Customer experience or CX is a field of expertise that has seen significant growth in the past years. In fact, it has become so important for businesses that companies consider it a key part of their strategies.
No wonder a lot of young people are wanting to get into this line of work and are looking for advice on how to do so. Luckily, CX expert and author Blake Morgan has compiled a list of the most useful skills a person needs to have or develop to get a CX job.
Experience in Other Areas
Some knowledge in other fields is helpful for CX professionals as they often work with colleagues in other departments
According to Morgan, CX is a field that ‘doesn’t exist in its own box’. Thus, professionals who excel in it typically have the ability to reach out and work with people in other departments of the company they work for. This means learning to ‘speak’ the language spoken by those in the finance or IT department so everybody can effectively create strategies focusing on customers together.
Interacting with Customers
There’s no better way to get to know customers than actually interacting with them. Thus, Morgan advises people to get their hands dirty and consider getting experience in customer service. This would give one the opportunity to solve real complaints and answer questions from actual customers that avail of a company’s products and services.
Becoming a Good Public Speaker
Acquiring this skill may take plenty of practice but will pay off in the end
CX professionals will find themselves in front of both small and large groups of executives and customers, so developing public speaking skills will be beneficial for them.
This involves learning how to speak in an articulate manner and being able to come up with persuasive messages to get people on one’s side. Similarly, one also needs the people skills to be able to network across a variety of settings be it speaking with someone in person or networking online.
An Understanding of Analytics
CX relies heavily on data and analytics. Professionals in the field will find themselves in situations where they need to justify their call for investments in CX and having data to present is a persuasive way to go about the task. What more, numbers will also be helpful in tracking the kind of progress that one’s initiatives are making. Thus, CX professionals should have skills that’ll allow them to tell stories using analytics.
A People-Winning Personality
CX professionals should strive to be someone who others want to talk to.
When one is dealing with people, it greatly helps them to be the kind of person others want to be around. Being too professional and work-oriented may be a turn off to some. Part of being likable is having a well-rounded personality and having interests that aren’t related to one’s work.