular due to the ability to collect real-time customer feedback. Live chats can gather more than customer complaints; they can also provide companies with the opportunity to schedule a follow-up survey to learn about the customer experience on the site. Another great feature is the ability for companies to respond quickly to an issue, which reduces the risk of customers leaving the site feeling unsatisfied with the services or products.

Online Reviews and Social Media

Another way for companies to interact with customers and gather VoC data in real time is through online reviews and social media. Companies can engage in two-way communication with their client base to learn more about what customers are looking for, predict future trends, and gather feedback directly from the source. 

A large part of retaining customers is a positive brand reputation, and responding to online reviews can demonstrate that a company is aware of how customers view their products or services. A good review management strategy also allows companies to learn more about the frustrations that customers face so that they can implement measures to resolve these frustrations and issues.

Website Behavior

Along with these other techniques for collecting data, a company can analyze the behavior of customers on their website by using tools like heat maps. The company can track these behavior patterns and test potential changes to see what works and what doesn’t, all to create a smoother user experience.

Focus Groups

Focus group discussions are a common and effective method for collecting Voice of the Customer data. Focus groups involve a small, diverse group of participants who discuss their opinions, perceptions, and experiences related to a particular product, service, or topic. 

By leveraging focus groups for Voice of Customer data collection, businesses can gain valuable qualitative insights that go beyond quantitative metrics, helping them better understand the nuances of customer perceptions and preferences.

Voice of Customer: Examples of Survey Questions 

The questions that a company asks as part of its Voice of the Customer program will depend on the goal set at the beginning. For example, if the goal is general customer research, the company will want to ask questions that tell about the demographics of their audience, including:

• Which of the following categories best describes your age?
• Which of the following genders do you most identify with?
• What is the highest level of education you have achieved?
• How many people work at your company or organization?

On the other hand, the company should ask questions about its products and how they compare to competitors if the goal is to increase customer retention. For example:

• How does [company, brand, product, or service] compare to the competition?
• What do you like best about [company, brand, product, or service]?
• What do you want to be improved about [company, brand, product, or service]?

If the goal is to acquire new customers, companies can ask about how the audience makes decisions. A potential question is:

• What factor(s) matter most to you when selecting a company for [product or service]?

Finally, companies should ask about their brand if the goal is to improve their brand image. These questions could ask things like: 

• What word or phrase comes to mind when you see or hear [company, brand, product, or service]?
• What company comes to mind first when you think of [company, brand, product, or service]?
• Where have you seen or heard information about [company or brand] in the past six months?

How Pearl-Plaza Can Power Your VoC Program

Firms are no longer limited to managing Voice of the Customer data from a random sample of customers; now, they can listen in to every customer and every conversation at various stages of the customer journey — not to mention, dig deeper into data on both macro and micro levels.

Pearl-Plaza’s combination of award-winning technology and expert services can power your Voice of the Customer program and make it comprehensive, simple, and scalable. Experience the transformative capabilities firsthand by exploring our demo. With Pearl-Plaza, you can navigate and interpret valuable Voice of the Customer data to understand where to focus and how to create the maximum impact for your customer and your business.  

What is the ROI of Customer Experience?

Customer Experience ROI is a critical metric that measures the financial impact of enhancing customer experiences. By improving customer interactions, businesses can see tangible benefits like increased sales, improved retention, and heightened customer loyalty. These benefits, when translated into financial metrics, help justify investments in these customer experience initiatives.

Despite the ROI being able to calculate (just check out our handy ROI calculator a bit further down the page!), there’s a caveat: it’s notoriously difficult to prove. 

Why is CX ROI Difficult to Prove?

Proving the ROI of customer experience (CX) is challenging for several reasons:

1. Intangible Benefits: Many benefits of a positive customer experience, such as increased customer loyalty, brand reputation, and customer satisfaction, are intangible and difficult to quantify directly in monetary terms.
2. Long-Term Impact: The effects of improved CX often manifest over the long term, making it hard to directly link short-term financial performance with CX initiatives. For example, a great customer experience might not immediately result in increased revenue but could lead to sustained customer loyalty and higher lifetime value over time.
3. Complex Customer Journeys: Customers interact with brands across multiple channels and touchpoints, making it challenging to attribute a specific financial outcome to a single CX initiative. The interconnected nature of these interactions complicates tracking and measuring their direct impact on revenue.
4. Multiple Influencing Factors: Business performance is influenced by numerous factors beyond customer experience, such as market conditions, competitive actions, and internal operations. Isolating the impact of CX from these other variables can be difficult.
5. Data and Measurement Challenges: Accurately measuring the ROI of CX requires comprehensive data collection and advanced analytics. Many organizations lack the necessary tools, infrastructure, or expertise to capture and analyze the data needed to quantify CX impact effectively.
6. Subjective Metrics: CX often relies on subjective metrics like customer satisfaction (CSAT) or Net Promoter Score (NPS). While these metrics provide valuable insights, translating them into financial outcomes or ROI can be challenging.

Because of these factors, demonstrating the financial return on CX investments requires a nuanced approach that combines qualitative and quantitative analysis, along with a deep understanding of the broader business context.

Why is Customer Experience ROI So Important?

Investing in customer experience isn’t just about making customers happy—it’s about driving substantial business growth. Key growth factors include customer retention and loyalty, revenue expansion, cost efficiency, brand differentiation, innovation, and sustainable long-term development. As a result, ROI becomes a crucial metric in customer experience metrics for any business focused on achieving lasting success. Consider these key ROI statistics for businesses that focus on customer experience:

• Businesses that prioritize customer experience grow their revenue 1.7 times faster than those that don’t.

• On average, companies focusing on CX see a 2.3 times increase in customer lifetime value.

• 66% of businesses prioritizing CX report increased retention, while 60% see a boost in customer lifetime value.

• Customer experience leaders achieve a 307% return on their stock performance, significantly outperforming the S&P 500 Index.

Moreover, businesses that prioritize customer experience invest heavily in it, with an average of 12 dedicated budget lines. Measuring the success of CX initiatives and sharing insights with your team and leadership is vital to continually improving and achieving these results.

How to Measure the ROI of CX?

Measuring the ROI of customer experience can be challenging and cumbersome. It involves tracking several key metrics that reflect the effectiveness of your CX strategies. A few crucial metrics you’ll want to account for before and after your efforts include:

• CX Objective: Based on your CX strategy, what was the metric that you were trying to improve that closely correlates to your business goals?
• Customer Lifetime Value (CLV): The total worth of a customer over the entire relationship.
• Churn Rate: The percentage of customers who stop doing business with you over a given period.
• Cost of Support: The expenses associated with providing customer support.
• Average Transaction Size: The average amount of money spent by a customer per transaction.
• Net Promoter Score (NPS): A measure of customer loyalty based on their likelihood to recommend your brand.
• Customer Satisfaction (CSAT): A measure of how satisfied customers are with your products or services.
• Customer Effort Score (CES): A measure of the ease with which customers can interact with your business.

