Succeeding in the ‘Multiexperience’ Economy

It’s no longer enough to pay attention only to the customer experience (CX).  To be effective in serving your market, you need to incorporate the employee experience (EX) and the user experience (UX), according to Natalie Keightley, senior director, solutions marketing, Avaya.

“We have moved into the multiexperience economy, and organizations need to think about integrating CX, EX and UX into a personalized, effortless, connected and intelligent platform,” said Keightley in a presentation on Avaya Spaces™ at IAUG WIRED on May 20.  “The goal is create a series of interactions that people remember.”

Keightley began her talk with the customer experience.  Technology has shifted expectations upward and today’s buyers want everything.  That might mean self-service, using a voice-activated tool like Alexa or interacting with a human on the phone, text, WhatsApp, Facebook Messaging or online chat. “Customers want us to respect their privacy and they get annoyed if we don’t use their personal information to tailor services to their needs,” she said.

She emphasized that successful organizations take an individual’s feelings into account at every point in the customer journey. Quoting poet Maya Angelou, she said, “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”  Companies that can deliver a consistent positive experience can gain customer loyalty, Keightley added. But one failure, such as a bad five-minute phone call with an agent, could mean losing the customer forever.

Therefore, organizations also need to offer a positive employee experience – particularly at all the touchpoints of a customer’s journey. That might include the contact center, tech support, billing, shipping, returns and manufacturing. “Back office errors and delays are a major influencer of customer dissatisfaction,” Keightley said.

Keightley added that organizations need a “relentless focus” on their employees, and incorporate that experience into their CX design.  “Companies that invest in improving the employee experience will see high productivity and the potential for greater profitability,” she said.

But there is a third element that also needs to be included: the user experience, in regard to touchpoints and modalities.  Twenty years ago, users relied on the web, the keyboard and the voice call, Keightley said. Now, additional channels include smartphones, tablets, collaboration apps, team chat apps, and voice-activated home and office tools.

“The growth of natural language applications is changing the nature of self-service,” Keightley said. “It’s becoming effortless to search the web, place a call or send a text. As a result, many apps are now going from the foreground to the background.” Artificial intelligence (AI) is providing even more support for customers, employees and users seeking to make a purchase or accomplish a task.

For CIOs and CTOs, the shift to a multiexperience economy means trying to orchestrate a symphony of different technologies, devices and applications “Here’s where Avaya can help,” Keightley said, citing Avaya Spaces’ ability to enable continuous multiexperience collaboration before, during and after meetings.

“At Avaya, we can build speed-to-value packaged apps, so organizations can tailor journeys across all their touchpoints,” he added.  “We have technology partnerships to support your customers and agents, and we are breaking new ground in innovation at the edge. Our solutions are reshaping how people get things done.”