What Is the Difference Between A CX Supplier and A CX Partner?
When a company seeks assistance in enhancing or transforming its customer service processes, it often explores the offerings from specialists in the field. This is precisely the realm where DATAMARK is concentrated. Offering us a wealth of insights to articulate best practices in designing the optimal customer experience (CX) for our clients.
However, any management consultant can create a checklist outlining the basic selection strategy for finding a customer service specialist. The typical checklist will feature questions or criteria such as experience in the client’s industry, how performance is measured and reported, and the client’s cost structure.
Some articles online repeat this advice, but finding and selecting a company that will manage your customer experience is unlike any other purchase your business will make. It’s not a one-off purchase. It is an ongoing relationship that should develop over many years with a partner who will be the public face of your brand.
This is not a decision to be taken lightly and certainly not based on a list of variables that probably don’t measure what you want from the relationship anyway.
Here are three different areas to focus on and explore in more depth with any potential CX partner:
Culture
Approach to Customer Experience
Communication
This is really the question of whether you work with a big or small CX specialist. The biggest players have hundreds of thousands of contact center agents in 100+ countries worldwide. You might get an account manager’s number, but unless you are the largest company in the world, that is about as good as your access will ever get.
Some companies may want or need that scale. Still, in most cases, communication between the client and the CX specialist will be much better when the specialist is slightly smaller and more focused on your area of business.
When you can pick up the phone and talk to director-level managers or even the CEO, you know that your business matters and your needs will be a priority.
Bottom Line?
Naturally, some of the priorities on the management consultant list will always be important. You need to check the price, service quality, data security level, and so on. However, if these other factors are not resolved, it will be tough to build a long-term trusted relationship.
This is what you need from a CX partner. A CX specialist who will become your public face will advise you on what your customers expect. Additionally, they will always have one eye on the future and what the competition is doing.
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