Linking these metrics to financial outcomes can provide a clear picture of your CX ROI. Therefore, after you have gathered all your data from your customer experience strategy, here’s one basic way you can measure your CX ROI:

1. Compare the financial gains to the cost of support by subtracting the total cost of your CX initiatives from the benefits gained. This should give you the net financial impact of your CX efforts.
   Net Gain = Total Financial Gained – Cost of Support
   For example, if you invested $50,000 into a CX initiative and the total financial gain was $100,000, that leaves you a net gain of $50,000.  
2. To calculate the ROI, you can take the total net gain divided by the total CX investment costs, then multiply it by 100 to get your percentage.
   CX ROI = (Net Gain from CX Strategy / Total CX Investments Costs) x 100
   This percentage shows how much return you’re getting for every dollar spent on the customer experience.  For example, taking the example from step 1, you’ll want to divide $50,000 by $50,000 and multiply by 100, your CX ROI is 100%. This percentage shows how much return you’re getting for every dollar spent on the customer experience. 

However, many other factors can influence the ROI of your customer experience including industry benchmarks and standards, numbers of promoters, contact center experience, and more. Therefore, Pearl-Plaza has created an in-depth CX ROI calculator that allows you to easily enter your own data. Our calculator can help quantify these metrics and track your progress over time.

Check out the handy calculator here! Want to see the entire suite of calculators? Visit our CX ROI calculator page, here.

Calculate your business’ ROI using Pearl-Plaza’s VoC tools.

Industry

Please Select Automotive Entertainment Financial Services Healthcare Hospitality Insurance Retail All

Number of Customers

Annual revenue Per Customer ($)

Annual Churn Rate (%)

Number of Promoters

Lead to Conversion Rate (%)

Number of calls per year

Percent of calls where issue is not resolved (%)

Estimated Revenue Growth

$
Use the calculator to find an estimated ROI

Total ICX ROI

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Whether you are curious about other programs/ROIs, want to gain a better understanding of options in the market, or are insight-obsessed like us, you can gain unlimited access to all of our valuable calculators by simply entering your email. You’ll also unlock valuable customer experience analytics resources, articles, and other tools to help you quickly elevate your CX program and grow your business.

How to Prove CX ROI to Leadership?

To gain executive buy-in for customer experience initiatives, it’s crucial to clearly demonstrate how these efforts translate into measurable business growth. Start by establishing a direct correlation between CX improvements and key financial outcomes such as increased sales, higher customer retention rates, and a greater volume of transactions.

Data-Driven Storytelling

One effective approach is to create a compelling narrative supported by data. For example, if you’ve enhanced your Net Promoter Score (NPS) by 10 points and subsequently experienced a 5% increase in customer retention, this direct correlation can be powerful evidence of the ROI of your CX efforts. Presenting these kinds of data points helps leadership see beyond the abstract value of customer satisfaction and focus on the concrete financial benefits.

Build a Comprehensive ROI Model for CX Initiatives

In addition, consider building a comprehensive ROI model that ties specific CX initiatives to business outcomes. This model can include a variety of metrics, such as customer lifetime value (CLV), reduction in churn rate, and cost savings from improved operational efficiency. By demonstrating how these metrics align with broader business goals, you make it easier for leadership to justify continued investment in customer experience initiatives.

Track Long-Term Metrics for Sustained Reporting

Also, don’t forget to emphasize the importance of tracking these metrics over time. Consistently showing how CX improvements drive long-term growth will help not only secure initial investment but also maintain ongoing support. Leadership is more likely to support initiatives that show sustained, quantifiable returns.

Additional Tip: Consider sharing competitor benchmarks and industry trends to drive home the importance of your CX initiatives. 

Real-Life Examples of Customer Experience ROI

Foot Locker

Foot Locker has always put the customer at the center of everything they do, gathering feedback across various channels such as email, call center logs, and social media. However, the vast amount of data collected posed challenges, including:

• Inconsistent Data Categorization: Difficulty in automatically categorizing documents using a common taxonomy.
• Fragmented Feedback Sources: Lack of a uniform view of feedback data from different channels.
• Limited Analytics Visibility: Inability to understand or modify system-generated results easily.

To overcome these obstacles, Foot Locker partnered with Pearl-Plaza, leveraging our Spotlight tool. This solution allowed them to:

• Centralize Feedback Streams: Consolidate all feedback into a single platform for uniform analysis.
• Automate Categorization: Use a universal taxonomy to efficiently capture and track key insights.
• Enhance Data Transparency: Easily adjust analytics to meet changing needs, ensuring accurate and actionable data.

With these improvements, Foot Locker can now proactively address negative retail customer experiences, reduce churn, and enhance overall business outcomes, solidifying their leadership in the sneaker retail market.

America’s Larget Cable and Home Internet Provider

To reduce customer churn, a telecom giant partnered with Pearl-Plaza to identify at-risk customers and promptly address their concerns. Pearl-Plaza’s customer listening technology was implemented in regional care centers to immediately collect customer feedback after each interaction. When customers give negative responses, they are offered the chance to speak with a manager. Real-time alerts notify managers of callback requests, leading to 1,000 recovery opportunities monthly. With each customer worth an average of $1,920 annually, this approach identified $23 million in annual revenue by retaining dissatisfied customers.

North American Fast Casual Giant

A fast-casual restaurant brand that has become a household name with it’s unique blend of quick, convenient service and mouth-watering menu items has seen tremendous success with it’s CX initiative. Since partnering with Pearl-Plaza to get a better understanding of their experience and where they can take effective action to improve it, their OSAT score has increased by 34%. Additionally, the brand saw 4% revenue growth in just one year after implementing their new solution!

Tesco

Tesco—a mammoth multinational grocery and general merchandise retailer—knows its customers want more than just a mundane, transactional grocery shopping experience. So it works to create a unique shopping experience for its customers by encouraging its 330,000 employees across the UK to give a little bit extra through a programme called, Every Little Helps. With this mantra at the core of the company’s mission, Tesco has grown to become the fifth largest retailer in the world with £48 billion in annual revenue and 7,300 locations in 10 countries.

TELUS

Leading the telecommunications industry, TELUS is Canada’s fastest growing telecommunications company with more than 13.1 million customer connections. Whether it be personal, business, health, or security oriented, TELUS offers a full scale of innovative telecommunication products and services. To continuously improve their customer experiences, the brand partners with Pearl-Plaza and focuses on and ROI driven strategy.

In just 18 short months, TELUS saw a $1 million dollar increase in annual savings, a 100% increase in customer feedback volume, best-in-class response rates, and a 1 in 3 recovery for customers that received a follow-up. Furthermore, by focusing their efforts to reach more customers with proactive recovery, they have seen a $5 million-dollar opportunity in churn reduction. TELUS can expect to see further increases in these areas due to their continuous attention to response trends.

