How to Enhance Customer Experience: The New Frontier in Sales

Sales teams used to get by with just knowing their products inside and out. But now? Customers expect more. They want personalized interactions, seamless experiences across channels, and a sales process that feels tailored to their specific needs.

This shift is shaking things up for sales professionals. It’s no longer enough to rattle off features and benefits. You need to really understand your customers—their pain points, goals, and unique challenges.

But here’s the thing: while this change can feel intimidating, it’s also an opportunity. 

Focusing on customer experience can help you build deeper, more meaningful relationships with your clients, differentiate yourself from the competition, and drive more revenue for your business.

In the coming sections, we’ll dive into what this looks like in practice. We’ll explore the tools and strategies you need to thrive in this new landscape, from using data and technology to mastering the art of personalized selling.

The Changing Face of Customer Experience

So, what exactly is customer experience (sometimes abbreviated as CX)? 

Simply put, it’s the totality of a customer’s interactions with a company, from the first time they hear about the brand to the post-purchase support they receive. It’s not just about the product or service; it’s about how the customer feels throughout their entire journey.

According to a recent study by Zendesk, a whopping 73% of customers say that the quality of customer experience is a major factor in their purchasing decisions. As many as 60% of consumers choose brands solely based on the service they expect to receive.

This has resulted in a corresponding shift in business priorities. For example, a study by McKinsey Information found that customer experience will overtake price and product as the key brand differentiator. 80% of organizations expect to compete with each other based on CX.

CX, then, is truly driving business change from the inside out. 

The Impact on Sales Cycles

You might be wondering, “What does all this mean for my sales cycle?” 

For one, the traditional linear sales funnel is becoming a thing of the past. Customers are no longer following a predictable path from awareness to purchase. They’re jumping in and out at different points, expecting a consistent experience whether they’re on your website, talking to a sales rep, or scrolling through social media.

This is putting pressure on sales teams to be more agile and responsive. The days of relying solely on scheduled sales calls and email follow-ups are over. Customers expect real-time responses and solutions.

On the upside, sales teams that can adapt can actually shorten your sales cycles and increase your win rates.

For example, the rise of self-service options, which customers want, is changing the game. According to HubSpot, 55% of customers now prefer self-service channels over speaking to a representative. 

That means if you can provide easy-to-use tools for customers to explore and configure your products on their own, you’re already ahead of others. 

Bad CX Costs Profits

As expectations rise, so do the consequences of not delivering on them. For instance, over a third of consumers have stopped using a company’s services due to a negative service experience. 

Three in four customers say a bad interaction with a business can simply “ruin their day” —something we can all empathize with!

In the B2B world, the impact is even more pronounced. Enhancing customer experience can reduce churn by nearly 15% and potentially increase win rates by about 40%. That’s the kind of impact that can transform a business.

So, what’s the key to mastering CX? It’s all about having the right tools and strategies in place.

The Changing Face of Customer Experience: Technologies Driving the Shift

As customer expectations continue to evolve, businesses are turning to a variety of technologies to meet these new demands. 

The tech stack for CX is more diverse and powerful than ever, with each tool playing a crucial role in enhancing different aspects of the customer journey.

Some key technologies shaping CX today include:

1. AI-Powered Chatbots and Virtual Assistants: These tools are revolutionizing customer service, providing instant responses and freeing up human agents for more complex inquiries.
2. Customer Data Platforms (CDPs): These systems aggregate data from multiple sources to create a unified customer profile, enabling more personalized interactions.
3. Predictive Analytics: By analyzing past behavior, these tools help businesses anticipate customer needs and tailor their offerings accordingly.
4. Omnichannel Communication Platforms: These ensure a consistent customer experience across all touchpoints, from social media to email to in-person interactions.
5. Voice of Customer (VoC) Tools: These platforms collect and analyze customer feedback, helping businesses understand and respond to customer sentiments.
6. Configure, Price, Quote (CPQ) Software: These systems help businesses accurately configure complex products, price them correctly, and generate quotes quickly, enhancing the sales process for customizable offerings.

The Rise of CPQ Software

Each of these technologies uniquely improves customer experience, but Logiciel CPQ is emerging as one of the most interesting and impactful. 

As businesses strive to provide seamless, personalized experiences, CPQ is proving to be an invaluable tool.

The global CPQ market is experiencing impressive growth. According to a report by Research and Markets, it’s projected to reach USD 7.3 billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 16.4% over the forecast period. 

This reflects the rapid adoption of CPQ software across numerous industries, from construction to biotech.

Let’s explore how this technology is transforming sales processes and contributing to a new era of customer experience.

