Last updated 12.12.23

CX Glossary

 

A

A/B Testing

A/B testing, at its most basic, is the process of comparing two versions of something (product, service, design, etc.) and measuring the difference in performance. Two versions (A and B) of a single variable are compared, which are identical except for one variation that might affect a user’s behavior. After you create your variations, you give one version to one group and the other version to the other group. Then you can see if behavior changed between the two groups.

Abandoned Call 

The term indicates calls hung up by customers waiting in the queue before reaching the customer representative. Especially in call center/contact centers with long queue times, the number/ratio of abandoned calls increases. To avoid this situation, good resource planning should be done and customer queue times should be minimized. Some companies share the average queue time with their customers, allowing them to leave a call-back request that the company can follow up after the relevant intensity has decreased.

Answer Rate 

Abbreviation: AR 

It is the ratio of the calls made by the customers and which were answered by the customer representatives. The low rate of this creates both customer dissatisfaction and an indication that the call center/contact center has low efficiency.

Audit 

Auditing means checking whether plans are implemented in practice. After the customer journey maps (See Customer Journey Mapping) are designed, there should be a regular check of whether the customers really experience that journey and in case the. In case some applications are not realized, the processes should be updated or the obstacles in the given process should be eliminated.

Average 

Abbreviation: Avg

Representing the central or typical value in a dataset, the arithmetic average is used to calculate customer satisfaction scores and customer effort scores in customer experience analysis. All responses are summed up and divided by the total number of responses. In some cases, since the importance of the two scores is not the same, a weighting coefficient is determined and the trend is followed by determining the weighted average accordingly.

Average Call Handling Time 

Abbreviation: ACHT 

It is an indicator of the average duration of a call. Average Call Handling Time is a metric that is constantly tracked, especially in the call center/contact center and is associated with costs. This period includes the customer representative‘s waiting period (in case they have put the call on hold) and the related transactions after the call. It is the total time until the phone hangs up.

Average Speed Of Answer 

It refers to a call center/contact center metric that tracks the amount of time it takes for calls to be answered by a customer representative. The shorter this period, the fewer customers wait at the other end of the phone, the better their experience.

B 

Back Office 

Abbreviation: BO 

The term back office, usually used in call centers/contact centers and banks, is an operational unit that solves customer requests not solved by the frontline unit. Processes such as invoice cancellation, identification of the relevant discount and some critical subscription transactions that are not solved at first contact are performed in the back office departments.

Behavior 

Behavior refers to the act and attitude shown in the face of an effect or stimulus. In the customer experience area, much effort is made to understand the customers’ behavior and positively impact their future behavior. Behaviors can be unconscious as well as conscious. Behavioral economics studies this subject and works to prove the hypotheses put forward about how people make their decisions.

Behavioral Economics 

Abbreviation: BE 

Behavioral economics focuses on how the decision-making mechanisms in our minds are affected by social, mental and emotional prejudices. A group of academics led by Daniel Kahneman has proven that people do not always make rational and optimal decisions and that feelings are more prominent than logic in the decision-making process. Kahneman received the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2002 for his work in this field. MIT professor Dan Ariely, who proved that people conclude by comparing feelings and choices while making decisions, and Richard Thaler, who received the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2017 for his work, are other academics who contributed to the development of this field.

Benchmarking 

Benchmarking is the process of measuring the performance of a company’s products, services, or processes against those of another business considered to be the best in the industry. Although it is widespread to compare with companies in the same sector, solutions in different sectors can sometimes show a solution to the company’s problems innovatively. As an example, Apple has made comparisons with the Ritz-Carlton hotels strategy while opening the famous Apple Fifth Avenue store about how customers should be welcomed and how employees should offer them a good experience.

Benchmark NPS

Abbreviation: B-NPS  

See Top Down NPS.

