October 2 is officially CX Day, a day to recognize great customer experience and the professionals who deliver it. Every year, thousands of people around the world participate in CX Day through online events, company celebration, and local networking activities. I’m happy to share Genesys was part of the action, hosting a webinar and visiting six global clients’ offices to show our appreciation for what their customer service professionals do, not just on the designated day, but every day.

Exceptional customer experience is a strategic linchpin—the vital link to customer satisfaction, loyalty, and revenue. When something happens, good or bad, the first thing people do is tell someone. And now, that also involves tweeting or posting about it too.  Social media has given us a digital megaphone to do what people have always done when they have a bad experience, tell a family member, friend or even a stranger. Today, the results of each and every service experience can quickly become very public. This means businesses must be able to deliver customer experiences that are good, fast and friction-free – or they face potential damage to their reputation – and even revenue from repeat business.

Companies that excel at customer experience commit to and invest in a strategy that puts this business imperative front and center. They know what their customers expect. They meet customers where they are and on their timelines. They anticipate each customer’s next need and proactively offer the right product or solution to meet it.

We believe creating exceptional customer experience starts with how companies view, manage and equip their customer service professionals. There are 3.4 million in-house and outsourced contact center agents in the U.S., and millions more worldwide, according to an A.T. Kearney report.  Each of whom powerfully influences how customers and prospects feel about companies, products, service, and brands. How do companies make sure all of these individuals deliver the right customer experience? Here are the five essential actions to help your service staff serve customers better:

  1. Elevate the importance of customer experience jobs. Sometimes companies look at customer service as an entry level job where people learn about products and technology, then move on to another department. Customer service is a true profession and should offer opportunities for growth like any other. These jobs should be filled with people who see customer experience as a career, not a stepping stone to something else.
  2. Give customer service professionals the best technologies and tools available. The only way to keep pace with customer expectations is by using new technologies that increase speed, efficiency, and effectiveness. For example, we work with a financial services firm with 13,000 customer care agents. Their goal is to match each client with the agent best suited to handle the issue, whether the client needs investment advice or help to navigate the website. They use intelligent routing from Genesys to make it happen, giving clients the support they need, when they need it.
  3. Hire and support passionate first-line managers. First-line managers are the backbone of the customer service. They set the tone for customer-facing representatives and convey their passion for making customers happy with their teams.
  4. Optimize human skills with technology. Pairing the efficiency of artificial intelligence (AI) with a human agent’s ability to handle complex, emotional situations is one example of giving customers the best of both worlds. Kate, the Genesys Blended AI platform, is one way we help businesses integrate the human touch and cutting-edge technologies to enhance the customer journey.
  5. Choose flexible CX solutions and partners. At the rate customer experience solutions are advancing, companies can’t afford to get locked into rigid platforms or software. Companies who use Genesys have a range of omnichannel on-premises and cloud options, and our PureSuccess program helps ensure they get the most out of the solutions they choose.

Customer experience has come a long way since the first CX Day was introduced just five short years ago. Many companies now have chief CX or chief customer success officers. Metrics are changing from average handle time and first contact resolution to more telling measures like Net Promoter Score (NPS) and customer retention not to mention higher level business outcomes such as decreased costs, better collections and revenue, and more. Companies consider not only individual interactions with customers, but how all interactions in the customer journey comprise the overall experience. A pat on a customer service professional’s back on CX Day is a good start, but the real magic happens when they are seen, treated and rewarded as essential contributors every day of the year.

If you know a contact center agent who deserves to be recognized for the great customer service they deliver, nominate him or her as a CX Hero. Three heroes are selected monthly to receive a CX Heroes swag back, and one grand prize winner will be flown to our CX19 users’ conference and celebrated on stage.