How do you measure “Member Experience?”

Managing the customer experience a top strategic priority among industry leaders today. It should be no surprise that customer satisfaction and customer retention are top-of-mind for these businesses, particularly in light of the fact that customers are increasingly willing to shop around to get the best price and service. More and more, consumers use the Web and social media to help make their buying decisions; if your reputation is good, you win. If it is poor, you lose.

The idea of managing your customer’s experience is only as good as the strategies behind the effort. The trouble is, notions like “satisfaction” and “experience” are subjective and not easily codified. The question becomes: How do you measure customer experience?  A report just published by Forrester titled “Executive Q&A: Customer Experience Measurement” aims to get to the heart of the question by surveying leading executives in the field. According to the study, firms need a framework that tells them not only how good their customers’ experiences are but also how to improve them and what benefits to expect from doing so.

Forrester defines Customer Experience as: how customers perceive their interactions with an organization. Therefore, fundamentally, to measure customer experience is to measure customers’ perceptions of their interactions with a firm. The report explores a number of key areas and questions to consider, including what types of customer experience metrics are needed, which customer experiences should be measured, and how companies can measure customer experiences across multiple communications channels.