These real-world examples clearly illustrate the significant impact that a strategic investment in customer experience can have on a company’s bottom line. By leveraging advanced tools and methodologies, businesses like Foot Locker, TELUS, and others have not only improved customer satisfaction but also unlocked substantial financial returns. Whether through reducing churn, increasing customer loyalty, or driving revenue growth, the ROI of a customer-centric approach is both measurable and compelling. Investing in customer experience is not just a good business practice—it’s a critical driver of sustainable success.

Mistakes to Avoid When Measuring CX ROI

When measuring the ROI of customer experience, it’s essential to steer clear of common pitfalls that can undermine the accuracy and effectiveness of your analysis:

• Focusing on Short-Term Metrics: CX improvements often require time to manifest in financial outcomes. It’s important to maintain a long-term perspective and avoid dismissing initiatives that don’t show immediate results. Patience is key to seeing the full impact of CX investments.
• Ignoring Customer Feedback: Customer feedback is a goldmine of insights for identifying areas where CX can be improved. Neglecting this feedback not only risks missing out on valuable information but can also lead to misguided investments in areas that don’t resonate with your customers.
• Not Considering Employee Experience: The link between employee experience and customer experience is strong. Happy, engaged employees are more likely to deliver better customer service, leading to improved CX. Ignoring this connection can result in missed opportunities to enhance both employee and customer satisfaction.
• Overlooking the Full Customer Journey: CX is not confined to a single touchpoint; it spans the entire customer journey. Ensure that your measurement efforts consider every interaction a customer has with your brand, from awareness to post-purchase support.

By avoiding these common mistakes and focusing on a holistic, data-driven approach to measuring CX ROI, you’ll be well-positioned to present a compelling case to leadership. This will help you secure the necessary resources to kickstart your CX program and demonstrate the ongoing value of these initiatives as your program evolves.

See ROI in Half the Time with Pearl-Plaza

At Pearl-Plaza, we understand the challenges of demonstrating ROI from customer experience initiatives. That’s why our integrated customer experience program is designed to help you see ROI in half the time. By honing in on the metrics that truly matter and leveraging our advanced analytics tools, we empower your business to transform customer experience into a powerful driver of growth. 

Whether you’re just starting your CX journey or looking to advance an existing program, Pearl-Plaza provides the insights and support you need to achieve measurable, impactful results. If you’re ready to see what we can do to supercharge your business, schedule a CX demo with us today!

Think of your favorite clothing brand. Why is that brand your favorite? It is probably because you enjoy their clothes, but also because every time you buy something it is an easy, enjoyable process. The way you feel about that brand is because of the customer experience you have every time you make a purchase. The customer experience you have with a brand will cause you to be a lifelong customer, or never shop there again. 

What is Customer Experience (CX)?

Customer Experience (CX) refers to the overall impression and perception a customer has about a company or brand based on their interactions throughout the entire customer journey. This includes all touchpoints and interactions a customer has with a business, from initial awareness and consideration to purchase, use, and after-sales service.

Customer experience programs refer to an organization’s ongoing efforts to listen to and collect customer feedback, measure customer perceptions of their experiences, and ultimately improve those experiences to encourage positive brand perception and business growth. Customer experience can also be referred to as customer experience management (CXM or CEM).

Why is Customer Experience Important?

Did you know that 86% of consumers are willing to pay more for a product or service if they have a great customer experience? Also, companies who prioritize the customer experience outperform their competitors who do not. 

The customer experience represents the relationship that consumers have with your organization. Every interaction a customer has with you is important, and curating a great customer experience shows that you value your customer’s time and feedback, and will use it to further improve your organization. 

Focusing on the customer experience will significantly improve your business performance. From increased loyalty and customer lifetime value to decreased churn, the customer experience is key to achieving your goals. Here are some statistics that prove the value of customer experience: 

• Organizations focused on customer experience realize revenue 1.7x faster than those who do not
• Customer experience leaders outperform the broader stock market, generating returns that are 108 points higher than the S&P 500 Index
• Customers with positive experiences are likely to spend 140% more than ones with negative experiences

Where to Begin with Customer Experience?

There are a lot of different reasons why you may be looking to improve your customer experience. It might be because organizations that focus on the customer experience are 60% more profitable than those that don’t, or it might be because you are interested in improving customer retention, satisfaction, or lifetime value. Regardless of your goals, there are steps you can take to build a solid foundation for your future customer experience initiatives. 

1. Map the Customer Journey 

In order to improve the customer experience, you need to make sure you understand the current customer experience that exists in your organization. This can be done by creating a customer journey map. Customer journey mapping is a powerful tool to visualize every touchpoint a customer has with your brand. Customer journey mapping examples can be useful to see how other organizations have visualized their customer experience. This exercise will highlight potential pain points and opportunities to enhance the customer experience.

2. Set Clear CX Goals

Before taking any steps to set up your customer experience program, you will need to meet with the stakeholders within your organization and decide on what you want to achieve. When choosing these goals, try to avoid broad goals such as “improve sales.” Instead, try to make specific, targeted goals such as “improve overall customer satisfaction by 25% over the next year.” Specific goals will help you create a focused strategy, and will also be easier to track success. 

3. Design Your CX Program

Now that you have your goals set, you will need to design your CX program. It is important to do this before reaching out to customers via surveys or asking reviews. That way, when customer feedback does start coming in, you are prepared for it. 

These steps will help you create an effective and long-lasting customer experience program. If you want to learn more about the best way to kickstart your CX efforts, check out our beginner’s guide to launching a customer experience program! 

How to Measure Customer Experience

There are many different customer experience KPIs on which you can measure the success of your customer experience initiatives. The metrics you choose will depend on what your customer experience goals are. For example. customer satisfaction helps you measure overall satisfaction, while customer effort score measures the ease of which customers interact with your business. 

You should choose the metric that most closely aligns to your CX goals. Once you have chosen the metric that makes the most sense, you will need to get a baseline of where your customer experience metrics stand that you can use to measure for improvement. Here is a brief overview of some of the most common customer experience metrics:

1. Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT) 

The customer satisfaction score assesses the overall satisfaction customers feel with your product, service, or overall experience. This score is typically assessed through a customer satisfaction survey that asks “How would you rate your overall satisfaction with the service you received?” where respondents answer on a scale from 1 to 5 or 1 to 10. 

This metric is best used for gathering immediate feedback on customer satisfaction with specific aspects of the business. A long-term use case would be to identify areas that need improvement and track changes in satisfaction over time.

2. Net Promoter Score (NPS)

The Net Promoter Score measures customer loyalty and the likelihood of them recommending your brand to others. It involves asking customers a single question: “On a scale of 0 to 10, how likely are you to recommend our product/service to a friend or colleague?” Based on their response, customers are categorized as Promoters (9-10), Passives (7-8), or Detractors (0-6). NPS is calculated by subtracting the percentage of Detractors from the percentage of Promoters.

3. Customer Effort Score (CES)

The Customer Effort Score evaluates how easy it is for customers to interact with your business, whether it’s finding information, getting support, or completing a purchase. Customers are asked to rate the ease of their experience on a scale. A common question is: “How easy was it to resolve your issue with our company?” A lower effort score indicates a smoother, more positive customer experience. 

