Customer experience isn’t a one-time project, as you might think. No business can just “set and forget it”. This is a fact that many organizations come to know about when a “crisis situation” arises. It’s time when you learn that there might be something wrong with your customer experience strategy. From poor personalization to a failed design approach, there can be anything that results in trouble. This is why you need to know about different crisis situations that can indicate issues with your current CX approach.

Wondering what condition can really put your business’s customer experience to the test? Although there can be a dozen things, some are more common than others. You can take the example of frequent “service outages”. Sometimes, it can be a technical glitch that appears to be minor. The other times, it can be a graver problem, like “network failures”. Then, there’s one of the most dangerous situations for businesses. We’re talking about “product recalls”. There can be safety concerns that lead to this undesired condition. Quality control failures can be another reason. Whatever it is, it can reveal weaknesses in your customer experience.

This guide will explain the top crisis situations that test your customer experience.  

5 CX Crisis Situations Businesses Must Know About

When you talk about concerns related to customer experience in your company, “negative reviews” are the most ones. It can even get worse when these negative comments start pouring in like a bad storm. This is also the kind of situation where businesses are quick to realize issues with their CX strategy. Your employees’ actions can tell a different story in this regard. They can raise concerns for you when their behavior is improper. “Social backlash” is another situation that can test what kind of customer experience journey you’re offering.

Below are the five common CX crisis situations businesses must know about:

1.      Service Outages

Here’s the first crisis that you should watch out for. You’re offering a service to your customers. After some time, your business starts facing “service outages”. These can be as simple as network blackouts. These can be more severe, such as core service disruptions. Payment system failures can be another form of this problem. You can also list “contact center downtime” in the same category.

When it comes to the location of an outage, it can be localized as well as widespread. The question is how these outages test your customer experience. First of all, this kind of issue frustrates your customers. They can get confused easily. Inconvenience can be caused when they cannot access your service.

2.      Product Recalls

It’s the second crisis that offers you an “opportunity” to assess the customer experience. A “product recall” is basically an unpleasant situation where a business has to remove its product. The product is also retrieved from consumers’ hands. Nothing can get more “undesired” than this.

You can guess the impact “product recalls” can have on your customer experience. It definitely reduces your customers’ trust in your company. It’s, in fact, a massive erosion that becomes really challenging to handle. They began to see your other offerings with the same views. This situation basically endangers your business’s integrity.  

3.      Negative Reviews

“The product isn’t the same as it was advertised”.  “The app keeps crashing all the time”. “Their customer support is really poor”. There can be hundreds of negative reviews, complaining about multiple issues with your customer experience. These can test your CX strategy in the following ways:

• Exposing system failures
• Testing response speed
• Assessing transparency
• Influencing customer psychology
• Impacting brand reputation

These aren’t just some “problems” that you might face because of negative reviews. These are actually roadblocks that can create hurdles in your journey towards success. That’s why negative reviews can put your customer experience to the test.

4.      Employees’ Actions

Your employees are, of course, the backbone of your business. It’s up to them whether they make or break your organization. Sometimes, their “specific actions” can result in problems in terms of customer experience. Here are some of these actions that can land you in deep water:

• Rude or dismissive tone
• Lack of product knowledge
• Making false promises
• Ignoring customer cues
• Breaching safety protocol

The overall situation can turn into a “dilemma” for you. It happens when one of your employees is caught sharing private data. It’s not difficult to see how damaging this can be for your customer experience perception.

5.      Social Backlash

You’re running a business in an age where social media platforms have become an addiction. People love something, they hurry to post about it. They hate a product, they’ll show their sentiments on their social media handles. This can result in a “social backlash” for you. This kind of backlash can expand everywhere. This tests your customer experience in the following ways:

• Loss of customer loyalty
• Overwhelming inquiries and complaints
• Loss of control over narrative
• Inconsistency and misinformation
• Boycotts and financial impacts

There’s a way to prevent all these crises before they happen. Working with an expert customer experience consultant can address all these problems. You can contact professionals at Enginecxdesign to achieve the milestone.

Improve Customer Experience to Prevent these Crises

There can be several situations where your customer experience is tested. From service outages to product recalls and negative reviews, a number of factors can make you face CX issues. Get in touch with a reliable CX consultant now to improve your customer experience and prevent these crises.