Lecture 1: Introduction to customer experience management
What is customer experience?
Customer experience refers to the overall experience a customer has with a particular
business, from the initial contact to the after-sales service.
Customer experience is a multidimensional construct focusing on a customer’s cognitive,
emotional, behavioral, sensorial, and social responses to a firm’s offerings during the
customer’s entire purchase journey.”
What is it not?
1. Customer experience is not solely about customer service.
2. Customer experience is not static: It is not a one-time event or interaction. Instead, it
is an ongoing process that evolves with customer expectations, market trends, and
technological advancements.
3. Customer experience is not solely about satisfaction.
4. Customer experience is not just about providing good products or services: Although
the quality of products or services is a crucial factor, customer experience goes beyond
the actual product.
“What people really desire are not products but satisfying experiences”
The types of touchpoints in the customer experience (And so different types of control) can
be categorized as:
• Brand-Owned:
Interactions managed by the firm, including all brand-owned media such as advertising,
websites, and loyalty programs, as well as elements of the marketing mix like product
attributes and service quality (packaging, employees, service). Customer interactions
during the experience that are designed and managed by the firm and under the firm‘s
control
• Partner-Owned:
Interactions jointly designed or managed by the firm and its partners, such as platforms,
multichannel distribution partners, and loyalty program collaborators.
Customer interactions during the experience that are jointly designed, managed, or
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controlled by the firm and one or more of its partners
• Customer-Owned:
Interactions not entirely controlled by the brand, acknowledging the importance of others
in the customer's journey, like forums, communities, and social media.
Customer interactions during the experience that are not (entirely) owned or controlled by
the brand. Everything that forms customer experience is not controlled by the company.
The typical phases in the customer journey, as outlined by Lemon and Verhoef (2016),
are:
Pre-Purchase (Phase 1):
Encompasses all aspects of the customer‘s interaction with the brand, category, and
environment before a purchase transaction.
- In theory: customer‘s entire experience before purchase
- In practice: customer’s experience from the beginning of the need recognition to
consideration of satisfying that need with a purchase.
- Examples: Researching products or services online. Comparing prices and features of
different brands. Reading reviews and seeking recommendations from friends or online
sources
Purchase (Phase 2):
Covers all customer interactions with the brand and its environment during the purchase
itself.
- Most frequent focus of traditional mapping and experience measurements
- Examples: Signing a contract for a service, Buying a ticket for an event.. Subscribing to
a product or service online
Post-Purchase (Phase 3)
Encompasses customer interactions with the brand and its environment following the
actual purchase (e.g., usage, post-purchase engagement, service requests
- This stage could extend temporally from the purchase to the end of the customer‘s life
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- Customer‘s experience after
purchase that relate to the brand or
product/service itself
- Examples: Receiving and using the
purchased product or service.
Contacting customer support
for assistance or inquiries.
Providing feedback or
reviews about the purchased
item or service.
Creating and capturing value
so there is value for customers
as well as for the company and
this is in balance.
Part 1: Create value for customers by understanding their needs, designing a tailored
experience strategy, implementing a comprehensive CX management approach, and aiming
to delight customers throughout their journey.
Part 2: Capture value by fostering profitable, long-term relationships through personalized
services, loyalty programs, and ongoing support.
In reality the customer journey is much more complex and never seen as a straight line.
The professorial view on customer experience is in a T-shape profile meaning, the concept
of T-shaped skills, or T-shaped persons is a metaphor used in job recruitment to describe
the abilities of persons in the workforce. The vertical bar on the letter T represents the
depth of related skills and expertise in a single field, whereas the horizontal bar is the ability
to collaborate across disciplines with experts in other areas and to apply knowledge in areas
of expertise other than one's own.
In the context of Customer Experience Management, a T-shaped profile suggests that
professionals have both in-depth expertise in a specific area of customer experience, such
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as customer service or
product design (the vertical bar), and the ability to collaborate effectively with experts
from other disciplines to enhance overall customer experience (the horizontal bar). This
balanced skill set enables them to contribute specialized knowledge and work
collaboratively with diverse teams, ultimately leading to improved customer satisfaction
and a more holistic approach to managing customer experiences
So:
• Touchpoints: These represent the specific points of interaction between the
customer and the business, such as customer service calls, product inquiries, or
online interactions.
• Customer Journeys: This refers to the overall experience a customer has with a
company, encompassing all touchpoints and interactions throughout their entire
engagement with the brand.
Underneath this structure, there are two distinct elements of customer experience
management:
• Strategic CX Management (Top): This level is managed by the leadership and
focuses on ensuring positive customer experiences at every stage. It involves the
coordination and orchestration of touchpoints to create a seamless and integrated
customer journey.
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