Bottom 2 Box 

Abbreviation: B2B 

Customer Satisfaction Score and Customer Effort Score are generally measured on a 5-point scale. The lowest 2 values are values 1 and 2 on this scale. In addition to the average score, the Bottom 2 Box score value is followed by some companies together with the Top 2 box. The lowest 2 values are considered to show dissatisfied customers (1: I am extremely dissatisfied, 2: I am not satisfied), and the highest two values are satisfied customers (5: I am very satisfied, 4: I am satisfied). The Bottom 2 Box score, then, is simply the percentage of respondents who selected either the bottom box (Extremely dissatisfied) or the second bottom box (Dissatisfied) response.

Branch 

It is one of the channels where customers are physically served face-to-face. Although the number decreases day by day with the effect of digitalization, the experience at the branch is essential for establishing an emotional connection with customers. 

The most critical points in the branch experience: The short waiting time, the transaction/demand should be concluded quickly for the customer without being directed to different channels. By setting targets on these issues and improving them, trends can be followed and their impact on customer satisfaction can be analyzed.

Brand Advocacy 

It refers to the situation where customers praise the company as if they were a company employee, recommend (See Net Promoter Score) it to those around it, and contribute to mouth-to-mouth spread with positive feedback. It has been proven by various studies that mouth-to-mouth spread is the most effective marketing method. From this perspective, brand advocates are considered an important resource for companies.

Brand Awareness 

Brand awareness means the extent to which customers can recognize a particular brand of goods or services and how much they distinguish it from the other brands. People want to trust the brand when they make the purchase decision. Since awareness establishes brand trust, brands try to increase their brand awareness, so the customers trust the brand and choose it while making the purchase decision.

Brand Value

Abbreviation: BV 

 Brand value is the financial amount your brand is worth. While brand value is quantified, brand equity is the perceptual value of companies that is invisible based on how important a customer views that brand. For example, if we suppose that two bottles of water with the same content have 2 different prices, the difference in prices between the 2 brands can be explained by the brand value of each of them. 

Business To Business 

Abbreviation: B2B 

 It is a situation where companies provide products/services to another company, not directly to the end consumer. For example, a company that produces headlights for cars does B2B business. Automobile companies use these headlights in their products and offer them to the end-user, ready for use. Since the number of customers is relatively smaller, the company can be managed more effectively with personalized (See Personalization) solutions to be offered to the companies they are working with. 

While managing the experience, the customers’ needs should also be considered and solutions should be offered accordingly. In this business model, the people who decide to buy the product/service, the people who use it and the ones who make the payment might be different people, and different experiences should be offered and adapted for each profile’s needs.

Business To Customer 

Abbreviation: B2C 

It is a situation where companies provide their products/services directly to the end consumers. While the company that produces fabric for a retail company is a Business-to-Business company, the retail company that sells clothes to customers in its store is a business-to-consumer model. Although knowing the customers and their expectations and needs is more complicated compared to the Business-to-Business model, it is vital to offer products and services that satisfy those customers and therefore increase their satisfaction.

Buying

It is the journey step after making a decision where customers acquire products or services from the company in exchange for a payment. In this step, it is important to provide the necessary information, ensure that the customer understands it and obtain all the necessary permissions. 

C

Call

It is the communication of the customers with the companies via phone. Calls initiated by the customer to the call center are called “Inbound Call” and the unit that meets these calls is called the “Inbound” team, while the outgoing calls are called “Outgoing Call/Outbound Call” and the team that makes these calls is called “Outbound”.

Call Back 

When the intensity of the calls coming to the call center/contact center increases, the customers who do not want to wait for a long time can choose to get called back by the customer representatives through Interactive voice response (IVR). After the load is reduced, the outbound call team calls back the relevant customers to help them with their queries. Call back system allows to reduce hold time and mitigate call spikes.

Call Center  

Abbreviation: CC 

 It is the unit where customers interact with the company in order to meet their needs and solve their problems. Even though most of the call centers’ workload is generated via phone, the call center representatives also use chat applications to give written support to the customers as well. In the digitalized world, call centers are in development to meet the customers’ needs not only through the phone but also with different solutions. 

Call Time 

It is the period starting from the moment the customers reach the customer representative until the process is completed and the phone is hung up. 