These metrics are important to showing the ROI of your customer experience efforts. They can also be used alongside business growth metrics such as retention rate, repeat purchases, growth in sales, and more to correlate the customer experience improvements with business improvements. 

Building a Customer Experience Strategy

A customer experience strategy is a comprehensive plan that outlines how a company intends to improve and manage customers’ interactions and perceptions of its brand. Often headed by a customer experience manager, these plans encompass all touchpoints across the customer journey and aim to deliver a consistent, positive, and memorable experience. 

Whether you have an established CX program or are just getting started, a customer experience strategy ensures you are making focused decisions on how to improve the things that matter most to your customers and your business. 

If you are just getting started, check out our small CX team checklist to ensure you have everything you need to make the biggest impact to on your customer experience!

Do You Need a Customer Experience Manager?

If your company is new to customer experience, starting with a dedicated customer experience manager is a smart move. This role is crucial for ensuring that all interactions and touchpoints between your company and its customers are positive, consistent, and aligned with your overall CX strategy.

A CX manager serves as the central figure in your customer experience efforts, connecting the dots across different departments—such as frontline employees, sales, marketing, and the executive team. This ensures that the customer experience is cohesive and integrated throughout the organization. Furthermore,  a CX manager can lay the groundwork for a strong customer experience strategy and scale the program as your organization grows.

Should You Invest in Customer Experience Management Software?

Customer experience management software is a set of tools that help you manage, analyze, and improve customer interactions across touchpoints throughout the customer journey. The best customer experience management software will be one that fits your business needs, and can be tailored to your specific goals. 

Customer experience software can be especially useful for CX managers or small CX teams who do not have the resources available to manually gather and analyze data. By automating the collection and analysis of customer data, customer experience software can quickly identify areas needing improvement and help prioritize them based on potential impact. This means you can focus your efforts on the changes that will make the most difference to your customers. 

Customer Experience Examples

A great customer experience can take many forms. But, something that all memorable customer experiences have in common is the ability to put the customer first, no matter what. Here are a few examples of companies that have gone above and beyond to create a customer experience that keeps customers coming back. 

Foot Locker

Foot Locker is one of the most popular sportswear companies in the world. As a result, they, deal with a large volume of customer feedback. Going through this customer feedback manually was time-consuming, and caused important feedback to be missed. As a solution, Foot Locker chose text analysis software that allows them to summarize, analyze, and act on the most important comments from customers. In doing so, they increase customer satisfaction and are able to pinpoint any operational changes that need to be made as a solution for future customers. 

Rural King

Rural King is a farm supply store with locations all over the United States. Rural King’s main form of customer feedback is through online reviews. But, with no way to review every review that was coming in, they were struggling to connect with their customers. To fix this problem, they implemented a review management solution that allowed them to tag keywords, analyze sentiment, and respond to reviews. Furthermore, their solution allows them to create and share dashboards with multiple stakeholders across the organization. 

Both of these organizations have created great customer experiences by putting their customers first and making sure they have the necessary tools to listen to and implement feedback in the most efficient way possible. 

How to Improve the Customer Experience

Some businesses may think that it takes a lot of effort to improve their customer experience, but the truth is that improving your customer experience can be as simple as updating your business hours, or giving customers a discount on their next purchase for leaving a review. No matter where you are in building your customer experience journey, here are some ways you can improve your customer experience. 

Determine what Customers Value Most and Deliver

As you seek to improve your customer experience, gather information on what your current customers value most. You can leverage customer feedback surveys and analyze customer reviews, both good and bad, to determine what your customers are looking for from your company. 

Do your customers want your services to be more convenient? Do they want to know more about the service before they buy or subscribe? Do they have concerns about how their information is used and protected?  Do they want to spend less time on the phone with customer service representatives?

As you discover what it is that your customers are looking for, take steps to deliver it to them.

Let Customers Know Their Opinions Matter

Tell your customers that you’re listening and making changes to improve their experience. Advertise the changes you are making on your website or through social media. You may also want to thank customers for providing feedback and be quick to address any concerns that they express by reaching out to them personally.

Measure Improvements

As you proceed with your CX improvement strategy, measure the response from your customers with relevant metrics. As you keep track of things like conversions, customer complaints, purchases, and website traffic, you’ll be able to figure out which of your efforts are paying off and which are not.

Consider the Digital Experience 

As you work on your customer experience, don’t forget about the digital experience. Making improvements to aspects of the customer experience like your website navigation or automated phone menu options can vastly improve how easily and readily your customers can avail themselves of your services. Convenience and accessibility are large parts of a good customer experience, so be sure not to neglect how technology can help in your overall CX strategy.

Aim for Continuous Improvement 

Even as your improvements take effect, build upon your successes by continuing to analyze and improve your customer experience. Don’t rest on your laurels — in today’s constantly changing world of digital commerce, continuous improvement is needed. 

This is especially true if your customer’s needs start to outpace your current customer experience model — for instance, you might need greater technology capacity to serve larger numbers of customers, or you might break into a niche market that has different needs.

Improve Your Customer Experience with Pearl-Plaza

InMomet’s best-in-class XI Platform gives your business all the tools you need to create a great customer experience. You can track the metrics that matter to your business, create cases, respond to customer reviews, and more! Everything within the XI Platform ca be customized for you. Schedule a demo today to see how Pearl-Plaza can help you improve your customer experience. 

Customer experience programs can be complex. Often, a customer experience program includes multiple different initiatives running simultaneously throughout the organization. With so much going on in different places, it is beneficial to have one place to be able to see how your CX program is performing. This is where customer experience dashboards come in. 

What is a Customer Experience Dashboard?

A customer experience dashboard visually represents everything you are tracking in your customer experience program. This can include the number of survey responses, metrics over time, most recent online reviews, and more. 

Why are Customer Experience Dashboards Important?

Customer experience dashboards are important because they provide up-to-date information on customer interactions. By consolidating various customer-related metrics into one platform, dashboards facilitate informed decision-making. 

Furthermore, customer experience dashboards will help you track the success of your customer experience efforts and help you tie customer experience to business success. Proving the ROI of customer experience is one of the most important things CX practitioners can do, and it is made easier through customer experience dashboards. 

What are Customer Experience Dashboards Used For?

Customer experience dashboards are used for a variety of purposes. All of these are aimed at understanding the customer experience and ensuring that the best decisions are being made for the business. Some of the use cases for customer experience dashboards include: 

• Monitoring Key Metrics: Customer experience dashboards track important customer experience metrics such as Net Promoter Score (NPS), Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT), Customer Effort Score (CES), churn rate, and more. These metrics help identify customer engagement and any areas of improvement. 

• Analyzing Customer Feedback: Customer experience dashboards can also aggregate and analyze customer feedback from various sources like surveys, reviews, social media, and support interactions. This helps businesses understand customer opinions and customer sentiment, identify common issues, and gauge overall satisfaction.

• Supporting Customer Retention: Dashboards help identify at-risk customers by monitoring engagement and satisfaction levels. For example, alerts can be set up when a customer leaves a 1-star rating so that swift action can be taken to keep the customer from churning. 

