How Do You Go from Data to Real Impact?

Many organizations measure customer experience with NPS, CSAT, or CES. But how do you turn these insights into tangible improvements? At CYS, we place great importance on actionable insights and data-driven work. In the first article in this series, we mainly zoomed in on the characteristics of organizations where data-driven work is part of a customer-oriented culture. In this second article in the series, we delve deeper into the steps to go from insights from feedback to concrete improvement actions and how to sustainably anchor data-driven work in your organization.

From “Transactional Data” to “Transformational Growth”

We essentially distinguish 4 phases in CX transformations to move from data to growth:

4 phases of CX transformations

We see these 4 phases as a continuous process, because based on the actions taken (phase 4), we also learn which adjustments are needed to optimize the measurement framework (phase 1).

Phase 1: Listening Architecture

Data-driven work begins with setting up the measurement framework within which you will organize the Voice of the Customer (VOC) or Voice of the Employee (VOE). The CX transformation starts with collecting feedback, for example through surveys, social media, and direct interaction. Based on this feedback, you can identify pain points and opportunities for improvement. The use of Customer Journey Mapping can be useful here to map out the various touchpoints about which you want to collect feedback.

Short, focused questionnaires using the 3-question methodology, as we like to use at CYS, generate the best response and provide direct insights into the root causes or drivers behind your KPI, NPS, CSAT, or CES.

Based on the chosen metrics, formulate concrete goals for improving the customer experience. This could be, for example, a specific target score for the NPS or reducing the response time to customer inquiries by x%.

Phase 2: Analysis

The analysis phase: once sufficient feedback has been collected, you can analyze which levers you need to adjust first to optimize the experience for your customers. By using smart, flexibly configurable dashboards, you can quickly get to the core of where the right follow-up actions can be taken. For example, a dashboard widget with a priority matrix clearly shows at a glance what the most important drivers are behind your NPS, for instance, and which drivers have the most important areas for improvement.

Phase 3: Engagement

In this third phase of data-driven work, it’s about sharing insights and getting the team excited to work with them. Employees are often the key to a successful CX transformation.

Phase 4: Action

In this fourth phase of data-driven work, it’s about experimenting and taking various actions to increase the impact on customer experience.

We will delve deeper into phase 3 (engagement) and 4 (action) in the rest of this article.

Engagement: how Do You Involve your Employees in the CX Transformation?

How do you proceed when you want to get your employees on board with data-driven work? It starts with defining and documenting how we want customer feedback to be structurally incorporated into daily processes and how we want employees to act on this feedback: the so-called “One Way of Working”. With whom do we share which customer feedback and what do we expect people to do with this customer feedback?

Many CX transformations therefore start with ‘awareness sessions’ with colleagues who already have a positive vibe around CX data and are thus most open to CX initiatives. Preferably start with cross-functional teams of CX ambassadors to increase awareness around CX and the impact one can have on it: what is customer experience, why is it important, what is the desired experience for us?

Foodservice organization Albron, also a loyal customer of CYS for many years, has done this in this way, for example. CYS set up a process for them where about 800 PowerPoint push reports are automatically sent weekly to all different teams within the organization who now have this as a standard item on their weekly meeting agenda. In these reports, we include an assignment to determine 3 improvements each month and make a plan (based on a fixed template) of what they will do, what they need, and who they need.

Make it Stick: Use “Tiny Habits”

The challenge here, of course, is to keep it up. CX transformations are about a fundamental behavior change to make the way of working around data-driven work a fixed routine.

I find it inspiring in this context how Allianz Benelux uses “tiny habits” to facilitate this behavior change. Listen to the podcast “Tiny Habits at Allianz Benelux with Martijn Huisman”.

In this podcast, @martijn-c-huisman explains how Allianz Benelux, with the help of CX transformation expert zannavanderaa.com, has applied the technique of “tiny habits” to integrate CX thinking into the daily operational process.

Tiny Habits is a methodology described by BJ Fogg of Stanford University in his book of the same name. Applied to CX transformations, it essentially comes down to linking one or more tiny habits to a specific (NPS) driver that you want to influence. For example, if analysis shows that the root cause “employee” and within that “personal contact” is an important driver for your NPS, you can create tiny habits from which employees can choose, to be able to give more personal attention to their customers.

Action: which Actions Really Make an Impact?

The fourth phase in the CX transformation (after you have “engaged” your employees on the impact they can have on the customer experience) is the phase of Action. In essence, this is about closing the feedback loop. How do we act on the feedback we have received from our customers?

In closed loop feedback, we distinguish between an Inner and an Outer loop.

The Inner loop is about how we act on feedback from individual customers (1 on 1). For a low score, for example, we immediately send a trigger to a manager who can take immediate action and, if possible, ensure that direct contact is made with that customer: closed loop feedback.

For extremely positive scores, this can be a trigger to thank the customer for their feedback, ask them to place a review about it, and on which you can give compliments to the relevant employee who assisted the customer.

CYS offers an integrated ticketing solution in its platforms, called Case Management, which makes it possible to create tickets based on customer feedback, assign them to someone, and monitor how these tickets are handled.

The Outer loop is about how you initiate more structural improvements based on your customer feedback analysis. So if, based on customer feedback data, you see things that are consistently not going well or where there are important opportunities for improvement, it’s important to focus on that in the improvement process.

We see that these can be different types of actions, such as:

Actions for improvements on root causes related to employee behavior, to inspire them and make them more aware of how they themselves can have more impact on the customer experience.
Actions for improvements on root causes that are more non-behavioral: for example, to evaluate whether the steps in the customer journey (or different channels) still align sufficiently with customer ambitions or desired customer experience. This can lead to actions aimed at improving the user experience in certain digital channels, for instance.
Actions aimed at designing (new) “wow moments” for your customers, thereby creating memorable customer experiences.

The Action phase is thus essentially the phase within the CX Transformation where the “magic happens”. Because that’s where experimentation takes place and initiatives are taken that result in an improved customer experience. Which we will then see reflected in improved CX results in the new customer feedback measurements.

Conclusion

If you want to sustainably anchor data-driven work within your organization, 4 phases are necessary: listening architecture, analysis, engagement, action. Successful CX transformations require involvement from both employees and technological innovation. In data-driven work, it is essential to keep experimenting and innovating to meet the ever-changing expectations of customers.