Personalization: Beyond Name Recognition

Personalization has moved far beyond simply addressing customers by name. Today, it’s about tailoring the entire buying experience to individual needs and preferences. 

This level of customization is particularly challenging in industries with complex, highly configurable products.

Repligen, a bioprocessing company, faced this challenge head-on. Their products are incredibly complex and customizable, making personalization a daunting task. Daniel Spurgin, their Senior Product Manager, shared their solution:

“The ProConnex configurator by Épicor CPQ allowed us to systematize our engineering experience to generate customer-specific products within minutes, not weeks.”

This transformation wasn’t just about speed – it was about fundamentally changing how Repligen interacts with its customers. By implementing CPQ, they were able to:

1. Offer a self-service configuration option for customers, allowing them to explore product options at their own pace.
2. Provide real-time, accurate pricing for custom configurations, enhancing transparency in the sales process.
3. Generate detailed, customized product visualizations, helping customers better understand the solutions they were purchasing.

The result? A more engaged customer base, shorter sales cycles, and significantly reduced back-and-forth typically required for complex product configurations.

Seamless Omnichannel Experience

Today’s customers don’t think in terms of channels – they expect a consistent experience whether they’re on a website, talking to a sales rep, or using a mobile app. This seamless integration of channels is becoming a key differentiator in customer experience.

Systèmes NanaWall, a manufacturer of opening glass wall systems, leveraged CPQ to create this kind of seamless experience. Joe Rapolla, their Sales & Marketing Operations Manager, explained:

“We are making it easier for our customers to accurately configure several of our most customized products in a virtual and self-service way.”

By centralizing their product, pricing, and configuration data in a CPQ system, NanaWall ensured that:

1. Customers received consistent information regardless of how they interacted with the company.
2. Sales reps had access to up-to-date product and pricing information, whether in the office or in the field.
3. The company’s website, CRM, and backend systems all drew from the same data source, eliminating discrepancies and confusion.

This consistency improved the customer experience and increased the efficiency of NanaWall’s sales process. Sales reps spent less time manually updating information and more time engaging with customers and closing deals.

Visualization: Bringing Products to Life

For complex, customizable products, visualization is becoming a crucial part of the customer experience. Customers want to see and interact with products before they buy, especially when dealing with high-value or highly customized items.

School Specialty‘s implementation of augmented reality (AR) in its furniture sales process is a prime example of this trend. Adam Halfmann, their Senior Director of Program Management, shared:

“We’re one of the first distributor private label furniture manufacturers serving the K-12 education market to have augmented reality for our furniture products.”

This AR capability transformed School Specialty’s sales process in several ways:

1. Customers could visualize furniture in their actual spaces before purchasing, reducing uncertainty and increasing confidence in buying decisions.
2. The sales team could showcase a wide range of products without the need for physical samples, expanding their effective product catalog.
3. Customization options became more tangible, with customers able to see in real-time how different choices affected the final product.

The results were impressive: 16% higher engagement with their configurator, over 375,000 product options explored, and a 22% increase in custom configurations added to cart. 

This wasn’t just about impressive numbers—it represented a fundamental shift in how customers interacted with School Specialty’s products.

Accuracy and Trust: The Foundation of Good CX

In an era of heightened customer expectations, accuracy is paramount. A single error in a quote or Configuration du produit can erode trust and potentially lose a customer. This is particularly challenging for companies dealing with complex, highly customizable products.

Frameless Hardware Company (FHC) faced this challenge with its intricate product lineup. Christian Rodriguez, President and CEO at FHC, described their situation:

“It’s a business based on custom hardware—custom-sized doors and openings with multiple options for glass types, handle types, colors, heights, widths, etc. All that quoting was previously done through Excel. But the problem was the prices were never up-to-date from the manufacturing side.”

By implementing CPQ, FHC was able to:

1. Ensure that every quote was accurate and up-to-date, drawing from the latest pricing and product information.
2. Reduce the time spent on generating quotes, allowing sales reps to focus more on customer relationships.
3. Eliminate errors caused by manual data entry, improving overall accuracy and customer trust.

The impact on customer experience was significant. Customers received accurate quotes faster, had more confidence in the information they were given, and experienced fewer issues related to pricing or product specifications.

Speed and Efficiency: Meeting Modern Expectations

Customers expect quick responses. Slow or cumbersome buying experiences can lead to lost sales and damaged customer relationships.

CMTP, a specialist packaging company in Australia, experienced this challenge firsthand. Their quoting process used to take up to two days. After implementing CPQ, Joshua Martin, their Digital Projects Lead, reported a dramatic change:

“It’s taken a quoting process that might have a turnaround of two days into something that now takes five, 10 minutes max. So that’s a massive, massive difference.”