Channel 

Service channels are the touchpoints where companies interact with their customers to offer products or services and meet their needs. Like the Call Center/Contact Center, Branches, Stores or Digital Channels. Channels also consist of interaction and touchpoints. For example, IVR (Interactive Voice Response) is a touchpoint for the call center channel and the customer representative is a different touch-point. 

Channel Experience 

In Customer Experience Management, journey-based management and channel-based management are two different perspectives that feed each other. In channel-based experience management, companies focus on the channels through which customers receive services and try to improve the experience there with customer-oriented goals (See Customer Centricity). Experience management is performed under 3 main parts: Experience in physical channels such as stores or branches, the Call Center/Contact Center, and digital channels. Each channel has its own characteristics, the benefits it offers to the customer, and the goals to focus on (such as the time it takes customers to reach the representative in the call center, how many steps it takes to complete the transaction on digital channels, how much effort it takes). 

 For a good experience, the service offered on the channels must meet customer needs, be simple, easy to use and have high interaction between channels (See Omnichannel). The experience in call centers and physical channels is mainly impacted by the employees who provide customer services rather than systems. In order to improve the experience in these channels, it is necessary to focus on employee experience and improve their experience so that employees can provide healthier services to customers. 

Chatbot 

It is a robot designed to provide the information and/or transaction results that customers need with the help of artificial intelligence (See Machine Learning). Especially with the increase in the use of digital channels, the number of companies using chatbots continues to increase. Companies primarily try to meet customer needs via chatbots and transfer them to live customer representatives, via live chat, at the points where the robot is inadequate. 

Churn 

Churn is when a customer stops using your company’s product or service during a certain time frame. Companies started forming teams of people dealing with the prevention of churn. These teams try to keep the customers in the company by giving them special offers after finding the reason for their churn. 

Churn Rate 

Abbreviation: CR 

 The churn rate is a metric calculated by dividing the number of churned customers by the total number of remaining customers. In order for companies to grow and increase the number of their customers, it is crucial to retain (See Retention) their current customers. 

For example, suppose a company has 200 customers and 3 customers that have churned during a specific period of time (usually reported daily, monthly and yearly). In that case, the Churn Rate of this company will be 3/200= %1,5. This metric is crucial for companies operating in sectors that offer easy subscription models such as pay-tv (Netflix, HBO, etc.), internet and mobile network providers. 

Close The Loop 

Abbreviation: CtL 

Closing the loop means following up on and/or closing out an area of discussion. Measuring the customer experience and getting feedback is very important in terms of seeing the problems and development areas in the processes. Many companies do this, but no communication is made with the customer who left the feedback. This term, which is described as closing the loop, is to communicate with the customer who gives feedback and to inform the customer about the work done about the feedback. Closing the loop makes the customers feel valued and understood and increases their commitment to the company. 

Closed Ended Question 

Abbreviation: CEQ 

These are questions where survey participants have to choose one of the given options and are not able to comment. It is usually a multiple-choice, yes or no, or a rating scale. Closed-ended questions provide limited insight but can easily be analyzed for quantitative research. 

Complaint 

After a bad experience, the customers express their dissatisfaction with the company by word or text through various channels. The most important points in handling and resolving complaints are fast resolution time and solution suggestions according to the customer’s wishes and needs. 

Complaint Resolution Time 

It is the average time spent to satisfactorily resolve a customer’s complaint after receiving it. Today, where agility is very critical, customers’ expectations are high in complaint resolution. The time taken to respond to customer complaints is a key contributor to customer satisfaction. It is a performance metric that profoundly affects the customers’ experience and the emotional bond they establish with the company. 

Computer-Assisted Telephone Interview 

Abbreviation: CATI 

 The questionnaires that require detailed information are usually conducted by the customer representatives using the “Computer Assisted Telephone Questionnaire” method. This method is frequently used to measure important company metrics, such as the Net Promoter Score, and to get the customer’s emotions and thoughts instantly, as well as the Customer Satisfaction Score. 