Features to Look for in Customer Experience Dashboards

Customer experience dashboards are useful to CX professionals because of their versatility. When looking for a customer experience solution to help build your dashboard, there are many features to consider. While it may be a personal decision, look for these features:

Customizability

You want your customer experience dashboard to be customized to your business and your customer experience program. Look for a solution that allows you to pick and choose what you are tracking, so you only see what matters most to your business. 

Alerting

Alerting features in customer experience dashboards notify businesses of significant changes or anomalies in customer metrics in real time. These alerts can be configured to trigger when certain thresholds are crossed, such as a sudden drop in Net Promoter Score (NPS) or an increase in customer churn rate. This is important because it will help you solve emerging issues before they escalate into serious problems. 

Reporting

Effective reporting is critical for customer experience dashboards. These features provide detailed summaries and visualizations of customer experience data over specified periods. Reports can be customized to focus on particular metrics, timeframes, or customer segments, and are often shared with stakeholders across the organization. 

Effective reporting is essential for tracking performance, identifying trends, and making informed decisions. Regular reports help stakeholders understand the current state of customer experience, evaluate the impact of initiatives, and plan future strategies.

Scalability 

Scalability refers to the ability of a customer experience dashboard to handle increasing volumes of data and users without compromising performance. Scalable dashboards can grow with the business, accommodating more metrics, more customers, and more detailed analysis over time.

Scalability is important because it ensures that the dashboard remains effective and efficient as the business expands. A scalable dashboard can adapt to changing needs, support larger datasets, and serve more users, all of which are crucial for sustained growth and continuous improvement in customer experience management.

Integration Capabilities 

Your customer experience software is only as good as its ability to intertwine with your business. When looking for a customer experience dashboard solution, look for one that supports integrations with the other software systems your business is using. This is important to create a comprehensive view of the customer experience. 

How to Create a Customer Experience Dashboard 

Upon looking at a customer experience dashboard, the thought of creating one may seem complicated. However, these dashboards are meant to make your customer experience management efforts easier, and creating a dashboard is just as simple as pulling everything together in one place. 

1. Define Your Customer Experience Goals

The most important step to creating a customer experience dashboard is to first decide on what you want to appear on that dashboard. To do that, you’ll need to identify the most important metrics to the success of your customer experience program. 

2. Identify the Appropriate Data Sources

To make sure the most accurate and up-to-date information appears on your dashboard, it is important to make sure your dashboard is pulling data from the best sources within your organization. 

Look for a dashboard that supports the best CX integrations so that you can easily pull data from the sources that your organization already uses, as opposed to having to set up entirely new systems for your dashboard. 

3. Select a Platform for Your CX Dashboard

Choosing the right platform for your customer experience dashboard is a critical step. The platform should offer robust features, such as customizable templates, real-time data updates, and integration capabilities with other systems like CRM and ERP. 

Evaluate options based on your specific needs, budget, and the technical expertise of your team. A well-chosen platform ensures that your dashboard is accessible, efficient, and able to grow with your business.

4. Implement Data 

Once you have selected a platform for your customer experience dashboard, the next step is to implement data. You will need to complete the integration process of your existing systems in your customer experience dashboard, at which point you should start to see data populate your dashboard. 

5. Gather Insights

With your data implemented, the final step is to gather insights from your customer experience dashboard. Analyze the data you have collected to ensure that your dashboard is showing you what you want to see about your customers. If the data is correct, start to look at areas for improvement that can boost the customer experience. 

Customer Experience Dashboard Best Practices

Following customer experience dashboard best practices will maximize the effectiveness and usage of your dashboards. Following best practices ensures that your customer experience dashboards will become a cornerstone of your CX program. 

Train Employees

All relevant employees must be thoroughly trained on how to use the dashboard. To do this, make sure all employees are trained on how to use the dashboard at the time it is launched and provide regular refresher sessions so that those employees can maintain or grow their knowledge. 

Furthermore, an employee feedback channel should be created for employees to provide feedback on the dashboard. This can identify areas of improvement in the dashboard or the training and can be useful to maintain the success of your dashboards. 

Set Up Reporting

Before creating your dashboard, you should have already outlined your goals for what you are hoping to achieve. After defining your goals and creating your dashboard, you will need to implement reports to track your progress. 

Different Levels of Admin and Account Access

You will want to select a platform that allows you to create multiple reports that are tailored to different stakeholders within the organization. For example, executives might need high-level summaries, while frontline employees might need detailed reports on specific interactions.

Another use case would be if your organization has multiple locations, each separate location will have its own dashboard while the executive team has a separate dashboard that gives a view into the organization. You may also want to consider platforms that automatically generate reports, which will save time and ensure timely access to important information. 

Monitor Information and Usage

By monitoring employee feedback and analyzing the reports created from the dashboard, you will be able to understand how well your customer experience dashboard is working for you. You may need to schedule more training sessions, update data sources, or change the metrics you are tracking. But, it is important to remember that a customer experience dashboard is not a one-time thing. To get the most out of it, you will need to consistently monitor its performance. 

Customer Experience Dashboard Examples

Customer experience dashboards can be set up to achieve many different goals. However, here are some examples of how your business can utilize customer experience dashboards to achieve business success. 

Track Metrics Over Time

Customer experience dashboards give you the ability to track your main metrics over time. But, these dashboards can breakdown the data further by filtering by store number, location, region, or any other classification that your business uses.

Mobile Reporting

For customer experience managers or executives on the go, having access to mobile customer experience dashboards can help you stay in touch with your customer experience program wherever you are. You can track metrics and download and share reports with the appropriate stakeholders without ever missing a beat.

Create Your Own Customer Experience Dashboards with Pearl-Plaza

Creating the ultimate customer experience dashboard involves selecting the right metrics, utilizing a customer experience dashboard template, and designing a user-friendly interface. By focusing on key customer experience dashboard metrics and leveraging real-time data, you can gain valuable insights to enhance your customer experience strategy.

Whether you’re a retail giant, a SaaS provider, or an e-commerce platform, a well-crafted customer experience dashboard is an invaluable asset in understanding and improving customer satisfaction. See how customer experience dashboards can help your business by scheduling a demo today! 

Understanding customer sentiment is essential for businesses trying to enhance their customer experience and drive growth. In this post, we’ll dive into what customer sentiment is, why it matters, and how you can measure and improve it to boost your business performance. But first, let’s go over a few basic definitions of customer sentiment, customer sentiment analysis, and customer sentiment score.

What is Customer Sentiment?

Customer sentiment is the emotions and attitudes expressed by customers towards a brand, product, or service. It includes both positive and negative feelings, like satisfaction, frustration, loyalty, and disappointment. By analyzing customer sentiment, businesses can gain valuable insights into how their customers perceive their offerings and overall brand experience.

Why is Customer Sentiment Important? 

