Importance of CX in a Post-Pandemic World
The Importance of CX in the Post-Pandemic World
If there is one thing we can say for certain, it is that the pandemic has changed the fabric of the world, including human interactions, business transactions, and how consumers interact with brands. In the time of uncertainty, consumers look to brands for trust and safety.
With the younger population stepping into the economy and spending more, they want to be put before profit. They want to understand what you are doing for them before they are willing to purchase from you. With social media reducing the gap between brands and consumers, airing grievances is easy, loyalty fickle.
Even though the pandemic has restricted physical human interaction, it by no means indicates that there is no interaction. In such a scenario, the importance of CX in the post-pandemic world becomes even more critical. Let’s see why.
1. Digital transactions are at an all-time high
A recent report by Financial Express says India is leading real-time online transactions with 25 billion payment transactions in 2020. And this figure is only expected to grow from 15% to 37% by 2025 1.
Digital is here to stay. But is your app able to handle these demands? Is your bank app equipped to provide a smooth payment journey to your consumer?
2. Online purchase experience
Purchasing demand grew exponentially for the e-commerce industry due to the lockdown and the need for physical distancing 2. This means that not only have brands scrambled to provide apps and mobile-first websites to facilitate shopping, they have also have had to ensure the softer elements like the right filters to sort products, providing better pictures to convey colors, patterns, etc. All of this to mimic a “real world” shopping experience.
Even if a consumer is not walking into a store to purchase a phone, they’re still looking for you, now online. How are you anticipating the information they may need? How are you ensuring that the digital touchpoints that they have to go through are smooth and add to their experience rather than frustrate them so much that they leave a transaction unfinished?
3. Industry agnostic
That no industry has been spared from the ravages of the pandemic is true. But to think that your industry need not adapt to this digital shift would be a wrong assumption. Right from real-estate to automobile test drives to healthcare to education – every industry is going digital.
For real estate, the journey from finding a broker to going through a flat to closing the transaction in a way that it adheres to sanitation protocol is crucial.
For automobile test drives, it’s important that a potential buyer is able to book one through an app or website without glitches and that you’re taking every precaution to ensure their safety.
Telemedicine has picked up hugely with online doctor consultations becoming par for the course. Teachers too are learning to take classes over video calls, their teaching environments going through a severe transformation.
4. Changing consumer behaviour and expectations
As mentioned earlier, consumers are looking to brands for trust and safety. They’re looking for assurances and protocols that you have in place and how you’re planning to adhere to different government announcements. For example, getting your delivery partners vaccinated.
In such a scenario, you not only have to rethink the key touchpoints that your customer has with your brand but you also have to lead from the front. You in fact would have to ensure that your customers are adopting digital and handhold them as you get them future-ready.
Another thing to keep in mind is, just because transactions have gone digital, does not mean that there is no human involvement. Your customer remains a human and the people behind the brand too. Feedback from both your internal and external stakeholders can make or break your game.
5. Role of tech and data
With the changing dynamics of customer experience, benchmarks that were previously held may need revision or a complete overhaul. The feedback produced from your employees, customers, and vendors would need a powerful CX tool to find actionable data that you can use to improve the journey for your consumer.
While digital touchpoints are essential, you may need physical touchpoints as well. For example, banks and hospitals and malls now that they’re opening up. While you may have to be agile and flexible to adapt to changes, you will also have to ensure you take your customers with you on this onwards journey.
Businesses have to make a profit, of course. But with digital in the picture, access to pricing and products are no longer a differentiator for the brand. What would matter in the future would be how your customer felt at the end of their journey with your brand.
