HubSpot Web Guides

How to Develop a Unified CX Strategy

Written by Elika Dizechi | May 3, 2024 5:56:54 PM

A unified CX strategy involves breaking down silos between marketing, sales, customer service, and other departments to ensure consistent messaging, personalized experiences, and efficient problem resolution. By focusing on delivering a cohesive and integrated experience to customers at every stage of their journey, businesses can differentiate themselves in a competitive market and build a loyal customer base.

Core Components to Any CX Strategy

Crafting an exceptional customer experience (CX) strategy requires weaving together key elements that cater to customers' needs and preferences seamlessly. It all starts with customer understanding – the cornerstone of creating experiences that deeply connect with individuals on a personal level.

In today's fast-moving digital world, omni-channel integration is a must. Customers expect a smooth journey across all touchpoints, whether they're browsing online, engaging on social media, or stepping into a physical store. By blending these channels seamlessly, organizations can ensure a unified and hassle-free experience for customers at every turn.

Empowering employees is crucial for delivering standout customer experiences. Engaged team members, well-versed in a customer-centric mindset, are the driving force behind exceptional service that goes above and beyond. Investing in their growth and nurturing a culture that values customer satisfaction is key to elevating service quality.

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A two-way feedback loop is essential for staying in tune with customer needs. Listening directly to their insights in real-time allows organizations to swiftly address issues, adapt to changing preferences, and continually refine the CX strategy to meet evolving customer expectations.

And let's not forget about measurement and metrics – the compass guiding the CX strategy. By tracking key indicators like customer satisfaction scores and retention rates, organizations gain valuable insights into customer sentiment, identify areas for improvement, and make informed decisions to enhance the overall customer journey.

When these components work together harmoniously, they form the bedrock of an outstanding CX strategy that doesn't just meet customer needs but anticipates and exceeds them. It's through genuine customer-centricity, seamless integration, engaged teams, active feedback, and strategic measurement that organizations can elevate the customer experience to new heights and drive lasting success.

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The Cost of an “All-On-None” Platform

Imagine a powerful all-in-one platform that streamlines your CX strategy by consolidating critical data in a single repository. This integrated approach lays a robust framework for amplifying customer satisfaction and fostering brand loyalty. That’s one reason why HubSpot customers with Sales, Marketing and Service Hub Professional see their deal close rate increase after 6 (61%) and 12 (95%) months (Source).

On the other hand, a fragmented “all-on-none” system may lead to inconsistent customer experiences that may pose risks to satisfaction levels and customer retention. The fragmentation of data and insights within disconnected systems can lead to revenue leakage and hinder market competitiveness. Moreover, the lack of seamless communication among teams may result in delays in addressing customer issues effectively. Anyone who has had to repeat basic information to multiple support agents with each handoff can understand the frustration of siloed data.

All-in-one systems give organizations the benefit of cross object automation and shared reporting. For example, imagine your Marketing department was running a referrals campaign and they wanted to ask their happiest customers for testimonials. Instead of being dependent on the Customer Experience department for a list of happy customers, they could utilize automation to trigger an internal notification any time a customer submitted an NPS score of 9 or 10.

On the flip side, imagine a situation without the benefit of an all-in-one platform. A Customer Success Manager identifies a great cross-sell opportunity after one of their regularly scheduled customer calls and they create a sales qualified lead so the Sales team can follow up and share more in-depth pricing and packaging information with the client. They create the SQL in their Customer Success Platform and an integration sends that lead over to their company’s CRM for the Sales Rep. Unfortunately though, data hygiene isn’t great and that lead never gets assigned to anyone. The customer has lost out on learning more about a feature that could help them grow their business and the organization has lost a potential sale.

By harnessing the strengths of unified platforms while mitigating the pitfalls of fragmented tools, businesses can deliver exceptional post-sale experiences that exceed customer expectations and empower teams to excel.

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HubSpot’s Service Hub

In the realm of customer service excellence, Service Hub emerges as a powerful tool to elevate the entire customer journey – from pre-purchase engagement to post-purchase satisfaction.

One standout feature is the omni-channel Help Desk, a versatile tool that allows businesses to scale their support operations seamlessly across multiple communication channels. Dedicated to help post-sale support roles, the Help Desk ensures a consistent support experience that resonates with customers at every touchpoint.

Time is of the essence in customer service, and Service Hub helps businesses improve both their time to first response and time to resolution with capacity and skills-based routing capabilities. These features enable businesses to optimize response efficiency by promptly directing customer queries to the most suitable team members. They can ensure agents don't get overloaded with too many tickets by setting a limit with capacity routing. And for organizations who want to ensure the customer is being connected with the right support agent the first time, they can use skill-based routing. Skills can be defined by the organization and can include language, tier level of support, function (billing v. product), and more.

By streamlining the response process, businesses can not only improve operational efficiency but also cultivate trust and satisfaction with their customers through timely resolutions.

Beyond being reactive, Service Hub enables businesses to take a proactive approach to customer success by providing tools to monitor customers and issue resolutions in real-time. This capability allows businesses to stay ahead of customer needs, identify potential issues before they escalate, and maintain a level of service that is tailored to meet evolving customer preferences.

Additionally, the seamless integration of customer feedback sharing with marketing and sales teams promotes cross-departmental collaboration, aligning strategies to provide a unified and customer-centric approach to support. With predictive analytics, personalized interactions, targeted communication, and customized dashboards, Service Hub equips businesses with a versatile toolkit to create tailored and exceptional post-sale experiences that delight customers and drive long-term retention and loyalty.