6 things tech companies should know about experience management (XM)

Customers love high tech, but they sometimes don’t love their experiences with it. However, when tech companies get experience management (XM) right, they’re richly rewarded. Here’s what you need to know...

1. With XM, you’ll predict and resolve problems - not merely respond to them

The world’s most successful companies no longer respond to problems when they occur, because they act before they even happen.

The experience leaders in high tech understand how customers and employees feel at every stage in the lifecycle, and work proactively to deliver experiences that drive better outcomes for their customers, retain and develop their best staff, and build a brand people can trust.

2. Tech companies are experience companies

Ultimately, no matter what specialty tech companies have, they have one thing in common: tech companies are experience companies.

Take Samsung, for example. It isn’t just a manufacturer of premium endpoints – it’s the gateway to experiences that bring people entertainment, connection, and joy.

Or look at Intel – B2B buyers depend on the chipset manufacturer not just for innovation that powers their products, but to make sure those products can serve up amazing experiences based on context, data, and personalization.

3. It’s not about operational data, it’s about actionable insights

In today’s world, there’s no shortage of data – from operational data like sales figures and turnover numbers to experience data like customer satisfaction and product reviews. But this information is only valuable if you can turn it into actionable insights.

Historically, companies have relied heavily on operational data – and gut instincts – to make decisions. Their level of maturity with collecting, and using, experience data is low, and as a result they aren’t able to understand the ‘why’ behind the ‘what’.

86% of companies believe operational data isn’t doing enough to help them offer better experiences to customers.

Tech companies typically aren’t capturing experience data from all stakeholders at every meaningful touchpoint. The customer, employee, product, and brand experience data they are collecting isn’t consolidated into a single, accessible platform; instead, this valuable information is spread across siloed teams and systems.

And because different departments within the organization are responsible for collecting this data across the four core experience areas, the data is not available at the same intervals.

Each of these factors means that the entire organization does not have access to the data and insights that can ultimately empower agile decision-making, strategic change, and measurable business outcomes.

4. Employee Experience (EX) is crucial

Your people are your greatest asset, so it’s crucial your workplace becomes a place where the best people want to work.

And arguably no industry depends more on the right talent than high tech. Growth is impossible without the people who power your product and your business. But the skills and acumen required to invent the future are, by definition, incredibly hard to find.

Because people have a plethora of options when it comes to where they can take their technical acumen, it’s important to communicate your purpose and talent value prop. And it’s even more important to create and deliver on an employee experience that attracts, motivates, and retains the people you need.

The technology sector has an employee turnover rate of 13.2% - the highest of any business sector.

The best employees at high-tech companies expect that their employers will use highly empathetic, data-driven approaches to employee engagement. It’s part of why they choose an innovative employer. People need to be listened to, and when their voices are heard, they are more likely to be more productive, stay longer, and add more value to the business.

Each moment has an impact on the individual and the business and presents the perfect chance to check in, identify any improvements, and work with people to improve their experience. How do you do this?

• Identify the milestones that matter. Provide employees with the means to share feedback at every critical stage in their career lifecycle – either through automated feedback requests or always-on mechanisms.
• Personalize the experience. Ensure feedback is delivered to the right people, in real time. Managers can then focus their attention on ways they can improve and have the greatest impact.
• Drive actions across the company. Automated analysis and tools like guided action planning to support managers as they work with their teams to improve the experience – without relying exclusively on HR.

Want to find out more? Download your Guide to experience management in high tech

5. The voice of the customer should be front and center

Because tech companies tend to emphasize product and sales excellence, the voice of the customer is often not front and center, leading to missed opportunities for more relevant, focused innovation that can lead to sustainable growth.

An experience-led transformation delivers impactful business outcomes to companies that employ a holistic experience management strategy encompassing customers, employees, product, and brand.

Given the pace of innovation, successful companies will be those that move from postulating about what’s next to predicting what’s next by developing a hyper-awareness of, and deep empathy for, people’s needs, wants, and expectations. To stay relevant, you must drive innovation to address unmet and unarticulated needs. It’s this human insight, coupled with experience transformation, that puts you ahead.

6. Experiences change in powerful ways through times of uncertainty

Historically, high-tech companies have been well-positioned to succeed in times of significant change by building capabilities in speed, agility, and execution. Though some fare better than others. Tech companies that lead economies out of recessionary times act boldly but smartly, inspired by customer intelligence and employee empathy.

That means you must always keep innovating and building for the future by:

• Increasing investment into maintaining customer loyalty and enabling transformation.
• Maintaining business continuity efforts and core organizational growth priorities.
• Focusing only on elements that have a clear business impact or a role in growth and transformation.

Move beyond ‘I think’, to ‘I know’

Experience Management (XM) gives you the high-value insights that empower high-velocity decisions. It combines experience data (X-data), operational data (O-data), and predictive intelligence, enabling you to move from “I think” to “I know.”