This transformation had several key impacts on CMTP’s customer experience:

1. Faster response times led to higher customer satisfaction and increased win rates.
2. Sales reps could handle more inquiries, improving the company’s overall responsiveness to customer needs.
3. The streamlined process reduced frustration for both customers and sales reps, leading to more positive interactions.

The result was a more efficient sales process and a fundamental improvement in how CMTP interacted with its customers.

La ligne de fond

From personalization and omnichannel experiences to visualisation du produit and accuracy in quoting, businesses are finding new ways to differentiate themselves and build lasting customer relationships. 

Epicor CPQ stands at this intersection, not just as a tool, but as a catalyst for transformation. It’s not about features or benefits anymore—it’s about empowering your team to craft experiences that resonate, surprise, and delight.

By enabling personalized configurations, seamless omnichannel interactions, advanced visualizations, and accurate quoting, Epicor CPQ empowers businesses to meet and exceed customer expectations. 

If you want to learn more about Epicor CPQ, book a demo today and we’ll be happy to show you what it can do. 

Customer Experience FAQs

1. How can contact centers enhance the overall customer experience and drive brand loyalty in large and small businesses?

Contact centers play a critical role in enhancing the overall customer experience by providing timely and efficient customer support. For both large and small businesses, contact centers can be a pivotal touchpoint where customer interactions either build or erode brand loyalty. By focusing on delivering personalized experiences and resolving issues quickly, contact centers can help turn satisfied customers into loyal customers who contribute positively to the business’s growth.

2. What is the importance of a customer experience strategy in improving customer retention and reducing customer churn?

A well-defined customer experience strategy is essential for improving customer retention and reducing customer churn. By understanding customer behavior and tailoring interactions to meet their needs, businesses can create more positive experiences that encourage loyalty. This strategy should include tools like customer journey maps and metrics like customer effort scores and net promoter scores to continuously monitor and refine the approach, ultimately leading to a more stable customer base.

3. How can market research and customer experience management contribute to delivering an exceptional customer experience and driving positive customer satisfaction scores?

Market research is invaluable in understanding customer behavior and preferences, which are the foundation of effective customer experience management. By applying insights from market research, businesses can craft experiences that resonate with their target audience, leading to exceptional customer experiences. This proactive approach not only improves customer satisfaction scores but also fosters long-term loyalty and reduces the likelihood of bad customer experiences.

4. How does employee experience influence the delivery of a great customer experience and contribute to high net promoter scores?

Employee experience is directly linked to the quality of customer interactions. When employees are engaged and satisfied, they are more likely to provide a great customer experience, which in turn leads to higher net promoter scores. Happy employees often translate into happy customers, creating a positive feedback loop that enhances overall customer satisfaction and loyalty.

5. What role does a customer journey map play in creating personalized experiences and ensuring an excellent customer experience?

A customer journey map is a vital tool for understanding the different touchpoints a customer interacts with during their experience with a brand. By mapping out these interactions, businesses can identify opportunities to personalize the experience, ensuring that each step of the journey meets or exceeds customer expectations. This attention to detail is crucial for delivering an excellent customer experience, which fosters brand loyalty and encourages repeat business.

6. How can customer support teams use customer stories and valuable insights to prevent customer churn and enhance the user experience?

Customer support teams can leverage customer stories and valuable insights gained from previous interactions to better understand the needs and concerns of their customers. By addressing these issues proactively, support teams can enhance the user experience and prevent customer churn. Sharing these insights across the organization helps in refining the overall customer experience strategy, ensuring that all customer interactions are positive and that customers remain loyal.

7. How do financial services companies use customer satisfaction scores and customer experience trends to create a positive experience and build loyal customers?

Financial services companies rely on customer satisfaction scores and staying ahead of customer experience trends to deliver a positive experience that meets evolving customer expectations. By regularly measuring and analyzing these scores, they can identify areas for improvement and innovate their services to create a more seamless and satisfying customer journey. This approach helps in building a base of loyal customers who trust the brand and are less likely to switch to competitors.

8. How can businesses turn a bad customer experience into a valuable learning opportunity to enhance customer loyalty and create exceptional customer experiences?

When faced with a bad customer experience, businesses can use it as a learning opportunity to improve their processes and prevent future issues. By actively seeking feedback and addressing the root causes of dissatisfaction, companies can turn a negative situation into a positive experience for the customer. This proactive approach not only helps to retain the customer but also strengthens their loyalty, leading to exceptional customer experiences in the future.