For customer experience leaders, customer sentiment is crucial because it directly impacts customer loyalty, satisfaction, and retention. Understanding how customers feel about your brand can help you identify strengths and areas for improvement. Positive sentiment can lead to increased customer loyalty and advocacy, while negative sentiment can signal issues that need to be addressed to prevent customer churn.

What is Customer Sentiment Analysis?

Customer sentiment analysis involves using natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning techniques to analyze customer feedback from various sources— think social media, reviews, surveys, and more. This analysis helps businesses understand the underlying emotions and attitudes expressed by customers, providing actionable insights to improve the customer experience.

What is a Customer Sentiment Score?

A customer sentiment score quantifies the overall sentiment expressed by customers towards a brand or product. This score is typically calculated by analyzing text data and assigning a numerical value to represent the sentiment, ranging from very negative to very positive. As a general rule, a high sentiment score indicates positive customer sentiment, while a low score might mean negative sentiment.

What are the Benefits of Customer Sentiment?

Understanding customer sentiment provides so many advantages for CX leaders—which ultimately lead to both strategic and operational improvements:

1. Enhanced Customer Experience: By pinpointing and addressing pain points revealed through sentiment analysis, businesses can significantly elevate the overall customer experience. Insights into customer emotions and frustrations allow for targeted interventions, leading to smoother interactions and a more positive customer journey.
2. Increased Customer Loyalty: Positive customer sentiment is strongly correlated with higher customer retention and loyalty. When customers feel valued and satisfied, they are more likely to stay loyal to the brand and make repeat purchases, fostering long-term relationships and reducing churn rates.
3. Better Product Development: Sentiment analysis provides valuable feedback on customer preferences and pain points related to products and services. This information is important for informing product development and innovation, allowing businesses to make data-driven decisions and create offerings that better meet customer needs.
4. Improved Marketing Strategies: Understanding the sentiments of your audience helps in crafting more effective marketing messages. By aligning marketing strategies with the emotions and expectations of your customers, you can create campaigns that resonate more deeply, improve engagement, and drive conversions.
5. Early Issue Detection: Monitoring customer sentiment enables businesses to detect negative feedback and emerging issues early. Addressing these problems promptly can prevent them from escalating, which avoids potential damage to your brand’s reputation and maintains a positive customer relationship.

How Can Customer Sentiment Be Used to Improve the Customer Experience?

Customer sentiment can be leveraged to enhance the customer experience in several ways:

1. Personalized Interactions: Use sentiment data to tailor customer interactions and provide personalized experiences.
2. Proactive Support: Address negative sentiment promptly by offering proactive support and resolving issues quickly.
3. Product and Service Improvements: Use insights from sentiment analysis to refine products and services based on customer feedback.
4. Targeted Marketing Campaigns: Develop marketing campaigns that resonate with customer emotions and preferences.

How to Measure Customer Sentiment

Measuring customer sentiment involves many well-defined steps to accurately gauge how customers feel about your brand. 

1. First, collect feedback from various sources, including social media, reviews, surveys, and support interactions. This diverse data set provides a comprehensive view of customer opinions and experiences. 
2. Next, use NLP and sentiment analysis tools to analyze the text data. These tools help identify the emotions and attitudes expressed by customers, converting qualitative feedback into quantifiable insights.
3. After analyzing the data, assign numerical values to calculate the overall customer sentiment score. This score reflects the general sentiment of your customer base, allowing you to benchmark performance and track changes over time. 
4. Lastly, monitor these sentiment scores consistently to identify trends and measure the impact of any changes in your business operations. Be sure to keep a close eye on sentiment trends, as you can proactively address emerging issues and continuously improve the customer experience.

How to Improve Customer Sentiment

Improving customer sentiment is an important part of building a loyal customer base and driving continual growth for your business. After you have measured and analyzed your current customer sentiment, the next step is to improve and to continue improving it. Here are steps to improve your customer sentiment:

1. Identify and Analyze Pain Points
   Understand your customers, including their likes and, more importantly, their dislikes. If you have already measured customer sentiment, you likely have valuable insights from customer interactions. If not, start gathering feedback through surveys, reviews, and direct conversations to understand their needs and pain points. Analyze this data to identify areas for improvement. To avoid feeling overwhelmed by the amount of data, begin by addressing the most common issues and gradually work your way down to less frequent problems. 
2. Create a Strategy to Fix Common Pain Points
   Now that you have identified your customers’ most common pain points, it’s time to develop a strategy to address these issues. Ensure you communicate these insights with your team and other relevant departments. For instance, you may need to collaborate with the customer service team to train them on handling similar inquiries or complaints or work with the IT department to improve your online checkout process. The insights you gain can also inform future improvements in product or service quality.
3. Offer Loyalty Programs and Incentives
   As you continue to address and resolve customer pain points, consider building positive customer sentiment by offering a reward or loyalty program for repeat customers. Providing exclusive offers to loyal customers can also make them feel valued and appreciated.
4. Continue to Monitor and Respond to Feedback
   Improving customer sentiment is an ongoing process, not a one-time effort. Continuously monitor customer feedback and reviews to gain insights into areas that need improvement.
5. Measure and Optimize
   After implementing strategies to improve customer sentiment, measure the success of your efforts by tracking key customer experience KPIs, such as customer satisfaction scores and retention rates. Report on these improvements to gauge the effectiveness of your initiatives.

Customer Sentiment Examples and Use Cases

Here are some examples that show how some of Pearl-Plaza clients have used customer sentiment to drive significant improvements and achieve better outcomes:

Retail Industry

A leading retail brand harnessed customer sentiment data gathered from social media and online reviews to identify recurring issues and pain points. By analyzing this feedback, the retailer discovered that many customers were dissatisfied with their return policy and customer support services. 

To solve this once and for all, the company revised its return policy to be more flexible and implemented enhanced training for customer support representatives. These changes led to a noticeable increase in customer satisfaction, a reduction in return-related complaints, and an overall boost in customer loyalty that supports a positive retail customer experience.

Hospitality Industry

A well-known hotel chain used customer sentiment monitoring to address areas of concern highlighted by guests. Through sentiment analysis of online reviews and survey feedback, the hotel identified recurring complaints related to cleanliness and service quality. 

The insights gained prompted the hotel chain to implement stricter cleanliness protocols and enhance staff training. These improvements led to a noticeable increase in guest satisfaction scores, a rise in positive online reviews, and a stronger reputation in the hospitality industry and guest experience.

Tech Industry

A prominent software company leveraged sentiment analysis to collect and evaluate feedback on newly launched features. By examining user sentiment, the company was able to determine which features were well-received and which were causing frustration. This analysis guided their product development team in prioritizing updates and enhancements that aligned with customer preferences. As a result, the company improved its software product, increased user satisfaction, and strengthened its competitive edge in the market.

Improve Your Customer Sentiment with Pearl-Plaza

At Pearl-Plaza, we specialize in helping businesses understand and improve customer sentiment. Our comprehensive CX solutions and expert team can help you analyze customer feedback, gain valuable insights, and implement strategies to enhance your customer experience. Using our Case Management feature, we can help you reach out to customers with negative sentiment, to try and recover those relationships while you still can. Schedule a demo to learn more.

