Committing to customer experience and employee experience during times of uncertainty will help your business in the long run
As of today, yet another article has been published about Amazon’s plan to cut 10K jobs, this on the heels of layoffs at Meta and Twitter.
As we read more articles about layoffs, it is unfortunate to see support departments like Human Resources, Marketing, Customer Service and Customer Experience getting reductions or eliminations. Understandably, in times of economic uncertainty, support departments look ripe for overhead decreases.
After all, they are perceived as non-revenue generating, or at least non-direct revenue generating, which makes deciding to cut these departments a likely choice and necessary as belts get tightened. In addition, companies are looking for immediate returns on investments, and investing in the customer and brand can be complicated and long-term.
What happens to the customer if organizations are laying off all the people-centric services? What happens to the employees who serve the customer?
A challenge to businesses: Instead of eliminating departments that focus on people, investing in the customer might help mitigate business losses during these times.
History shows that sticking with customer experience pays off.
A study by the Qualtrics XM Institute states that companies with a customer experience program had more robust stock returns during the 2020 recession.
“Companies with the best customer experience ratings outperformed industry peers’ stock performance between 2019 and 2022”. These companies “doubled their lead over companies that provide poor customer experiences.”
“Those with highly-rated customer experiences saw their stock performance increase 45% between 2019 and 2022, while companies with low customer experience ratings saw their stock returns decline 21% in the same period.”
Read the article here: Business Wire.
If history shows us anything, it is companies that take a thoughtful and strategic approach to their brand experience, as well as thinking about the employee experience can result in gains. It might hurt, but the payoff will be rewarding.
Don’t abandon your customers now.
Your customers are reading the same articles about layoffs, and you want to alleviate their fears that your organization can get the job done with the same quality and consistency they have come to know and love.
Now is not the time to erode customer confidence in your brand. By having them question the quality of performance in their company, they could start looking elsewhere for services you don’t want.
Think about the alternative: This time is an excellent opportunity to show them how much their business means by nurturing and developing the relationship you have already forged. Let them know that you will be focusing on their needs. Let them know why they chose to do business with you, and they will continue.
Customers want to do business with organizations that value people, systems, and training to have the confidence that your company is stable.
Other benefits of a customer experience focus during times of uncertainty.
Time spent nurturing and building your customer experience and relationships is not spent on acquiring new customers. Acquisition of new customers is more expensive and time consuming. Improving and focusing on customer experience lets organizations know that the customer is still a focus of the organization and keeps them loyal.
93% of customers are more likely to make repeat purchases at companies with excellent customer service. (HubSpot)
The employee experience is just as affected when layoffs occur and have more significant effects on morale and confidence in leadership. Those left are now to take on a more significant workload, without their colleagues or contractors that they have come to work with closely every day. Eroding loyalty employees have in your organization can cause them to look elsewhere or check out, affecting productivity and quality. In addition, once things start to normalize, those employees might start looking elsewhere, which would affect retention.
Use this time to reassure your employees that you will continue to focus on your culture and experience for both them and the customer. It will give employees the confidence that you are an organization that cares about its people. And if you need to let people go, do so in good times and bad, and use a thoughtful and strategic approach to minimize the impact on the employee and the customer.
Final thoughts
The benefits of focusing on the customer experience and employee experience, in good times and bad, far outweigh the risks. Companies that take a people-centric approach can mitigate time wasted on starting over with their customer experience and employee experience efforts. Now is not the time to panic but to focus on organizational values.
The message that you are committed to the customer experience and the employee experience in your organization during these times matters for long-term success.
Don’t know where to start? Let us help you craft messaging that supports your brand and your commitment to people.