Is Your Customer Experience Driving Value? How To Master Your Data Management To Level Up Your Organization

The Age of All-Encompassing Data

What if you could predict, with near certainty, which of your customers are likely to churn before they do? What if you could instantly determine when your customers would be more likely to expand their business with you if you introduced a new feature? You can do all of this (and more!) by learning how to master customer data management and properly leverage the vast amount of customer data you have available at your fingertips.

There’s no doubt that data is one of the most valuable assets in an organization. In fact, 88% of companies that train and educate all employees in how to leverage data routinely exceed their business goals (Deloitte, 2019). With the overwhelming amounts of customer data available, today’s seasoned leaders are challenged with the task of continually levelling up their customer data management to drive greater impact and efficiency.

In this article, we share our most revealing, expert-backed best practices to help you optimize your customer data management and drive a more dynamic and predictive customer experience. 

Tap Into All The Rich Data In Your Ecosystem

Often, business leaders forget just how much useful data they have in their people and processes because they’re so focused on what they’re unable to obtain from their product. Your entire business ecosystem is chock full of valuable customer data, both qualitative and quantitative, that can help you strengthen your customer experience. For example, if you have a support ticketing process, support ticket information is a data point. If you get CSAT survey results after a support case is closed, that is a data point. If you have a Professional Services department, and they start and end their service agreement on time, you guessed it: that is a data point. 

Optimize & Iterate

Gathering and compiling all of this customer data is meaningless unless you have a process for analyzing it and generating strategic actions that can help you continuously improve and enhance the customer experience. Assess what your customer data is telling you about what is going well, what is challenging and where there are opportunities for advancement and improvements in your people, processes and product. Part of this assessment is determining which tasks and experiences need to be removed entirely. Many leaders are so afraid of turning things off that they continue to pile on activities that do more harm than good. Be sure to prune your customer experience and omit tasks and activities that your customers don’t find valuable or useful.

Measure Thoughtfully & Effectively

With the vast amount of data at our fingertips, it’s tempting to measure everything. In order to master customer data management, create a streamlined data process and collect the most relevant metrics, ask yourself the following questions: 

• Is this data statistically significant? Does it actually tell me something unique about the customer and indicate whether they are doing well or poorly? 
• Can I do anything about it? If you have a metric that you can’t impact or influence at all then you should remove it from your roster. If you don’t, all you’re going to do is raise red flags and put everyone on high alert about something they have no control over.
• What is the root cause of this problem? What your data shows you could be a symptom of a deeper, and much larger, problem. So, you may start with the symptom indicators because they’re easiest to see but over time, as you iterate, you need to get to the root of what is actually causing this measure to be lower or higher and ascertain what you can do to impact it.

Power Your Scale Engine

Data is the fuel that powers an effective and sustainable scale engine. As you deliver content and engage with your customers, analyze the feedback and results you receive to drive the next set of engagement activities. As you receive these results, ask yourself; how is my customer doing and how should I engage with them to get them doing better and doing more? This continuous loop of action, feedback data and iteration will not only improve your processes but will also advance your digital automation program and thrust your organization’s scalability into high-gear. 

Data Drives Results

Creating a valuable and meaningful customer experience requires an organization-wide commitment to consistent development and enhancement. Don’t get left behind – the companies that base their customer experience strategy on data-driven insights will be the ones that successfully exceed customer and business expectations in today’s integrated environment. By gathering customer data, connecting the dots and setting an iterative action plan in motion, you’ll be equipped to drive continuous improvement for your customers and beat out your competition. 

Are your customer experience and outcomes actually driving value for your customers? Read our latest article to determine the effectiveness of your customer journey and establish a superior outcome verification process.