Ask any customer service supervisor about the side effects of bad customer experiences and a common theme will emerge. The side effects aren’t surprising: low Net Promoter Score (NPS), customer churn, agent churn, increased training costs, cart abandonment, poor lead conversion and ruined reputations are a few. And all of these contribute to a loss in revenue.

Bad customer experience affects the bottom line by tens of billions of dollars in the US alone. According to IDC, businesses are expected to spend $508 billion in 2019 on customer experience technology. That’s an increase of nearly 8% from 2018. And those businesses will continue to increase spending over the next three years.

But here’s the rub: Businesses are spending and focusing on customer experience more than ever; however, 81% of brands experienced no change in customer experience, according to a Forrester Customer Experience (CX) Index for 2019 survey of over 100,000 US consumers.

If nothing else, this proves that good experiences aren’t the result of technology alone — it’s the combination of technology, people and a brand’s philosophical approach that creates exceptional ones. So, instead of discussing the side effects of bad customer experiences, which are akin to (and just as productive as) discussing the symptoms of a common cold, let’s focus on a cure as it relates to technology, people and philosophy.

Technology

As asserted before, tools (or technology) alone aren’t a cure-all. Just as a power saw doesn’t make someone a good carpenter, a new tech stack doesn’t lead to amazing customer experiences. But great tools — in the right hands — can lead to amazing results.

Just as a skilled carpenter with the right tools can build amazing things, so can an agent with the right tech. And one contributing factor to agent retention is easy-to-use technology. Make agents happy with the right technology and they’ll make customers happy.

Technology also can improve first call resolution by providing faster and more seamless access to data. It allows agents to access product information faster, which boosts lead conversion rates. And it lets customers self-serve through artificial intelligence (AI)-fueled technologies.

The Genesys® PureCloud® application can deliver all these results and much more — but the app still needs people.

People

The Forrester CX Index report also tied emotion to customer satisfaction. In fact, Forrester found that “Elite brands provided an average of 22 emotionally positive experiences for each negative experience, while the lowest-performing 5% of brands provided only three emotionally positive experiences for each negative experience.”

Emotion is related to people — no amount of technology can solve for that. Put the right people in place with the right tools, train them, and give them a guiding customer experience philosophy, and they’ll do right by your customers.

Customer Experience Philosophy

Having the latest tech stack and well-trained agents is a great start. But without a well-defined customer experience philosophy, neither can perform up to its full potential. Swisscard, for example, implemented advanced technologies from Genesys to enable customer experiences. Their philosophical approach also fuels their success.

“Our employees are the engine of our success. Based on the motto: engaged employees, happy customers. We focus on our customer-centric culture, our positive and engaging work environment, and our employee development program,” said Dario Tibolla, Head of Customer Service for Swisscard.

It’s because of this philosophy that a Swisscard customer service manager creatively solved a customer issue — and actually left the call center to hand deliver much-needed information to that customer. Technology didn’t solve the problem alone — it took a human, armed with the right tools and philosophy.

If you’re experiencing the side effects of bad customer experiences or your brand’s reputation is taking a beating on social media, there’s a cure. The trifecta of tech, people and guiding principles will allow you to pull ahead in the customer experience game.

To learn more about providing a great customer experience, check out our webinar “Get personalization right for your customers,” with Genesys CEO Tony Bates and customer experience industry pioneer, Jeanne Bliss. And read about Genesys Heroes, customer service reps who have gone above and beyond to provide great customer experiences.