The Ask-Analyze-Act Model

The following article is a single chapter from How to Deliver a Seamless Customer Experience in the New Normal, a guide to rethinking your omnichannel CX strategy for 2020 and onward as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, written in partnership between GetFeedback and Jeannie Walters, CCXP, CEO, founder of Experience Investigators. Read the full guide here.

How do you know if your customer experience is meeting the expectations of your customers? 

Use the Ask-Analyze-Act model, which is even more effective when used for both digital experience and customer experience overall.

Ask 

What is it you want to know about your customers and how they feel? This depends on your goals.

Consider your overall Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and what actions you can take on the insights you want to gather. It is frustrating for you and your customers if you ask for information you can’t use. 

Instead, focus on what measurement will help you achieve your overall goals. Let’s take the goal of “increasing customer happiness” and break it down.

Many organizations measure Net Promoter Score (NPS) to assess how happy customers are. Tracking this metric allows organizations to keep a pulse of customer loyalty overall.

Digital experiences allow for more granular, specific ways to measure how customers feel along their journey. Customers seeking help within digital channels are probably struggling with achieving their goal(s) within that digital experience. 

Goal Completion Rate (GCR) can be measured with a short survey in the experience or by using analytics after the experience. If a customer didn’t achieve their goal, they are likely to be disappointed or frustrated.

Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT) is another way to determine if a customer is happy with a specific interaction or point along the journey. This is a good way to measure how a customer feels about the support they received in specific service experience, for example.

And Customer Effort Score (CES) can be used separately or in combination with these other metrics. For example, the short survey that measures “Did you meet your goal today” could also include a question about effort. “How easy was it for you to meet your goal?”

Ask both relational questions like NPS and transactional questions around GCR, CSAT, and CES to get a full picture of how your customers feel throughout their customer journey.

Analyze

Now that you have measurements and feedback, it’s what you do with it that matters.

Look for patterns that show when customers are not achieving what they need. Goal Completion Rate results might point to a specific touchpoint where customers are abandoning the digital channel. CSAT rates after customer service calls might point to where Customer Service agents need more clarity or training. 

Analyzing is important because, without that analysis, it’s difficult to prioritize and act on it.

Act

Your cross-functional leadership team can be a big help here. Once you know where some of the issues are, it’s time to act on improving them. 

Prioritize those improvements by how they’ll help the business goals, your customer experience strategy, and your customer’s experience. Then follow up and ensure those decisions have led to action. Who is responsible for those changes? Ownership is critical to getting things done.

And repeat

Now that you’ve made the changes, it’s time to ask again. Are customers happier than they were before the improvements were made? 

We’re living in a world of constant change and evolving expectations. Due to COVID-19, more than ever before, digital experiences should provide customers with a better customer experience overall through more convenience, personalization, choice, and safety.

Your customers want you to understand who they are, what they expect, and their overall journey. Commit to providing them with a seamless, customer-focused journey, no matter what channel they choose.

This article is a single chapter from How to Deliver a Seamless Customer Experience in the New Normal, a guide to rethinking your omnichannel CX strategy for 2020 and onward as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, written in partnership between GetFeedback and Jeannie Walters, CCXP, CEO, founder of Experience Investigators.

Read the full guide here.