Customer experience management (CX) can be time-consuming and resource-intensive. That’s where customer experience services (CX services) come in. This blog post explores what CX services are and why more and more companies are turning to expert CX consulting services to enhance their interactions with customers and drive loyalty.

What Are Customer Experience Services?

Customer experience services encompass a range of solutions designed to help businesses manage and enhance their interactions with customers. These services include things like consulting, training, and ongoing support aimed at optimizing every touchpoint in the customer journey. By leveraging CX services, companies can gain deeper insights into customer needs, improve customer satisfaction, and drive brand loyalty.

Example of CX Services

CX services can vary widely depending on the provider, but they typically include:

• CX Consulting Services: Expert advice on developing and implementing CX strategies tailored to your business needs.
• CX Management Services: Ongoing support to manage and optimize your CX programs.
• Bespoke Technology Solutions: Providing unique tools and technology created to achieve your company’s CX goals. 
• Training and Workshops: Educational resources to empower your team with CX best practices.
• Ongoing Support: Continuous assistance to ensure the success of your CX initiatives.
• Strategic Insights: Strategic Insights Specialists are experts in knowing how to turn customer data into actionable insights.

What’s the Difference Between Customer Service and Customer Experience? 

Customer service and customer experience may appear similar, but they differ significantly in focus. Customer experience encompasses the overall relationship customers have with a brand, shaped by all their interactions and experiences with it. In contrast, customer service refers to the support a business provides to its customers before and after a purchase. However, it is crucial that customer service interactions contribute positively to the overall customer experience.

What Are the Benefits of Having Customer Experience Services?

To succeed in today’s competitive environment, you need a true experience partner who feels like

an extension of your organization’s team, not just another vendor you simply transact with. Your experience program is more than just collecting customer feedback and sending reports, your customers are giving you vast amounts of data, and it’s possible that you aren’t getting the most out of that feedback. This is where expert CX services teams come into play, offering more than just technology; they provide the deep insights and strategic guidance necessary to truly elevate your customer experience program.

A CX services team acts as a dedicated partner from the very beginning of your CX program. 

Here are the key benefits of having such a team:

1. In-Depth Data Analysis: Expert CX services teams delve into your customer feedback data, uncovering valuable insights that might otherwise go unnoticed. They go beyond surface-level analysis to identify patterns, trends, and areas for improvement.
2. Strategic Focus: These CX professionals help you understand where to concentrate your efforts for maximum impact. By pinpointing critical areas that need attention, they ensure that your resources are used efficiently and effectively.
3. Return On Investment Opportunities: One of the most significant advantages of having an expert CX services team is their ability to identify opportunities for increased customer retention and revenue growth. They provide strategies to turn customer feedback into actionable business plans that drive revenue and improve ROI.
4. Continuous Improvement: Unlike a self-serve technology provider, an expert CX services team offers ongoing support and guidance. They continuously monitor your CX program, suggest improvements, and help implement changes to ensure that your customer experience evolves and stays ahead of the competition.
5. Tailored Solutions: Every business is unique, and a one-size-fits-all approach rarely works. CX services teams customize their strategies to fit your specific needs, ensuring that the solutions they provide are relevant and effective for your organization.
6. Reduced Complexity: Implementing and managing a comprehensive CX program can be complex and time-consuming. An expert CX services team simplifies this process, handling the intricate details and allowing your internal team to focus on core business activities.

Outsourcing your CX efforts to a specialized provider offers several advantages:

• Expertise: Access to seasoned professionals with deep knowledge of CX strategies and technologies.
• Efficiency: Streamlined processes and tools that save time and resources.
• Improved ROI: Enhanced customer satisfaction and loyalty leading to increased revenue.
• Scalability: Solutions that grow with your business needs.
• Focus: Allowing your internal team to concentrate on core business functions while experts handle CX.

What Should You Look For in Customer Experience Services?

When choosing a CX provider, it’s crucial to find a partner who is not only reliable but also capable of rapidly transforming your customer experience. A dependable CX service provider ensures consistency and trustworthiness in their interactions and solutions. Beyond reliability, they should possess the expertise and agility to swiftly implement strategies that enhance customer satisfaction and loyalty. This combination of reliability and quick transformation can significantly impact your brand’s reputation and overall success. Consider the following when evaluating potential customer experience services:

• Proven Track Record: Look for providers with a history of delivering successful outcomes.
• Comprehensive Solutions: Ensure they offer a full suite of services from consulting to technology.
• Customization: The ability to tailor solutions to fit your unique business needs.
• Innovative Technology: Ensuring they are leveraging the latest tools to enhance customer interactions and gather insights data such as AI.
• Ongoing Support: Providers who offer continuous assistance and training.
• Measurable Impact: Tools to calculate ROI and measure business impact.

By prioritizing these qualities, you can ensure that your chosen CX service provider will effectively elevate your customer experience, driving growth and customer loyalty.

Choose Pearl-Plaza for Your CX Services

Pearl-Plaza stands out as a leader in the CX space, offering a unique blend of technology and consulting services designed to drive business value and improve customer experiences.

• A True CX Partner: Our commitment to your success is evident in every aspect of our services. From cutting-edge software to expert support, we help you evolve your CX program and tackle any business challenge.
• Unparalleled Service: We provide comprehensive workshops, training sessions, and ongoing support to ensure you’re never alone in your CX journey.
• Tailored Solutions: Our solutions are customized to fit your organization’s unique needs, focusing relentlessly on your customers.

At Pearl-Plaza, we pride ourselves on being more than just a CX vendor. We are your strategic partner in delivering exceptional customer experiences and business improvement outcomes. Our teams collaborate with yours to help stakeholders maximize our platform’s value and understand their role in improving the customer experience. With our CX services, we support your organization in continuously evolving and embracing change, delivering lasting outcomes. Together, we’re one team working towards your goals and ambitions.

Ready to elevate your CX? Schedule a demo today to learn more about our customer experience services and how we can help your business thrive.

As digital transactions become more prevalent, the ecommerce customer experience is critical for its success. Brands that prioritize this aspect of business often find themselves leading the market, while those that neglect it struggle to compete in a crowded landscape. This post is all about exploring what ecommerce customer experience is, why it is important, and how you can enhance it to boost your business.

What is Ecommerce Customer Experience?

Put simply, ecommerce customer experience encompasses every interaction a customer has with your brand online. This means it can include everything from discovering your brand through social media, navigating your website, making a purchase, and receiving support after they make an online purchase. When done perfectly, a holistic ecommerce customer experience approach ensures your customers have a seamless and positive experience at every touchpoint.

The Difference Between Ecommerce Customer Experience and User Experience

While user experience (UX) focuses on the usability and functionality of a website or product, ecommerce customer experience (CX) covers a broader spectrum. Ecommerce CX includes the entire customer journey, from when customer discover your brand, all the way through to post-purchase interactions. UX is a component of CX, but CX also involves emotional and psychological factors, such as how customers feel about your brand and their overall satisfaction.

