Four ways to improve CX measurement

Successful customer experience (CX) strategies are rooted in diligent market research and data analysis—not just before, during, and after campaigns, events, or incidents, but every day. Technology makes this possible to do and even provides the tools to measure CX. Yet successful CX measurement depends on people, perceptions, and performance.

Here's a quick look at some best practices for better CX measurement.

Begin with collaboration

It's true that customer-facing teams know more about what customers are saying or feeling. However, restricting customer experience conversations solely to those teams would limit the whole perspective that you could gain. On the other hand, including and inviting input from all teams can enrich your CX strategy and reflect positively in CX measurement—primarily because this inclusion fosters a sense of fair play, inspires trust, and boosts commitment.

Broaden the perspective

No matter what the immediate focus of your CX measurement is, remember not to restrict its scope to a single aspect. The customer experience is neither a singular event nor one that occurs in isolation. So zooming in on a single data point or data set could skew your perception of your customers' perspectives.

Set well-defined standards

Businesses make big claims in advertising, marketing, and sales. This is par for the course when competition for market share is fierce. But this can prove to be disappointing during customer experience measurement. In a supermarket, it's not so much the selection of produce available that defines the customer experience; there's also the layout, display, lighting, and employee attitude that play a part. Another important standard to measure CX is time, but don't succumb to the urge to outdo competition by promising the unattainable. Instead, keep it plausible and consistently possible so that it becomes a part of your business culture to maintain standards.

Correlate the data with your business

With the torrent of data becoming available to businesses every hour, it's necessary to correlate it with your business for context, so that your teams can relate to it. When sales and revenue are correlated to employee strength, regional weather conditions, financial markets, and competition, your teams can use the information to hone in on what they can do better or differently to achieve better results. This can take a lot of time to put together, but there's no downside to this exercise from a CX standpoint.

These four basic best practices can create a culture of participation within your business, where all stakeholders are focused on the customer experience, willing to adapt to change, and committed to pulling their weight to attain better CX measurement.