Six areas where having a professional CXO onside is advantageous

The pandemic has accelerated the steady pace of change with a notable shift in consumer priorities - highlighting the importance of CXO roles, says Yael Geffen, CEO of Lew Geffen Sotheby's International Realty. 

And, although the title chief experience officer may sound to some like a career in party planning, it is, in fact, one of the most vital professionals for companies wanting to remain relevant and retain the edge in a fast-changing, post-pandemic world.

It's become very clear that it's increasingly important for businesses to be more customer-centric, primarily competing on customer experience rather than with low pricing. 

A wonderful customer experience is one of the biggest competitive advantages a company can have. A number of studies have already shown that by focusing on customer experience rather than being driven solely by shareholders or revenue, businesses can improve customer satisfaction, customer retention and, ultimately, significantly boost revenues.

The fact of the matter is that in an increasingly digital era and with so many interactions now being online, customers already expect brands to create positive, personalised experiences. And unlike products and services that are tangible, experiences must be the real game-changer.

Focusing on the customer experience is not only important for certain industries but across the board, even in sectors that could be regarded as cold, hard cash transactions.

For instance, although real estate is largely about financial investment in property, it is vital to remember that it's also very much an emotional investment as people are buying or selling their haven from the world; the place where they raise their children, celebrate milestones and create memories.

However, delivering the best possible customer experience is not as simple as it seems and even business owners who understand what it takes to do so don't have the time to do what it takes.

Here are six areas in which having a professional CXO onside will be advantageous: 

1. Establishing a consistent customer experience 

Providing a consistent customer experience is of the utmost importance because customers who know what to expect are more likely to keep coming back. A CXO will be able to uplift the customer experience across all touchpoints, while ensuring that the brand message is also consistent whilst quickly identifying the gaps or detrimental aspects in the buying experience.

2. Developing your brand voice

Equally as important as consistency is deliberate consideration about what you want your brand voice to be and what you want your brand to mean to your clients. Oftentimes, businesses make changes without fully understanding the future impact it may have. Constant monitoring of the company voice and customer perceptions will help you to strategise and plan ahead more accurately.

3. Increasing efficiency and productivity

Experienced CXOs are able to use data analytic tools to quickly identify efficiency and productivity gaps, as well as to identify the most critical and advise about the best way to correct any issues.

4. Assisting a company's focus to shift from product to customer

For many years, businesses have largely been focused on products and it can be a hard habit to break. Because CXOs are customer-focused rather than product-focused, they always lead with the customers' concerns, wants and expectations, they will assist you to create products and tailor services that they actually want, rather than those companies think their clients should want.

5. Helping to increase revenue

Research has found that happy customers spend around 13% more at each transaction than their less loyal counterparts. Therefore, one of the key goals is to increase customer loyalty is by establishing the baseline level of loyalty through customer satisfaction score and other tools. Subsequently, conducting in-depth market research will then determine how to create the best strategies to increase client loyalty and decrease the number of brand detractors.

6. Improving customer retention

An experienced CXO will know how to balance customer needs with those of the business and, by getting to know and understand a company's customer base they can focus on customer retention which, at the end of the day, is a lot cheaper and easier than acquiring new customers.