The Customer Experience (CX) is how the customer perceives all of his/her interactions with your company or brand. Whether they offer products or services, the companies that boast a satisfactory CX are the ones that meet or exceed their clients’ expectations, in all the stages of the Customer Journey.
A McKinsey study in the healthcare setting shows how the CX is crucial even when the products offered are of excellent quality. Thus products of excellent quality may not guarantee success if the experience is not positive. According to this study, conducted on 600 immunologists, prescribers who are fully satisfied with their interactions with a company tend to prescribe twice as much as those who are not. In essence, investment in the Customer Experience supports sales and market shares.
Only companies that ensure an excellent experience will benefit from a high level of customer loyalty. Nonetheless, while 80% of companies believe they ensure a “great experience” for their customers, only 8% of customers confirm they have great experiences (Bain & Company report). Why is that?
One of the problems has to do with the idea of “Customer Experience” itself, in its entirety, and the impact it should have on company strategy. First of all, companies must use objective tracking KPIs that take the entire Customer Journey into account, not just part of it, as instead often happens for practical reasons and in a strictly tactical manner. Once this analytical framework is in place, the company will be ready for the next step, more challenging but also more impactful: structuring itself organizationally and culturally to turn the Customer Experience into the backbone of company strategy.
Prioritizing CX is a radical choice: if its importance is accepted, the company must be ready for the necessary evolutions and leaps in quality.
In a complex and highly evolving landscape like that of Healthcare, the product and mere client satisfaction are no longer enough. Only companies that invest in the Customer Experience both structurally and culturally will be able to develop strategies that will positively impact business and that will set new standards in terms of quality of the customer experience in the years to come.
