What is a Customer Experience Model?

A customer experience model is a framework businesses use to control the quality of the impressions their customers receive about the brand. The model can include vision, standards, goals, desired customer emotions and actions, measurement details, and responsibilities, and should be aligned with the business strategy.

Customer experience (CX) is the perception people have of a brand based on a collective set of interactions. For example, someone might form an opinion about a business based on the emails she receives, the tweets she views, and the product reviews she reads. When combined, these impressions shape her perception of the company. This is her individual customer experience.

Notice that there are numerous touchpoints that can make an impression and that customers can have very different experiences. While the customer discussed above might have a positive view of the brand based on the touchpoints she interacted with, another customer may have a negative opinion of the organization based on a poor mobile app or customer service experience. A customer experience model tries to reduce or eliminate this variability by providing structure to the quality and consistency of these touchpoints and the end-to-end customer journey.

Contact centers and the customer experience model

Because customer service is a critical touchpoint that influences CX, contact centers should be included in the customer experience model and may be required to alter their people, processes, and technology to conform with its vision. Below are some typical components and standards of a customer experience model that can impact contact centers.

• Personalization: There has been a heavy emphasis on personalization in the CX world. A tailored experience acknowledges a customer's history with the business and reassures people that the business understands their needs and preferences. Because personalization relies heavily on customer data, this component of a customer experience model may have its largest impact on contact center technology.

• Empathy: Providing empathetic service is also a common focus of customer experience models. Contact centers shouldn't just train their agents on empathy; proficiency in a multitude of soft skills will help ensure agents are making satisfying connections with customers. Additionally, technology such as real-time interaction guidance software can help agents keep their soft skills sharp.

• Operational excellence: If the customer experience model calls for fast, convenient, and low effort support experiences, then call centers may be required to undertake initiatives such as improving their routing, upgrading their workforce management systems, and implementing effective self-service.