Insight
A beginner’s guide to building a business case for Customer Experience
November 19, 2024
James Carr
In today’s highly competitive market, customer experience (CX) has emerged as a critical differentiator for brands seeking to stand out.
CMOs, CDOs, and Creative Directors are increasingly recognising that exceptional CX can:
If you’re experiencing difficulty making a business case for your customer experience project, this guide will explain exactly how you can overcome this in a few simple steps!
Customer experience encompasses every interaction a customer has with a brand, from initial awareness through to post-purchase support.
It’s been proven that companies that excel in CX consistently outperform their competitors. According to Gartner, customer experience drives over two-thirds of customer loyalty, outperforming brand and price combined. Forbes also found that companies that lead in customer experience outperform laggards by nearly 80%.
This significant impact really highlights the necessity for businesses to prioritise CX.
Effective CX strategies are great at supporting brand loyalty and customer retention. When customers feel valued and understood, they are more likely to return and recommend the brand to others. This ripple effect can lead to sustained business growth and a stronger market position.
Is your company wanting to stand out in the market? Do you want to make more money? Do you want to build strong relationships with your customers?
If your answer to any of those questions were yes, here are 3 core points of value that you can get from investing in your customer experience:
Improving CX can really elevate a brand's reputation.
There is a direct correlation between positive CX and increased revenue.
A study by Temkin Group found that companies earning $1 billion annually can expect to earn an additional $700 million within three years of investing in customer experience. This substantial ROI illustrates the financial benefits of prioritising CX initiatives.
Superior CX can set a brand apart from its competitors.
In markets saturated with similar products and services, the quality of customer interactions becomes a key differentiator. Industry leaders like Amazon and Apple consistently emphasise exceptional customer experiences, thereby securing loyal customer bases and leading market positions.
In fact, think of a company right now who portrays the image of success. What’s the first company that comes to mind? We can guarantee you that they likely pride themselves on their customer experiences!
Customer journey mapping is crucial for understanding and improving CX. It involves visualising the end-to-end customer experience across various touchpoints.
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Personalisation is a key part of effective CX. Tailoring experiences to individual preferences can significantly enhance customer satisfaction.
Leading brands like Netflix and Spotify excel at this by using data-driven insights to offer personalised recommendations so you don’t have to spend hours scrolling through movies you have no interest in, or listening to songs in a playlist that don’t make sense.
These strategies are purposeful, and not only improve user experience but also support deeper customer engagement, encouraging you to watch or listen again.
Technological tools and innovations play a vital role in enhancing CX. From AI-powered chatbots to advanced CRM systems, these technologies streamline customer interactions and provide valuable insights.
Our partnerships with leading tech providers enable us to offer solutions that genuinely drive CX improvements for our clients.
A great example is when we used technology to transform Chester Zoo’s digital customer experience. We used storytelling using iBeacons, geo-location and push notifications with elements of gamification across the app to ultimately increase revenue, improve operations, and above all help the client deliver a best-in-class customer experience.
Several factors can influence the budget of a CX project, including things such as:
A comprehensive budget plan should account for these elements to make sure the investment is realistic and manageable.
To maximise your ROI, it will be crucial to implement cost-effective strategies. For instance, leveraging existing technology and focusing on high-impact areas can produce significant returns without excessive expenditure. Consider building this into your business case when pitching customer experience.
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are measurable values that demonstrate how effectively an organisation is achieving its objectives, and they are essential for measuring CX success.
Important KPIs include the Net Promoter Score (NPS)* and Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT)**.
Tracking NPS can reveal customer loyalty trends, while CSAT provides insights into immediate customer satisfaction. Demonstrating how these KPIs are tracked and analysed through case studies can enhance understanding and therefore influence your business case for customer experience.
Continuous improvement is vital for maintaining high CX standards. Regular assessments and iterations based on customer feedback ensure that CX strategies remain effective and relevant.
Neil Jones - Chief Sales and Marketing Officer at Marriott International recognises that great customer experience starts with an informed and capable team to deliver it. A big part of this involves reviewing internal processes and employee satisfaction, before allowing improvements to be made where necessary. You can read more about what Neil, along with 6 other thought leaders in CX, had to say about this here.
In summary, investing in customer experience is not just a trend but a strategic necessity for long-term business success.
From enhancing brand reputation and driving revenue growth to differentiating in a competitive market, the benefits of superior CX are unmatched. By understanding the components of successful CX projects and effectively budgeting for them, brands can unlock a lot of potentially untapped value.
As a fun exercise, when you next order something online, or you pass a billboard outside, or you simply turn on your TV after a long day of work, think about what makes that pleasant experience stand out.
This, ultimately, is your business case for customer experience.
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If you’re ready to elevate your brand’s customer experience but not sure where to start, reach out to us for a personalised consultation. Explore how our innovative solutions and expert insights can help you achieve your CX goals!
Code is a customer experience, digital innovation and AI agency.
We’re a strategic digital partner that delivers breakthrough growth throughout the customer experience (CX).
We achieve this through our industry-renowned services in digital transformation, web development, brand strategy, conversion rate optimisation (CRO) and UX (user experience).
Our human centric approach underpins every aspect of our work.
A collective of experts in multiple disciplines, we collaborate to distil the complex needs of organisations and end users to engineer solutions that make an impact.
From fast scaling start ups to global brands, we can help you to transform your organisation.
Code is a part of EssenceMediacom North.
EssenceMediacom North helps brands to breakthrough in the new communications economy.
Disrupting models of media, EssenceMediacom North accelerates creative and business transformation for its clients roster, including Hillarys, Absolute Collagen, Webuyanycar.com and United Utilities.
The agency delivers breakthrough growth, capabilities, and revenue through the integration of media, creativity, data and technology, combined with its diverse industry-leading expertise.
Equipped with access to the richest data, robust benchmarking and advanced technologies, EssenceMediacom North unlocks new opportunities to deliver truly integrated media solutions for scaling and global brands.
EssenceMediacom North is part of WPP’s media investment group, GroupM.
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