How to Power Your Business Decisions with Customer Experience Intelligence

Last week, I spoke to a group of executives in Singapore about CX intelligence; specifically, how to use it to make meaningful, transformative business decisions. This is an issue for many businesses—according to Forrester, 74% of firms state they want to be insight-driven, but only 29% actually turn analytics into action. How do they do it? By following a few key principles that can help any company unleash its CX data’s full potential.

Principle 1: Structure

I’ve seen companies that have considerable CX programs, but no means of implementing any findings. The only way organizations can make use of CX data is by building governance structures that allow them to do so. These structures should always be accessible to both employees and the high-ranking organizational members for whom that information is useful. 

Businesses that create formal communication channels around CX intelligence and make it easy for business leaders to take action can put intel to greater use than they would otherwise.

Principle 2: Accessibility

Though reporting and action structures are vital to executing on CX intelligence, companies can go further by creating an insights-centric culture. Organizations can achieve this cultural shift if they turn data into intelligence, keep that intel simply formatted, and place customer satisfaction at the heart of their employee engagement strategy. Employees will feel more empowered in their work and will be more driven to keep customers happy.

Principle 3: Accountability

Just as companies that wish to be more intelligence-driven must implement accessible structures and share insights with more employees, so too must they emphasize accountability. Employees should take pride in their successes, but they must also be compelled to own their setbacks. 

Likewise, executives should go beyond merely endorsing CX efforts and give practitioners the resources they need to make their programs successful. Practitioners can get that green light by framing data as a compelling story rather than a set of numbers.

Principle 4: Speed

Every insight has a shelf life. Wait too long to act, and it becomes hindsight. It’s easy for CX programs to become bogged down in endless analysis, but practitioners who can demonstrate their proposals’ ROI, test hypotheses quickly, and execute without fear stand the best chance of arguing that speed really does matter (not to mention sidestepping all the red tape). Typically, managers who are made to understand CX ROI will also understand that time is of the essence when it comes to insights.

Principle 5: Embedment

In my experience, companies that weave CX intelligence into every customer interaction and every stage of their buying journey wield a distinct advantage over competitors that don’t. 

For example, a major UK bank found that some of its customers were angry over how long they had to wait to speak to a representative. After gathering that insight, the bank implemented an action plan: setting their IVR to recognize repeat calls. This system enabled a specialist team to address angry customers faster, resulting in a 20% decrease in complaints. Win-win.

This final principle can only be attained if the four we already discussed are correctly implemented—employees and business leaders who can access a CX-dedicated structure, who are empowered to leverage findings in a timely manner, and who are held accountable for both successes and setbacks stand a far greater chance of succeeding for themselves and their company.

When it comes to using customer experience to help international brands improve themselves, few track records are as impressive as Rob’s. Before joining Pearl-Plaza as the company’s Customer Experience Strategy Director, Rob used his deep knowledge of customer experience and product management to create meaningful, positive change at Vodafone, MyRepublic and other multinational companies. He strongly believes in keeping people at the center of transformational change, which seems a winning strategy given his clients’ XI success.