Hi Hans-Jacob, tell us about yourself and your background.
My name is Hans-Jacob, and I’m the CX Consultant at the Danish Commercial Industries Federation. It’s my job to be updated on trends and new opportunities within the field of CX and inspire our companies toward getting better at giving their customers a great ‘customer experience.’ I was previously B2B Sales Manager at Roskilde Festival, responsible for the hospitality programs for the companies who wanted to visit the festival. I hold a master’s degree in service management from Copenhagen Business School and is specialized in how a parallel customer journey is a tool to optimize the customer experience.
How did you first start working in the CX space?
In all my previous jobs, I worked with the mantra of it’s about the customer if I wanted to succeed. However, from I was a kid, I dreamed of working in soccer for a team to be a part of that setup that gives excellent experiences to everybody at the stadium. None of the less you can’t win every time. So that’s why Roskilde Festival was a great platform to give completely unique experiences to the B2B participants instead – right from the arrival to when they would leave after several concerts, etc.
What are some of the common misunderstandings related to customer experience?
The first misunderstanding is not to have the agenda on your C-level. If the C-level doesn’t accept and own the point of introducing the CX to your strategy and vision, you will lose a clear internal and external opportunity for having ambassadors and winning new customers or clients.
But when you have accepted that point. Then you must acknowledge that you can’t create procedures for everything. Your employees need ownership and enjoy making these experiences for your customers themselves. And even more important, they should have the power, tools, and capabilities to do what it takes on their own. With this said, then don’t run for a vision of creating extraordinary customer experiences every single time! It’s expensive and doesn’t solve the minor issues that make actual customer loyalty and ambassadors.
Have you seen any interesting new trends in eCommerce this year?
Well, we have moved from the digital era to the era of the customer. The customer has the final decision, and they are more aware of this than ever. As a business, you both need to have a fantastic site to visit; it must be convened. Your customer support must answer quickly and precisely; otherwise, the customer will leave you – and maybe even for your direct competitor. It’s tough to create loyal customers these days, but when you succeed, it’s all worth it.
eCommerce boomed in 2020, and consumers started leaving more product reviews online. So how can we make the most out of this momentum?
Online reviews are a funny thing because it’s so easy to misuse. Furthermore, in some industries or with some products, you’ll never receive a review with the explicit service you give – even if you did a great job. So ask yourself this, when is the last time you rated your bus driver for getting you from A to B? I believe the potential is in the communities where people discuss and share experiences. And why that? Because it creates honesty and constructive dialogue between the customers, the company can be an active part of this, for instance, by hosting this community and at the same time providing customer support.
What are some CX companies/solutions you’re keeping your eyes on right now?
Different initiatives are pretty interesting because they listen to the customer’s needs and disrupt some traditional solutions. For example, Dixa raised another $105M, and I’m excited to see how they react.
Then there’s these smaller company who disrupts the old systems. For example, in Denmark, Subit works for an easier way to find solutions in the course plan with their cloud-based AI solution. I love how basic CX instruments and thoughts contribute to creating a better platform for our school system, which means that teachers can focus on the youth after implementation.
So many things changed in 2020. While some things will return to “normal,” what are new trends and habits you think will stay with us in the long term?
We have all moved our preferences after the extraordinary push into the digital transformation. However, I believe there’s a generation gap that we must be more aware of how – those who grew up with the digital options will properly keep some of their habits when they make their purchases on webshops. At the same time, the elderly would more likely go back to normal. But, again, this would be a question of convenience for the individual customer.
And to answer your question in more detail, I believe the unique digital universes are here to stay. There’s quite a significant gain of quality with the presentations of new and exciting products for both the B2B and B2C markets, and you should seriously consider implementing the technology into your eCommerce or omnichannel strategy. To that point, XR is a substantial part of that era which is coming now, and it’s coming fast.
Do you believe focus groups are still relevant in the era of eCommerce? Why?
Of course – the most excellent ideas come when people meet. For example, we see a higher revenue when the companies let the customers have power and a voice. So, satisfy your customers by meeting them and listen. This advice actually comes from Heidi Boye, Danish Country Director at Too Good To Go, but I believe this is one of the best at this point.
Last but not least, what is your favorite CX metric?
Customer churn rate – that’s my favorite because it’s infrequent that a customer who left you will tell you that they are going. You’ll have to find out yourself, and even better, you improve your chances for preventing the churn with the CCR.
