Customers gauge their experiences based on their own first-person perspectives. But how, specifically, are those perspectives created? Katie Stabler examines new psychological research on the science of perception, and explains what it means for companies creating better CXs.

The ability to listen is a seriously underrated quality and it’s a skill that not all businesses have mastered. Despite the many channels, tools, and technology available to enable us to really hear what our customers are telling us, we still often just skim the surface.

The ability to listen can be the catalyst for cultivating satisfied and loyal customers or for creating a level of frustration that can only be relieved by customers walking away.

A headshot of Katie Stabler

Katie Stabler

So why, when listening to our customers is so incredibly invaluable, do organizations still fall short?

Here, Katie Stabler explores some of the lesser-discussed reasons that a business might be unable to hear what its customers have to say.

The 2023 UK Customer Satisfaction Index (UKCSI) was published a few weeks ago and showed the lowest score since 2015, with such a sharp drop in satisfaction, the likes of which have not been seen since 2008. As a customer, there's nothing more frustrating than receiving subpar service or experiencing a product that doesn't meet your expectations. As a business, low customer satisfaction leads to negative reviews, increased cost to serve, lost customers and a loss of customer wallet share (CWS). That's why the results of the 2023 UK Customer Satisfaction Index (UKCSI) are so concerning.

This gloomy news is of course, disappointing, but it's also an opportunity for businesses to learn and re-evaluate their customer service strategies and make improvements.

October sees the end of British Summertime and welcomes the ghoulish fun of Halloween, but did you also know that October features Global Customer Experience Day? It does, October 4th!

So, what better time than now, to refocus our thoughts as to exactly why we should all care about Customer Experience? I’m not going to talk about the huge, (should be) obvious benefits such as customer retention and customer lifetime value (much), instead, I’m going to share some of the lesser-known benefits that a great Customer Experience creates. But first, let’s set the scene…

Imagine a world where EVERYTHING your customers say is accessible to you.

Really think about that for a moment.

Every time an agent hears “thank you so much, you’ve been amazing”, or “wow that’s great, I didn’t realise I could do that online” or even, “it’s about time, this is the third time I’ve tried to get through!” (I didn’t say it would be all positive), you could hear it too.

How amazing would that be?!?!