Build a Stronger CX Strategy: The Top 3 EX Tips Every Business Needs

The customer experience (CX) has taken center stage for quite some time now as businesses focus on delivering personalized, frictionless experiences. But successful companies quickly realize it’s time for the employee experience (EX) to share some of the spotlights.

Happy employees deliver more positive interactions to the customers they serve. The result is satisfied customers who are much more likely to remain loyal for the long term and spread positive word-of-mouth advertising. The benefits continue to cascade throughout the business, impacting revenue and future growth.

The challenge is figuring out how to deliver an exceptional employee experience amid constant disruption.

Experience is Everything. Discover how EX Adds Value to Every Org's CX Strategy. >

Top Challenges of Creating an Optimized EX

Remote and hybrid workers often have a clunky and disjointed experience when shifting between physical and virtual offices. One of the most common challenges is poor integration between existing systems, forcing remote and hybrid workers to waste time trying to locate information. Application overload exacerbates the problem, with workers constantly switching between apps to retrieve data. Many businesses also need help to deliver consistent communications and support to virtual employees.

Inefficiencies, lack of a unified experience, and inconsistency slow workers down and contribute to frustration and confusion. The Great Resignation proves that employees won’t stick around when they aren’t satisfied and engaged, but the effects trickle down to the customer too.

Consider the satisfaction level of a customer who has to wait five minutes while a remote worker switches between applications to retrieve essential information or (worse yet) provides the wrong information because they haven’t been adequately updated. What are the chances of them coming back as repeat customers?

A poor employee experience leaves business even more short-handed and creates a wave of negativity that crashes down on customers, sales, and revenue.

The Benefits of Exceptional EX

An optimized EX strategy produces employees who are more engaged and satisfied. They spend less time searching for information, more time resolving customer queries, and focusing on higher-value work, whether working from home, in the physical office, or somewhere in between—productivity and efficiency increase.

Naturally, happier workers are less likely to resign, and it’s easier to attract and retain top talent when EX scores high. HR can focus on providing consistent and engaging experiences rather than being stuck in a constant loop of recruiting and training.

Customers benefit from faster response times and a more engaging, personalized experience (courtesy of happier employees). They’re more likely to become long-term customers and even recommend your products and services to others. This increases revenue and creates a stable base of growth for the business overall.

Sounds appealing, right? So, how do you make it a reality?

3 Tips for Optimal Results

Delivering an optimized employee experience starts with having the right tools and technology. Employees say tools for finding and sharing information, reducing repetitive tasks, and organizing and prioritizing their work greatly benefit their performance. When evaluating the technology available, keep these three tips in mind.

1. It must be seamless.

In-person shopping has nearly returned to pre-pandemic levels, and at the same time, 45 percent of consumers have increased their use of online customer service. In other words, customers demand the flexibility to easily switch back and forth between digital channels (even when standing in a brick-and-mortar store).

To meet this need, your employees need the same kind of flexibility and seamless transition. They need to be able to access customer data quickly and easily, and they shouldn’t have to navigate between multiple applications to do it. Employees should also be able to complete tasks as fast on their smartphones as on their desktops.

A unified communications and collaboration solution provides employees with innovative digital tools to serve customers quickly and efficiently. Employees can start conversations on one channel or device and seamlessly switch to another in real-time. They can also instantly search for and retrieve information in documents, emails, and IM conversations, allowing them to resolve questions and issues faster and with less friction.

2. Connections mean everything.

We’re moving away from the traditional 9-5, Monday-Friday format and into a fluid paradigm where employees have more control over the structure of their workday. But employees still need to be able to connect and collaborate with colleagues. They also need to easily navigate between phone, email, SMS, Web chat, and social media to create a personalized customer experience.

Today’s teams need options to communicate in the way that works best for them. Whether it’s voice, messaging, audio-video conferencing, or individual or group chats, everyone should be empowered to dial into their preferences. Shared workspaces make it easy to track and manage project progress, assign tasks, and share files so employees can collaborate easily across time zones and geographies.

3. Modernize your communications.

Modern communications technology makes it easier to scale as your business needs change. A Mitel survey found that 73 percent of organizations say modern UC solutions drive business growth.

As your organization evolves, modern technology grows alongside you to enable an accurate, real-time collaboration experience. The right technology partner will guide your business toward modernization, whether you utilize on-prem or cloud solutions. Mitel’s subscription model optimizes our options by allowing you to deploy where you want – public cloud, private cloud, or on-prem – and how you want with both OpEx and CapEx financial models.

Regardless of the path, a modern UC solution is a flexible and cost-effective way to support your entire employee base, keeping them productive, connected, and happy.

Looking to Increase Customer Satisfaction? Start with Your Employees First. >