Upskilling and Reskilling Could be the Key to Unlocking Customer Loyalty
Customer Experience (CX) teams are the heart of developing strong and lasting relationships with customers. By providing your CX team with the right training and development opportunities, you not only help them grow, but help your business’s bottom line by creating happy customers. It’s a win-win scenario!
No one knows this better than Jen Jackson. The Senior VP of CX at Litmos recently explored the importance of enhancing the customer experience via strategic upskilling for a piece published by Customer Think Magazine. Her insights are summarized below:
Meeting Personalization Expectations Through CX Training
As retail technology advances, so do customer expectations. Personalization has become a top priority, with 71% of consumers expecting companies to deliver personalized interactions. Unfortunately, failing to deliver personalized experiences can lead to customer frustration and increased customer churn.
A 2023 report by Forrester on Customer Experience Predictions also reveals that 80% of CX teams lack the essential skills needed to deliver the kinds of personalized experiences that foster positive customer journeys. To overcome this gap, brands need to identify the skills their CX teams require and determine the best ways to teach them. By focusing on upskilling and reskilling employees, businesses can elevate their skill sets, improve efficiency, and deliver a more strategic customer experience.
The Four Pillars of a Successful Customer Experience Team
In her Customer Think Magazine article, Jackson highlights four critical competencies for CX teams to prioritize in their reskilling and upskilling strategy. Continuous training in these four areas, she argues, will make personalization during the customer journey second nature.
Empathy: Empathy is at the core of all exceptional customer experiences. When employees develop and exercise empathy, they can better understand customer preferences, resulting in more positive interactions with the brand. Soft skills like empathy increase engagement, loyalty, and advocacy, with 72% of consumers sharing positive experiences with six or more people.
Communication: Seamless and proactive communication is the key to anticipating buyers’ needs and resolving customer service issues. Upskilling CX teams in communication can lead to increases in customer retention and acquisition. Doing the opposite could be detrimental, as it can take as few as two negative customer service experiences for 42% of consumers to stop buying from a brand entirely.
Problem Solving: Ecommerce customers report feeling frustrated when CX agents lack the information needed to address their issues quickly and efficiently. By teaching teams problem-solving tactics, businesses can foster increased customer satisfaction, loyalty, and ultimately, more sales.
Technology Integration: With technology rapidly evolving, it is crucial for CX professionals to be proficient in integrating and working alongside automation or AI tools. Such tools can impact CX response times, which are vital since 75% of consumers rank fast response time as the most important attribute of a CX team. Having AI and automation training allows CX professionals to optimize their workflows by freeing them up to address more complex customer problems.
Bridging the Skills Gap to Enhance Customer Satisfaction
A commitment to reskilling and upskilling will enable your business to stay ahead of and meet future challenges, while creating a lasting impact on customer loyalty and brand success.
To learn more about how upskilling and reskilling can impact your brand’s customer loyalty, read the full article on Customerthink.com.
