Dictionary definitions or a quick google will give you a neat, textbook response as to what customer service and public relations both mean.
They’ll tell you how, customer service as ‘as the name would imply’ deals with directly working with a businesses’ customers. And how public relations, is a much more niche principle in its dealing with media and other organisations.
They will also indicate how they are two different principles. But this is not necessarily correct.
Why does CX matter in Comms?
A business cannot prosper without clients.
In a competitive environment, the firm must strive for success by getting more customers. Great customer service is essential for a growing business. So too is a positive perception.
So, from the outset we’re starting to see how PR, communications and customer service immediately serve the same purpose. Both exist to curry favour, enhance profile and gain more business.
So, we can safely say that great customer service can be massively enhanced in direct correlation from effective public relations and Comms.
How do CX and Comms Link?
Because both customer relationship management and PR and Comms are rooted in communication.
The sole purpose of both is to convey a brand or a business in the most positive possible context. That doesn’t matter if it’s a high level b2b transaction, a family taking a flight to Spain, or a student buying a can of drink.
The nature of the transaction, at its highest level is quite irrelevant. What is most important is that a business or brand can garner brand loyalty, endearment and trust from its customer base.
Word of warning, no quick fix approach?
Linking the two, if not linked already, does not guarantee immediate customer satisfaction.
Creating positive synergies between these two divisions, and having them work hand in hand can go a long way to allowing for a positive customer experience… but it takes time.
With proper alignment, scope and time, PR and Comms can help to heighten a user experience. Enhancing the customer journey, endearing brand loyalty and generally increasing customer satisfaction on the whole.
Linking Customer Service Teams and PR
Whilst customer service teams are traditionally set aside from PR teams, this isn’t to say that the two cannot and should not influence each other.
The messaging conveyed to the customer-to-customer service teams, should be originating from PR. Equally PR can learn from customer service teams, as they are at the coal face. They are the ones with some of the most valuable and valid consumer feedback.
Customer service teams can be a font of knowledge when it comes to PR and brand messaging, it shouldn’t be ignored.
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What does great CX look like
Responding quickly:
A timely response to a customer query is the difference between a great customer experience and a bad one. Response time can either alleviate a negative experience, or compound it further.
Acting on feedback:
Customers feeling like they have been heard are more likely to remain endeared to a business or brand. Acting on feedback can only ever enhance brand loyalty.
Having empathy:
Empathy is the key to retention. Consumers are turned off brands when it feels like the brand is turning their back on them.
Maintaining customer self-service options:
Allowing customers to be self-sufficient while seeking their own answers can be just as powerful as holding their hand. Remember, an in-depth and accessible FAQs page is a powerful tool.
Providing omnichannel support:
Everyone communicates in their own way. Brands and businesses now must have a broad spectrum of communications tools at their disposal, such as phone, live chat, email or social media.
Looking at the above, we can see how each of them, in some shape or form, link into comms. Be it social media strategy, content or SEO.
CX & PR In Action
Over the years, businesses and brands have performed feats of wonder when it comes to their customer experiences. Linking them up with PR and comms to gain positive PR traction and endearment, with their existing customer base and the wider public.
Here are just a selection, the cream of the crop.
Tesla
Tesla has a policy whereby it sends out mechanics and maintenance workers to fix vehicle faults, by visiting the customer where they are. At its heart is an effective PR strategy based around third party endorsement.
And when a brand like Tesla can have a regular Joe tweet that a Tesla worker came to his house within 40 minutes, fixed his car problems, then got him on his way, this is both excellent customer service and effective PR.
Sainsburys
Who remembers the infamous Lily Robinson letter of 2012?
Lily, aged 3 1/2 at the time, wrote a letter to the supermarket chain, asking why Tiger Bread was called Tiger Bread. When in fact it looked nothing like a tiger, and more like a giraffe.
The response from Sainsbury’s was nothing short of spectacular.
