Breaking down the terms, topics, and technology behind Customer Experience
The term “customer experience” is a loaded one. It can be described differently depending on who you’re talking to, making it somewhat of an enigma. As a one-stop CX shop, Tahzoo is home to all kinds of talented individuals – a melting pot of content strategists, data analysts, full-stack developers, software engineers, UX designers, and digital specialists – who work side by side to architect personalized experiences for our clients. In this #TahzooTalks series, we untangle the innerworkings of the customer experience (CX) to tell you the who, what, when, how, and why. Follow along as our team of smart + happy professionals answer questions about their experience in the CX landscape.
In today’s article, we introduce the general topic of CX and its impact to businesses with Marketing Manager, Lexi Young, and Business Analyst, Jerome Drew.
Let’s set the stage. In the simplest terms, what is the customer experience?
Lexi: The customer experience describes all of the interactions an individual has with a company, which ultimately results in their perception of the brand. It encompasses technologies and processes that enable a better experience for customers in the digital environment.
And what is the difference between UX and CX?
Lexi: User experience is a part of CX. Think of CX as the holistic view of a customer’s entire journey, whereas UX is the “how” portion of creating that journey. It focuses more on designing how an individual interacts and engages with a company, typically on a website or mobile app.
Got it. Now tell me, what kind of CX challenges does Tahzoo solve?
Jerome: Our clients approach us with problems like, “Our software is old. Our system is slow. Our content is disorganized. We need a new portal built.” We then help them achieve their CX goals through technology and design-thinking.
Lexi: Tahzoo can tackle problems at any stage in the customer journey. Like Jerome just mentioned, our developers and systems engineers can come in and digitally transform enterprise systems to help companies manage their content and data. On the other hand, we also have a full creative wing that does everything under the sun as it relates to experience design including UX/UI, photo and video production, prototyping, brand innovation, heuristic analysis, and information architecture.
And that is why Tahzoo is called the one-stop CX shop! What makes Tahzoo different than other customer experience agencies?
Lexi: The unique thing about Tahzoo is how we approach CX. Most companies only consider the customer when strategizing experience design yet fail to factor in the importance of the employee experience. Your employees are the ones who plan, design, construct, and monitor the customer journey. In many ways, they are also your customer. They too need an efficient, seamless, and intuitive environment upon which to navigate within. Equipping them with appropriate tools and resources means they can manage and publish the content necessary to create better CX for your end-user. In the end, these two separate groups of “customers” need to be considered when considering CX strategy, and that is what Tahzoo excels in.
Makes sense! Switching lanes, what is your role in solving CX challenges for clients?
Jerome: As a business analyst, I do a deep dive into the client issue. They come to us with a CX need, and I immediately start by taking myself through their customer journey to understand where the pitfalls or bottlenecks are in their process. Then, I work with our development team and say, “This is the business outcome our client hopes to achieve, and this is a list of improvement areas based on my research. What technical solutions can we bring to the table to address this challenge?” The value of the business analyst is that I have one foot in both worlds – the client side and the Tahzoo side. I combine my skills in project management, solutions design, and business process improvement to bridge that gap.
Aside from being the mediator between the client and Tahzoo, are there other ways in which you support?
Jerome: Digital transformations are a big undertaking for companies. Communicating the value of a CX investment internally within a company is not as straight forward as it may seem, which is why I also do stakeholder engagement. For example, there may be a CEO that doesn’t fully understand the value of what their Content Strategist is asking for. The Content Strategist may be saying something like, “My team is struggling to meet the new demands of the business using our existing systems” and the CEO may respond with, “Well, that's how we've done the process for the past 10 years.” So, when I talk about stakeholder engagement, I’m talking about answering the “why” question for folks in those top leadership positions. The bottom line for them is: why do we want to do this? Is it faster? Does it increase profitability? Does it increase retention?” In contrast, the Content Strategist has an entirely separate list of priorities and concerns, meaning they may not be communicating the value of the investment in a way that is meaningful to the CEO. I find a way to bring the holistic picture together for everyone in the company, translating the outcome of the project to their specific needs.
It is important that everyone is on board when it comes to investing in a new system, software, or project. How does improving CX impact a business?
Jerome: This obviously varies depending on the project. Generally, businesses see value either indirectly in terms of influencing revenue and growth or directly through productivity improvement and resource optimization.
Lexi: There are also numerous studies conducted by consulting titans like McKinsey, BCG, and Gartner that show the profound impact that CX investments have on a company. On the employee side, Jerome mentioned increased productivity and efficiency. On the consumer side, companies see increased customer acquisition and retention, engagement, and above all, profitability. The overall ROI on CX investments is very compelling.
Have questions or interested in discussing CX further with Lexi and Jerome? Email them at [email protected] or [email protected] to continue the conversation. Otherwise, stay tuned for the next article in our CX Series, when we are joined by Studios Director, Don Low.