What is customer experience?
Customer experience (CX) refers to the overall experience that customers have with a company across all touchpoints: from initial contact via the website, consultation, and purchase to customer service and beyond.
CX encompasses not only the objective quality of service, but also the customer’s emotional perception and subjective satisfaction with the brand.
Why is customer experience important? / What advantages does it bring to the company?
An outstanding CX…
- increases customer satisfaction
- increases customer loyalty and retention
- reduces churn
- leads to positive word of mouth and recommendations
- has a direct impact on sales, repeat purchases, and brand value
Studies show that companies with strong CX perform significantly better than average in economic terms.
How do you measure customer experience? / What measurement methods are available?
CX is usually measured using the following methods:
- Net Promoter Score (NPS): “How likely are you to recommend us to others?”
- Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT): Satisfaction after an interaction (scale of 1–5)
- Customer Effort Score (CES): How easy was it to resolve an issue?
- Customer feedback & reviews: Direct, open feedback from surveys or portals
- Journey mapping & touchpoint analysis: Where are the sticking points? Where is everything running smoothly?
These are supplemented by qualitative interviews, chat analysis, and social listening.
Which metrics and KPIs help with CX evaluation?
Relevant KPIs for customer experience include:
- NPS, CSAT, CES (see above)
- First contact resolution rate (FCR) – How often is an issue resolved on the first attempt?
- Average response time in service
- Customer churn rate
- Repurchase rate & customer lifetime value (CLV)
- Conversion rate at touchpoints (website, emails, etc.)
- Return/complaint rate – How many customers complain?
How can customer experience be improved? / What measures help?
Successful CX initiatives start in different places:
- Consistent and cross-channel communication
- Fast, empathetic customer service
- Personalized approach (e.g., product recommendations, content)
- Intuitive digital touchpoints (web, app, chat, support)
- Taking customer feedback seriously and using it
- Making employees “CX ambassadors”
CX thrives on continuous learning and optimization throughout the entire customer journey.
What questions should be included in a customer satisfaction or service survey?
Good CX surveys ask short, clear, and targeted questions:
- How satisfied are you with your last contact/purchase? (CSAT)
- How likely are you to recommend us to others? (NPS)
- How easy was it to resolve your issue? (CES)
- What did you particularly like?
- What can we do better?
- Would you buy from us again? Why/why not?
Tip: Open-ended questions provide valuable qualitative insights!
What questions do customers ask in direct dialogue or complaints?
In service conversations or complaints, customers often ask these questions:
- What will happen to my complaint now?
- How long will it take to process?
- Why did something go wrong?
- Who is responsible?
- How can I reach you?
- What are you doing to prevent this from happening again?
CX-strong companies respond empathetically, solution-oriented, and transparently.
Who is responsible for customer experience?
CX is a matter for senior management – but it also requires teamwork.
Typically, the following are responsible:
- Customer experience managers/CX leads
- Marketing and brand teams (for communication and perception)
- Sales & customer service (for specific touchpoints)
- Product teams (for usability & benefits)
- IT & UX design (for digital interactions)
- Management / C-level to strategically anchor CX
CX must be thought of and managed holistically – often supported by a dedicated CX strategy or roadmap.
Where does our company stand in terms of CX? / Where do we want to go?
This question focuses on CX maturity level:
- How well do we understand our customer journey?
- Do we have consistent touchpoints and channels?
- Do we use data and feedback systematically?
- Is CX part of our strategy and corporate culture?
- Are there clear CX goals and responsibilities?
The goal should be to move from a reactive approach to customer feedback to proactive, data-driven CX management that exceeds customer expectations - not just meets them.
More about Customer Experience
- Everything you need to know about Customer Experience (CX)!
- Creating positive customer experiences with customer experience management
- 3 touchpoints in the customer experience (with video)
- Your way to an effective customer experience strategy!
- 10 methods to analyze the customer experience
- 12 practical examples for improving the customer experience
- 10 metrics to measure Customer Experience
- Everything you need to know about the Net Promoter Score (NPS)!
- Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT) – Measuring Customer Satisfaction differently
- Customer Effort Score (CES): How much effort do your customers have?
