Organisations often manage different digital channels from different departments. Marketing takes care of some, retail of others’ and customer support of a third. On top of this, they manage the real-world channels such as the store, human resources, customer support, procurement etc.
The logic behind this structure is based on how things evolved. The structure also presumes that customers interact with the company in a certain order, moving logically from marketing to retail to customer service. The reality, however, is that customers can interact with all digital channels at the same time during his or her customer journey from need to satisfaction. While searching for something, also researching how customers who weren’t satisfied were treated. This often exposes lack of coordination between departments and provides a singularly poor customer experience.
Overcome your silos
To win the customer experience war, you have to knock down the walls between departments. Start viewing your digital channels from the customers’ point-of-view. By seeing what they see, you can identify gaps between what customers want to do and how you currently support them. In those gaps, you can find opportunities to drive you customer experience innovation.
Capturing and visualising your customers’ experience in a journey map helps you to understand the variety and timing of touchpoints your customers have with you. By tracking and following up online interactions, not with surveys, but by testing improvements and new services live, you improve the customer experience step-by-step, while at the same time tearing down silos in your business.
But whatever you do, don’t spend your time planning. Like Gina Azaric, marketing manager at Tre (a mobile operator) says, “it won’t be the large that win over the small, but the fast that win over the slow.”