Consumer 

It is the person who purchases products or services for a specific price for their own use. While the customer is the person who purchases products and services, the consumer may be the same person or another one using that product or service. 

Consumer Behavior 

Consumer behavior is the study of how individual customers, groups or organizations select, buy, use, and dispose of ideas, goods, and services to satisfy their needs and wants. It includes the consumer’s emotional, mental and behavioral responses that precede or follow these activities and refers to the actions of the consumers in the market and the underlying motives for those actions. 

Contact 

It refers to the customer‘s communication with the company. These contacts can be made with a person in the call center/contact center or physical locations or via digital channels such as SMS (Short Message Service), IVR (Interactive Voice Response) or website. 

Contact Center 

See Call Center. 

Conversion Rate 

Abbreviation: CR 

The conversion rate is the ratio of users who take a desired action. It is a critical metric often used in companies offering products or services on a website. For example, if the website visitor is 100 and the number of customers who buy the product is 7, the conversion rate is 7% from 7/100. 

Correlation Analysis 

Correlation analysis is an analysis to see the statistical relationship between two variables. This analysis can be done in statistical tools such as SPSS as well as in Excel. For example, the relationship between the two variables can be analyzed when you analyze the call's duration and the satisfaction scores given by the customers after the call. The positive correlation shows that both variables increase or decrease in the same direction (when the satisfaction of the customer representative increases, the customer satisfaction score increases as well).  

On the other hand, the negative correlation indicates that when a variable varies, the other variable varies in the opposite direction (the decrease in the customer satisfaction score while the call time increases). 

The correlation coefficient should be higher than 0.5 in order for the variables to be related. A correlation greater than 0.8 is generally described as strong, whereas a correlation less than 0.5 is generally described as weak. Although the correlation shows the relationship between the variables, it does not explain the causality. Regression analysis should be done for causality analysis. 

Cost Of Losing Customer 

Refers to the financial impact of losing a customer for the company. This cost needs to be considered in several ways. On the one hand, there is a loss happening from the loss of the customer itself since he will not buy from the company again. On the other hand, the cost of regaining this customer is usually much higher than gaining a new customer. The expenses made in order for the customer to return must be added as well to know the total Cost of Losing Customers. 

Cross Sell 

Although the term cross-selling is a sales term, it is a term that people who are interested in and manage customer experience should follow and know closely. Cross-selling refers to a current customer’s purchase of different products or services from the relevant company. In order to achieve this, it is necessary to have foresight about the satisfaction of existing customers and to know which products or services the company may use and need other than the products or services the customer already uses. Suggesting a coke to the customer who comes to buy hamburgers is an example of cross-selling. 

Culture 

Culture is a term that refers to a diverse set of mostly intangible aspects of social life. If we look at the culture in terms of customer experience, it is necessary to emphasize corporate culture. Although the company culture is defined as the company’s mission, working environment, values and goals, it can also be explained as the way the company employees achieve those goals, their communication, attitudes and behaviors. Customers’ experiences are considered a reflection of the corporate culture and teamwork and customer-centric culture are essential for a good experience. 

Customer 

It is the person who buys or experiences the product or service for a price. While managing the customer experience, the question of who the customers are should be thoroughly examined and actions should be planned according to the customer persona. The customer who purchases the product/service and the consumer may not be the same. For example, when purchasing a flight ticket from another person, both the person who bought the ticket and the one who uses the airline’s service can be qualified as a customer. 

Customer Acquisition 

It is the acquisition of new customers by creating products and services that meet customer expectations and needs. While focusing on the acquisition phase, customer retention actions should not be neglected. At this stage, promises that cannot be met should not be given to the customer to convince them to purchase a product or service. 

Customer Acquisition Cost 

Abbreviation: CAC 

It is the total cost of all efforts made to convince a customer to buy a product or service and acquire this customer. It includes all sales and marketing costs. 

