As companies look into recovering after the effects of the COVID19 pandemic, one of the critical areas that they cannot ignore is the customer experience. Perfecting their CX has not only been one of the quickest ways a company can set itself apart in the market but now more than ever brands need to understand how consumer trends are driving their customers’ expectations.

There has been a massive shift in what the consumer wants over the last few months and you can no longer be complacent by doing what you’ve always done, particularly in the B2B landscape.

More than ever, you have to focus on anticipating your clients’ needs and unfortunately all the carefully thought-out and executed customer research done throughout 2019 is probably not much use anymore. Where you can, it might be worth giving your customer relationship surveys a much-needed update, since the pandemic has shone a harsh spotlight on the pressing problems customers need solved and shamelessly pushing your product will come off as obnoxious, tone deaf and insincere.

You have to be willing to listen to your customers, and you have to respond with empathy to connect with them better and to demonstrate that you can provide the products and services that genuinely meet their needs.

Obviously, this has to be done in line with your business strategies – you still need to grow. So, meeting your business goals while meeting your customers’ needs inside a new set of parameters can seem overwhelming. That’s why, in light of everything that has happened in 2020, your customer experience team should course correct as quickly as possible on evaluating your clients’ needs so the overall business strategy can pivot accordingly.

More than ever this needs to happen quickly – your clients are going to stay loyal to companies that can show they have the necessary changes under control. The quicker businesses can manage this adjustment, the quicker everyone can move forward with a clear vision, capitalising on opportunities as they arise.

Finally, you must find a way to connect with your customers on an individual level. This is more important than ever simply because of the toll the COVID19 pandemic has taken on all of us. For some it has been a daily struggle while for others it has been an inconvenience, but we have all been left the understanding of how important it is for us to connect.

There are couple of things to consider when doing this that will actually have the added advantage of benefitting your CX strategy.

First, you need to leverage all things digital. If this pandemic has taught businesses anything, it’s how quickly digital innovation can take place when it has to. Whether out of necessity or sheer convenience, the vast majority of companies have looked to digitise their core business model to keep it economically viable.

Secondly, this digitisation drive will add to your customers’ safety and overall sense of wellbeing when dealing with your business. All your efforts to promote safety across your products, services, and processes will not only put your customers at ease but their satisfaction is likely to increase as well.

Finally, revamping your processes will give you a fresh look at data and analytics. Moving forward, you will not have a choice but to be more proactive and nimbler while quickly anticipating your customer expectations and needs.

Quite simply, now is the time to update your data, technology, and systems to understand customers clearly and deliver better experiences. If you can do this quickly, you’re more likely to be the “new normal’s” next customer-experience leaders.