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Glossary Keep customers loyal 2 min read

What is customer experience (CX)?

Lewis Dowling Managing Director and Consultant

Short answer

Customer experience (CX) is how it feels to deal with your business, from the first time someone finds you to long after they've made a purchase. It's made up of every interaction they have with you, big and small. Good CX makes customers want to come back and tell their friends about you.

Also known as: CX

Contents

Why it matters

Customers tend to drift away after a build-up of small annoyances. A confusing invoice here, a slow reply there. Each one on its own isn't a big deal, but together they wear people down.

But small things work the other way too. A quick answer or remembering someone's name can make a customer feel looked after. Those moments are what people mention when they recommend you.

For a growing business, CX is also a way to compete with bigger rivals. You might not be able to match their budgets, but you can often be easier and nicer to deal with.

Common mistakes

  • Thinking it's just customer service. Customer service is one part of customer experience. The rest includes your website, your emails, your invoices, and how easy you are to get hold of.

  • Only looking at it from the inside. Your processes might make perfect sense to your team. Try them as a customer and see how they feel.

  • Ignoring the boring bits. Invoices and reminder emails are part of the experience too. They're often where things feel coldest.

  • Fixing things once and forgetting. Customer expectations shift. Keep checking.

How to get started

  • Be your own customer. Go through your process as if you'd just found yourself on Google. Note anything confusing or slow.
  • Map the customer journey. List every point where customers come into contact with you.
  • Read your own emails and documents. Check whether they sound like a person wrote them, and whether they make sense first time.
  • Ask customers. A short survey or a couple of friendly calls will tell you what's working and what isn't.
  • Fix the most annoying thing first. Then move on to the next one.

FAQs

What's the difference between customer experience and customer service?

Customer service is the help you give when someone asks for it, like answering a question or fixing a problem. Customer experience is everything, including all the moments when they don't need help at all.

How do you measure customer experience?

Customer surveys and Net Promoter Score (NPS) are common. It's also worth tracking how many customers stay or leave. Reading reviews and complaints closely tells you a lot too.

Does CX matter for B2B businesses?

Yes. The people buying from you are still people. They'll notice when you make life easy for them.

What's the quickest way to improve CX?

Look at your most common complaints or questions. They usually point straight to the bits of your process that need fixing.

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