The Importance of Customer Experience in Ecommerce

The importance of positive CX in ecommerce cannot be overstated. A positive ecommerce customer experience leads to higher customer retention, increased word-of-mouth referrals, and ultimately, higher sales. In a competitive market, providing an exceptional customer experience can be a key differentiator that sets your brand apart.

What Are the Benefits of A Good Ecommerce Customer Experience?

Having a good or even a bad e-commerce customer experience can significantly impact your bottom line. Here are five benefits of a good ecommerce customer experience: 

1. Increased Customer Loyalty: Satisfied customers are more likely to return and make repeat purchases.
2. Higher Conversion Rates: A seamless and enjoyable shopping experience can lead to higher conversion rates.
3. Positive Word-of-Mouth: Happy customers are more likely to recommend your brand to others, expanding your customer base.
4. Competitive Advantage: Offering a superior customer experience can differentiate your brand from competitors.
5. Reduced Customer Churn: A good customer experience reduces the likelihood of customers switching to competitors.

What Happens if You Have a Bad E-commerce Customer Experience?

When you have a poor e-commerce customer experience, it can lead to customer dissatisfaction, negative reviews, and a decline in customer loyalty. This can result in lost sales, reduced repeat business, and damage to your brand’s reputation, ultimately impacting your bottom line.

Ecommerce Customer Experience Examples

When it comes to examples of ecommerce CX, we’ve got some ideas to help your brand stand out: 

1. Personalization: Brands like Amazon use customer data to provide personalized product recommendations.
2. Responsive Customer Support: Zappos is renowned for its exceptional customer service, providing 24/7 support and hassle-free returns.
3. Easy Navigation and Checkout: Shopify offers a streamlined and intuitive shopping experience, reducing friction in the purchase process.
4. Post-Purchase Engagement: Companies like Apple keep customers engaged with follow-up emails, tips, and support options after a purchase.

How to Start Building Your Ecommerce Customer Experience

To start building a strong ecommerce customer experience, it all starts with understanding your customers. Make sure you go through the appropriate market research to unearth insights into your customers’ unique needs and preferences, which will help you tailor your offerings and interactions to meet their expectations.

Customer Journey Mapping

Next, map out the entire customer journey. Identify all the touchpoints where customers interact with your brand, from the initial discovery phase to post-purchase support. Ensure that each touchpoint provides a seamless and positive experience, contributing to overall customer satisfaction. Discover some customer journey mapping examples to help you get started.

Selecting the Right Software

Investing in technology is also crucial. Of course, the Pearl-Plaza XI Platform can help with stronger signals, richer insights, and smarter actions; but you can also use tools such as CRM systems, chatbots, and other AI integrations to enhance customer interactions. These technologies can streamline processes, provide personalized experiences, and offer timely support, improving the overall customer journey.

Set Your Staff for Success

Finally, focus on training your staff. Equip your team with the skills and knowledge they need to deliver exceptional customer service. A well-trained staff can effectively address customer inquiries, resolve issues, and create a positive impression of your brand, which further enhances the ecommerce customer experience.

How to Improve Ecommerce Customer Experience

Improving ecommerce customer experience involves a few important components that we’ll walk you through below:

Step One—Enhance Website Usability: Ensure your website is easy to navigate, with a clear layout and intuitive design.

Step Two—Optimize for Mobile: A large portion of ecommerce traffic comes from mobile devices, so make sure your site is mobile-friendly.

Step Three—Provide Excellent Customer Support: Offer multiple channels for customer support, including live chat, email, and phone support.

Step Four—Implement Customer Feedback Surveys: Use tools like NPS, CES, and CSAT to gather feedback and identify areas for improvement.

Step Five—Personalize the Experience: Use customer data to provide personalized recommendations and offers.

Step Six—Streamline the Checkout Process: Reduce friction in the checkout process by minimizing steps and offering multiple payment options.

Best Ecommerce Customer Experience

Achieving the best ecommerce customer experience requires a focus on several key best practices. 

Putting Customers First: Building a Customer-Centric Culture

First and foremost, cultivating a customer-centric culture within your organization is essential. When every level of your company prioritizes customer satisfaction, it creates a cohesive and dedicated effort to provide outstanding service.

Embracing Continuous Improvement for Enhanced E-Commerce Customer Experience

Continuous improvement is another critical factor. Regularly analyze customer feedback and make data-driven adjustments to your strategies and processes. This ongoing refinement ensures that your customer experience evolves in line with changing customer needs and expectations.

Boosting Customer Engagement Through Personalized Communication

Engagement and communication are also important components. Keeping customers informed through personalized communication and timely updates can significantly enhance their experience. For example, a leading outdoor equipment retailer implemented a robust email campaign that personalized product recommendations and offered post-purchase tips, resulting in increased customer engagement and loyalty.

Utilize Smart Technology

Leveraging technology can further elevate the customer experience. Advanced tools like AI and machine learning can help predict customer needs, offer personalized experiences, and streamline interactions. For instance, an ecommerce brand used AI-driven chatbots to provide 24/7 customer support, reducing response times and improving customer satisfaction.

Similarly, an ecommerce brand utilizing text analysis software has the ability to view tagged keywords and understand the specific pain points their customers are having. This helps prioritze decisions that need to be made to improve the eccomerce customer experience. 

Champion Customer Feedback

Showcasing success stories and customer testimonials can build trust and credibility. Highlighting real-life examples of satisfied customers can demonstrate your commitment to delivering excellent service and encourage potential customers to choose your brand. For instance, sharing the story of a customer who had a seamless return experience and received exceptional support can illustrate the tangible benefits of your customer-focused approach.

By implementing these best practices, you can create a top-tier ecommerce customer experience that drives customer loyalty, satisfaction, and business growth.

How to Measure Your Ecommerce Customer Experience

Measuring ecommerce customer experience is crucial for continuous improvement. It can uncover strengths and areas for improvement, ensuring customer satisfaction, and ultimately driving business growth. Key metrics to track include:

1. Net Promoter Score (NPS): Measures customer loyalty and likelihood of recommending your brand.
2. Customer Effort Score (CES): Assesses how easy it is for customers to interact with your brand.
3. Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT): Gauges overall customer satisfaction with your products or services.
4. Churn Rate: Tracks the percentage of customers who stop doing business with you.
5. Customer Lifetime Value (CLV): Estimates the total revenue a customer will generate over their lifetime with your brand.

These customer experience KPIs provide valuable insights into customer loyalty, ease of interaction, overall satisfaction, retention rates, and long-term revenue potential.

Create Your Ecommerce Customer Experience with Pearl-Plaza

At Pearl-Plaza, we specialize in helping businesses create exceptional ecommerce customer experiences. Our comprehensive solutions and expert team can assist you in understanding your customers, improving their journey, and driving business growth. Get in touch with us today to learn how we can help you enhance your ecommerce customer experience and achieve your business goals.

By implementing these strategies, you can significantly improve your ecommerce customer experience, leading to happier customers and a more successful business.