We’ve heard it said over and over again: these are unprecedented times. Every interaction—from the small-scale to the large-scale—is intrinsically different than it was prior to COVID-19. It is crucial for companies to prioritize people, both customers and employees.
Particularly, we must focus on actively listening to get the most from these engagements to effectively take action and close the loop on the customer experience (CX) and equally, the employee experience (EX).
Your Customers Are Talking—It’s Time to Listen
What does this mean? For customers, it means listening deeply to be positioned to interpret and contextualize what you’ve learned. Brands have a choice when they see patterns in customer segments and individual behavior. When done smartly, real-time customer experience management (CXM) can shift the narrative and reduce churn by interpreting such behavior and then acting on it. Something as simple as a text message that asks the customer what’s most important to them during this time can help keep them engaged. But, don’t stop there. Make sure you monitor future engagements so you can act quickly and re-engage, if necessary.
An Exceptional Employee Experience Starts with Listening
The biggest shift in listening since COVID-19 is undoubtedly related to employee experience. Listening to employees must be prioritized. Executives must ascertain how they can keep employees engaged. New remote environments, Zoom fatigue, emotional distress, and the elusive search for balance in the world’s “new normal” are creating new challenges to employee engagement. It’s not just asking them how they are. It’s listening to them, contextualizing what this means to the individual, and providing programs to give them the support they need.
Neither the customer or employee experience is a “one and done” interaction. They both require constant feedback. In the old days, you were able to provide surveys twice a year. In the new world, these conversations must be done continuously, not episodically, to glean accurate insights that create and maintain a superior experience.
What Does the Future of Listening Look Like?
At Alida, we have been focused on making it easier for brands to listen. As part of our commitment to disrupting the CXM marketplace, we have recently added Touchpoint to our product portfolio. Touchpoint is a new cloud-based app that helps brands to create quick and engaging interactions with a broader customer base, allowing them to connect with these customers where they spend time already—on the web, eCommerce, social media, and messaging platforms most often accessed on mobile. By listening to customers in this manner, brands have a unique opportunity to continuously engage their customers and recruit them as advocates into our Alida Sparq customer insights platform, where deeper insights can then be uncovered.
Our Alida employees are vital to the success of our company. Without them, we’d be unable to deliver the caliber of products and services that we do. We know that your employees are just as critical to your business. That’s why we recently launched the Voice of Employee solution, an employee community and a COVID-19 survey template to help you listen to your employees. This solution is free for 90 days to ensure that brands have the opportunity to understand and support their employees through this new climate.
At Alida, we are energized and optimistic about the future of CXM, even in the face of these exceptional times. We are obsessively focused on the customer and the employee, and remain committed to delivering powerful innovations to our clients to help them ensure that their decisions are informed by deep insights.
Share Your Listening Experiences
How have you changed your listening strategies in the past two months? Share your experiences and this post using the social icons and join the conversation about the importance of listening during these uncertain times.
