Seven things clever people taught us about CX

We had an event the other week where customer experience experts told us what they’d learnt about changing the language of their CX. (Yes, we know the jargon.) They were Jorge Mascarenhas from O2, Jess Poore from British Gas and Shelagh Martin from HSBC, since you ask.

If you weren’t there (and most people in the world weren’t), here are a few of their pearls of wisdom. Think of them like ‘Goals of the Month’ on Match of the Day.

1. To change your language externally, you need to change it internally. So don’t talk about ‘retention’; talk about ‘customers staying with us’. Get HR and internal comms bought in to really change the language of your culture.

2. Map out how your customers feel at different points in your journey. And tune your language to match. Split test your writing, and see when people want you to fall over yourself to be helpful – and when they just want the facts.

3. The last conversation you had with a brand shapes what you think of that brand, even if it’s on Twitter, or through a bill. And all of those moments add up to a good or bad experience.

4. The right language can win you fans in a crisis. When O2’s network went down, their customers actually got behind the O2 social media team because they handled so many grumpy customers in a genuine way, rather than just spitting out stock phrases.

5. To simplify your customer comms, you need to simplify the processes that sit behind them. That said, you can make even a complicated process feel easier by explaining it really clearly.

6. Language can help make your CX more efficient, or more empathetic, or more distinctive, or more consistent. Or all four. But be clear what you’re trying to achieve at the beginning.

7. Measure. Measure. Measure. Look at things like response rates and volumes of complaints to see the effect you’re having.