Why are companies pursuing the goal of creating exceptional customer experiences? After all, CEM costs money. Lots of money.
As with most enterprise goals, it certainly isn’t because they altruistically want their customers to have better lives (although I’m sure deep down they do).
No, it does of course have everything to do with the bottom line and a return on investment.
Keepify produced an infographic last year titled “14 Customer Experience Facts Marketers Can’t Ignore”. These are some of the drivers behind the reasons to manage CX.
So how do you quantify the benefits of CEM to a CFO demanding a return on her investment in the cost of a CX program? Here I have listed just some of the ways a good CEM program will pay for itself in spades.
Sales
- Customers buy more of the same thing from you (greater volume).
- Customers buy different things from you (greater range).
- Reduced churn – customers stay with you longer (loyalty and the lifetime value of a customer).
- Higher value sales – CEM gives you the ability to charge price premiums because you are delivering a superior experience to your competitors.
- Increased customer referrals and reduced negative word of mouth.
Marketing
- Better delivery on the brand promise leading to an increase in brand value.
Operations
- Reduced service costs due to improved issue management/prevention – constant customer feedback loops quickly identify actual and potential service issues.
- Reduced service costs due to improved self-service – make it easy for a customer to self-serve and they will happily do so.
- Reduced service costs due to reduced customer complaints.
Product Development
- Reduced R&D costs due to customer engagement – customer feedback helps companies to innovate.
Human Resources
- Collaboration and teamwork are essential to deliver consistent customer experience. A good CEM program will engage employees which will have the effect of lowering attrition rates. This then leads to strongly quantifiable benefits such as reduced hiring and training costs.
Are there any that I’ve missed? What factors have you used to help build the CEM business case?