Hi Marius, tell us about yourself, your background?
I started my career 13 years ago and held multiple roles in community management and customer success; I joined Postclick 7 years ago, and I am now their VP of Customer Experience. I built our processes and team of 50 CX individuals working with thousands of clients from around the world.
Online commerce was booming in 2020, and so did consumer reviews. – How can brands better utilize this data to improve their customers’ experience?
Now more than ever, we know exactly what our clients want. There are so many third-party websites that collect that kind of feedback, and this has eliminated the guessing game. I think that the only focus should be executing on the data that is being collected and knowing which parts are worth executing on.
What is one element that must always be considered when working on a CXM (customer experience management) strategy?
Impact. There are so many things that can sometimes be done that sometimes it is hard to pinpoint what’s truly impactful in your organization. If you have data to support tangible impact, that should be the cornerstone of your strategy.
Do you think personalization and customer-centricity are going to become increasingly more relevant in the coming year? How so?
Here at Postclick, we’re in the business of personalized experiences, and that’s not just on the destinations of your ad campaigns. Technology to support personalization now exists at every level. Everyone should leverage that, especially customer experience teams; you should want your users and clients to have a relevant experience across the board. This used to be difficult to achieve, but with so many facets of everyday life moving online, the space is now more competitive than it ever was, and solutions to help support personalization of customer experiences are more accessible than ever.
What are some of the ways companies can strive to eliminate the CX Gap?
Data and communication are key. You can use both to really tie everything together – from communication with your clients to internal communication and streamlining your customer experience to achieve consistency throughout the funnel. Use data to support your decisions, and the CX gap will become a non-issue.
What’s the most insightful book you read in 2020?
I think it’s probably “The Customer Success Economy: Why Every Aspect of Your Business Model Needs A Paradigm Shift” by Allison Pickens and Nick Mehta; it really highlights the maturity of customer experience and customer success in 2020, and the huge leaps that we’ve taken in this past decade. Every customer experience leader should read this book, and your entire leadership team should too.
Marius’ predictions for the future of CX
What are your predictions for trends in customer experience in the coming year?
Client expectations are as high as they ever were, and this year should be the year where more and more companies are actually going to meet them. My prediction is that software and tech-assisted customer success will help companies achieve their goals and deliver truly impactful success experiences to their customers.
Last but not least, what is your favorite CX metric?
I still like tracking traditional metrics like net MRR retention and NPS, but my favorite right now is customer health; it can be defined differently by every organization. If defined correctly, it will truly show you what matters for your business and customer base. As long as you find a strong connection between your leading metric and business results, I think you’re on the right path.