Customer Centricity 

Customer centricity is a mindset that should be in the whole organization. This mindset focuses on providing a positive customer experience both at the point of sale and after the sale in order to drive profit and gain competitive advantage and is ensured through customer-oriented culture creation efforts (See: Customer-Centric Culture). To increase customer experience awareness, this awareness should be made tangible with various projects to increase the employees’ awareness first. 

Customer Delight 

Customers have some expectations while purchasing products or services. After meeting these needs, establishing a strong emotional bond with the customers and creating positive emotions create a deeper connection with the customers. This enables customers to interact with that company for a longer time and acquire additional products/services.  

Customer Effort Score 

Abbreviation: CES 

The customer Effort Score is a metric that measures how easily customers use products and services. It started to be used after an article was published in Harvard Business Review magazine in 2010. In the research, it was seen that the effort put in by customers while experiencing the product or service impacts loyalty. The effort score is more prominent in the user experience. Especially in digital channels such as applications and websites, it is more critical for customers to quickly find what they are looking for and to easily perform their transactions. 

Effort score is also a valuable measurement method to understand the approach or processes of customer representatives in channels other than digital channels. The effort score question is as follows: “How easy was it for you to solve your problem/to find the information you were looking for through channel X?” Like the customer satisfaction score, the effort score is calculated as an arithmetic average. It is usually measured on a 5 or 7 scale from very difficult to very easy. 

Customer Experience 

Abbreviation: CX 

The customer experience is the product of all customer interactions with a company. The experience that occurs after these interactions are affected by two critical facts. The first is the customers’ expectations, and the second is the product/service performance perceived by the customer, not the company. The customer experience results from the difference between perceived performance and customer expectation. 

Customer Experience Day 

Abbreviation: CX Day 

The Customer Experience Day, organized by the Customer Experience Professionals Association (CXPA), is an event to raise customer experience awareness both by companies and with CXPA local communities. World Customer Experience Day has been celebrated with various events on the first Tuesday of October since 2013. 

Customer Experience Design 

Abbreviation: CXD 

 It is the practice of designing products/services with a focus on the user experience. Every touchpoint within the customer’s interaction with a product/service should be designed to deliver experiences based on the brand’s promise and even exceed it. The designed customer experience must be compatible with the brand promise and presented in a way that meets the expectations and needs of the customers. While making this design, customer journey maps are generally used (See: Journey Mapping) 

Customer Experience Management 

Abbreviation: CEM 

Customer Experience Management is the practice of following, measuring and managing all interactions in order to meet customers’ needs and exceed their expectations leading to greater customer satisfaction, loyalty and advocacy (See Brand Advocacy). It refers to different types of projects in the company, such as determining the necessary actions for the customers to have a good experience, realizing these actions by working with the relevant teams, creating a customer-centric culture within the company, or building a customer experience strategy. 

Customer Journey 

Abbreviation: CJ 

The customer journey is the complete experience a customer has with an organization. It encompasses all customer interactions across all channels, devices, and touchpoints throughout every stage of the customer lifecycle – from awareness to loyalty. Customer journey mapping is used to determine the stages of this journey and the development actions are taken by measuring the satisfaction at every stage (See Customer Journey Satisfaction Score). 

Customer Journey Satisfaction Score 

Abbreviation: CJ-SAT 

In the customer journey satisfaction score, which is used as a new metric in customer experience, satisfaction is measured as a result of the actions taken to complete a certain transaction, not based on the channels from where the customer received the service. For example, after contacting the call center for the subscription journey, customers can send their documents via e-mail and go to the agency later for the final signature. After completing these transactions and activating the subscription, the general satisfaction with the subscription transaction experience will reveal the journey satisfaction score. In order to make this measurement, companies need to determine the different steps of the journey the customers go through and prioritize them before starting the necessary measurements of the customer Journey Satisfaction Score. 

Customer Lifecycle 

Abbreviation: CL 

The customer lifecycle describes the various stages a customer goes through before, during and after they complete a transaction. In other words, it is from the moment he starts researching the company’s products/services until they make the final purchase. Every customer can be at a different stage and sometimes leave the company without experiencing all stages. Marketing and sales teams plan the necessary actions that address the customers according to their stage in the lifecycle. 

