{"id":2495,"date":"2018-04-13T19:28:08","date_gmt":"2018-04-13T19:28:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ptpinc.com\/staging\/?p=2495"},"modified":"2020-06-22T17:08:42","modified_gmt":"2020-06-23T00:08:42","slug":"the-top-3-challenges-to-providing-great-customer-experiences","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ptpinc.com\/staging\/cx-strategy\/the-top-3-challenges-to-providing-great-customer-experiences\/","title":{"rendered":"The Top 3 Challenges to Providing Great Customer Experiences"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When it comes to selling both B2C and B2B products and services, customer experience is rapidly becoming the deciding factor for buyers. In fact, according to the research firm Walker in its study \u201c<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.walkerinfo.com\/Portals\/0\/Documents\/Knowledge%20Center\/Featured%20Reports\/WALKER-Customers2020.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Customers 2020<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">,\u201d within the next two years, it will overtake products and price as the most important differentiator of a brand.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nevertheless, companies often run into problems when attempting to deliver a good customer experience. Here are three challenges our clients frequently encounter, as well as some insights on how to best resolve them.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Challenge #1: Outdated Technology<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-2507\" src=\"https:\/\/ptpinc.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/ethernet-cables-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"ethernet-cables\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ptpinc.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/ethernet-cables-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/ptpinc.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/ethernet-cables-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ptpinc.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/ethernet-cables-1024x683.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>Outdated technology can put you at a significant disadvantage compared to your competitors. You might be trying to keep up with innovations such as chatbots or SMS support by implementing fixes or changes that your technology simply isn\u2019t equipped to handle. Or perhaps you\u2019re trying to integrate other systems into your existing one \u2014 and not succeeding.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You can tell your technology is outdated by the following signs:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The costs of adding a fix or implementing a new feature are too great.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You\u2019re experiencing low customer satisfaction.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You\u2019re seeing a large number of dropped calls in the contact center.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Your customer support agents are unable to keep up with the inbound call volume.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Your customer support agents aren\u2019t getting the right information from the system.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>So how can you best approach this challenge?<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Before assuming your technology is outdated, it\u2019s important to first do a technology assessment or\u00a0gap assessment. What\u2019s key here is to also look at your internal processes and people. Once you have a 360-degree overview of all of these factors, you can determine where you need to make changes.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You might find that the technology doesn\u2019t need to be replaced, but it does need to be customized to how your operations are set up. Or you might find that you need new technology such as a new contact center infrastructure or Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software. And if your legacy system is local and onsite, this can be a good opportunity to move it to the cloud, which provides many more efficiencies.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When it comes to implementing new technology, it will have to be integrated with your existing systems and customized to your specific needs. In addition, your people should also be trained on how to use it. This enhances performance and helps improve the customer experience.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We encountered this with one of our clients, an Internet payment company that had experienced massive growth in a short period of time, and had an outdated telephony system that couldn\u2019t handle its inbound call volume anymore, resulting in call backlogs and abandonment.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We implemented an <strong>open-standards IVR system<\/strong> that improved call routing, which eliminated transfers and abandoned calls. We also implemented a custom mobile payment app that enabled users to connect with customer service. The result was a scalable, multi-channel solution that enabled the customer to accommodate further growth while still providing an outstanding customer experience.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Challenge #2: A Lack of Customer Data<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-2508\" src=\"https:\/\/ptpinc.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/customer-data-1-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"customer-data\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ptpinc.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/customer-data-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/ptpinc.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/customer-data-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ptpinc.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/customer-data-1-1024x683.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>In order to be competitive, it\u2019s critical to collect customer data so you can enhance your understanding of your customers, prevent churn and predict buying patterns. However, if your technology is outdated or not set up correctly to collect data in a holistic manner, you won\u2019t be able to leverage customer data to your advantage.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Especially when your contact center systems and CRM aren\u2019t integrated, the disconnect can be very frustrating for the customer, and for your agents. For instance, your sales team is using CRM data to try to sell to a customer who\u2019s still upset that a support issue has not been resolved, which would be housed in the contact center system.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The solution is to ensure your contact center infrastructure and CRM are integrated and set up correctly. This enables your customer support agents to see if a customer has been contacted by sales, and if so, how many times \u2014 and vice versa. And this in turn provides you with a broader view of the customer journey.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We saw this with a client \u2014 a newly-formed company that needed to create a seamless buying process, provide the best possible customer experience and predict future purchasing patterns. After evaluating the company\u2019s people, processes and technology, we implemented a unified <strong>Enterprise Customer Support System<\/strong> that integrated the contact center with the CRM solution, as well as other back-office support systems. This provided the client with a holistic view of the customer, regardless of whether the point of contact was sales, service or marketing.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Challenge #3: Understanding the Customer Journey<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-2501\" src=\"https:\/\/ptpinc.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/customer-journey-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"customer-journey\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ptpinc.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/customer-journey-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/ptpinc.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/customer-journey-768x513.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ptpinc.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/customer-journey-1024x684.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>Another obstacle that can compromise your ability to be fully competitive is an inability to understand the customer journey. Because although your energy is invested in selling products, you might not have a focused vision regarding the best way to acquire new customers and retain existing ones.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The best way to approach this is to create a map that enables you to understand the customer journey. This so-called customer journey map should be based on an evaluation of how customers interact at different points in the process, whether that\u2019s with marketing, sales or customer support. As a result, you gain insights into the customer\u2019s experience at every point of contact, from the initial engagement with your company all the way through to \u2014 hopefully \u2014 a long-term customer relationship.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For example, one of our clients, a leading provider of car loans and other financial products, was experiencing issues with customer retention. We crafted a <strong>customer journey map<\/strong> as a foundation for optimizing the web and phone user experience. Based on this data, we created a solution with multilingual self-serve options, which resulted in an improved customer experience and more retention.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Get an Outside Perspective on Your Challenges<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With customer experience becoming the most important differentiator of a brand, you can\u2019t afford to let technical, data-related or behavioral challenges stand in your way. At <strong>PTP<\/strong>, we\u2019ve helped numerous companies like yours overcome similar obstacles and find the best possible solutions for their business models. If you\u2019d like to benefit from our experience and find out how we can help your organization, <\/span><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/ptpinc.com\/staging\/contact-us\/\">contact us<\/a><\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for more information.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When it comes to selling both B2C and B2B products and services, customer experience is rapidly becoming the deciding factor for buyers. In fact, according to the research firm Walker in its study \u201cCustomers 2020,\u201d within the next two years, it will overtake products and price as the most important differentiator of a brand.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":2502,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[111,90,23,13],"class_list":["post-2495","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cx-strategy","tag-customer-journey","tag-cx","tag-cx-roadmap","tag-featured"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ptpinc.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2495"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ptpinc.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ptpinc.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ptpinc.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ptpinc.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2495"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ptpinc.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2495\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ptpinc.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2502"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ptpinc.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2495"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ptpinc.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2495"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ptpinc.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2495"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}