A customer manager replied to Lily, not only thanking her for letter, but agreeing with her. Tiger Bread was indeed a silly name. Lily got a small gift card in the letter yes, but the big thing was Sainsbury’s changing the name of Tiger Bread to Giraffe Bread across their stores.
Cue viral content, and a massive surge in popularity for the supermarket chain.
Adobe
Adobe is renowned for the way it deals with customer complaints, via social media… before those complaints have even happened.
Perhaps the most famous example of this was, when they were experiencing service quality drops due to a third-party issue. They came out, right away on Twitter announcing the issues. But they also included a video of a ‘puppy stampede‘ which lightened the tone of the entire thread.
Winning through superior customer experience
Customer loyalty and customer retention, regardless of your business, are crucial to your success.
The examples we’ve just given above are just a small selection of how brands and businesses can link their CX activities into their wider PR and vice versa.
These are exemplary samples of customer experience done in a way that will enhance the brand’s public profile, winning hearts and minds along the way.
Improving CX with PR
The first step to improving CX with PR is to shift perceptions on what CX really is and how it’s achieved.
Increasing customer and brand loyalty and customer retention are not actions… these are outcomes. Businesses need to set their sights not just on achieving these, but HOW they achieve them.
A PR strategy can be implemented to help develop this across a number of ways:
Key Messaging
Key messaging is the first step in any PR activity.
Establishing key messaging in line with the customer service team and customer facing FAQs will ensure that there is branding and consistency in communications throughout the entire customer journey.
Having consistency will improve the customer experience, influence customer feedback and help prevent an overall poor customer experience.
Social media management
Aligning your social media presence with your PR strategy is a great way to maintain a certain level of customer experience management.
A huge amount of customer communications now goes through social media. It is now the primary source of communication for most businesses and their audiences.
As such, a major focus must be placed on maintaining a certain level of customer experience through these channels. Particularly with the rise of influencers and micro-influencers, businesses could wind up in situations with individuals with potentially vast followings.
In these circumstances, a lapse in the customer experience management, could prove to haven very negative consequences.
Leveraging good news in the media
Make the most of any opportunities to share good stories that can be linked back to the customer experience.
This could be anything from a trade story highlighting your businesses latest efforts in customer experience, a local news story which highlights a certain action or activity – like the Sainsbury’s letter – or maybe even something with national traction.
Digital Deepdive
An agency with the means to perform a complete digital audit of your audience interactions to date, can be invaluable.
Deep-diving, not just the way a business interacts with its customer, but the way those customers interact with each other as a community, can be an incredibly powerful tool and provide valuable insight into your customer experience strategy.
Content Creation
Content Creation can also play a significant role in your CX and PR strategies.
Content is now one of the most sought after skills and abilities from an agency side, and the best agencies can take key messaging and combine it with the digital deep dive findings to create a tailor-made solution to your business.
There’s no one size fits all approach to content, it can have a wide range and scope, but an agency will tailor the content to you and your audience.
Brand Damage in the Digital Age
Over the last 10 years, the rapid digitalisation of media outlets has meant the customer experience has become increasingly public.
With the rise in digital skills and online diversity, so too has the scope for potential brand damage.
Now, a customer has myriad ways of connecting with you, voicing their opinion and digitally gathering with other likeminded consumers.
This has the potential for great positive customer experience, but also has the potential for negative customer experience.
One way of working to mitigate this, is through Online Reputation Management (ORM).
Online Reputation Management
Most customer experiences now occur online. Therefore, online reputation management could and should from a big part of a joint PR CX approach.
Today, your reputation online is your reputation. A quick Google search can be make-or-break whether a potential client chooses you or someone else.
One tweet in poor taste, one poorly handled online customer query, can undo a lifetime of positive brand building.
ORM Services can proactively craft your online presence to give the best possible representation of your company. Nurture, curate and give it your constant attention, for the best possible outcomes.
ORM 2.0
Your leadership also needs to consider their online reputation.
The personal brands of your management reflect on your organisation and so their online presence also needs to be put under the microscope.