Customer Lifetime Value 

Abbreviation: CLV 

 It is the total financial value that the customer creates over the whole period of his interactions with the company. For example, in a gym business, customers are charged $200 per month and in a situation where customers go to the gym for an average of 2 years, the lifetime value of the customers will be $200 X 2 X 12 = $4800. 

To define how much profit a customer brought during his lifetime to the company, advertising expenses and operational expenses spent to attract customers or customer acquisition cost is deducted. It is an important metric as it costs less to keep existing customers than to acquire (See Customer Acquisition) new ones, so increasing the lifetime value of your existing customers will drive the company’s growth. 

Customer Relations 

Abbreviation: CR 

It refers to all the communications companies establish with customers and how they handle them. Customer relations are present through all individuals and units that interact with customers but mainly in customer service which plays an essential role in guaranteeing a good customer experience and improving it. 

Customer Relationship Management 

Abbreviation: CRM 

Customer relationship management is the management of the interaction and communication between companies and their existing and potential customers. The technology tools used for CRM systematically keep track of customers’ history with a company, like which customers communicated from which channel and which customer representatives interacted with them. 

Businesses learn more about their target audiences and how to best meet their needs through the CRM approach and the systems used to facilitate it. As an example, a customer that gives the same order at regular intervals is saved in the CRM system allowing to send a reminder SMS (Short Message Service) or call just before the usual time of order and this is considered a proactive action to meet the customer need and establish an emotional bond. For such examples, it is necessary to have a sound CRM system and to keep relevant/accurate data in the system in order to use it in actions to develop a  personalized (See Personalization) customer experience. 

Customer Representative 

Abbreviation: CR 

Company employees provide information about products and services, take orders, respond to customer complaints and process returns. Customer representatives can interact with customers in call centers/contact centers, channels such as live chat and social media, as well as physical locations such as branches or stores. Customer service representatives need strong listening and speaking skills to clearly and accurately respond to customer inquiries and concerns. 

Customer Satisfaction 

Abbreviation:  CS 

Customer satisfaction (CS) is the degree to which a customer is happy with a product, service, or experience. Satisfaction score is usually calculated by asking how a customer feels about an interaction, purchase, or overall customer experience on a five or seven-point scale. For brand advocacy and emotional (See also: Emotional Experience) commitment, it is necessary to exceed the expectations of customers beyond satisfaction.  

In a situation where two companies guarantee customer satisfaction, customers will choose those who can go beyond that if they have to decide and become advocates of these brands. 

Customer Satisfaction Call 

It refers to the outbound calls made to know the satisfaction level of the customers. After the calls, development areas are determined based on satisfaction scores. 

Customer Satisfaction Score 

Abbreviation:  CSAT 

CSAT is a metric that measures customer satisfaction. The customer satisfaction score is the first to be measured in the customer experience and is considered the traditional experience measurement metric. While the Net Promoter Score is used in a slightly larger picture and brand-oriented research, the customer satisfaction score is mainly used to measure a specific channel or experience satisfaction. As an example, for the call center interaction, the satisfaction survey question can be asked as follows: How satisfied were you with the service you received from our call center? With answers between “highly unsatisfied” and “highly satisfied” to choose from. 

Customer Success Management 

Abbreviation: CSM 

 Customer Success is a business methodology of ensuring customers achieve their desired outcomes while using a product or service. Customer Success is relationship-focused client management, guaranteeing the clients’ growth, success and retention and aligning client and company goals for mutually beneficial outcomes, especially in B2B (Business to Business) companies. 

Customer Win-Back 

Attracting the customer’s attention who stopped purchasing a product or service is referred to as customer Win-Back. The cost of regaining a lost customer is much higher than winning a new customer. By learning why those customers have been lost, the company can get insights that will help develop new products or services that meet customers’ needs and prevent potential customer dissatisfaction. 
 

Customer-Centric Culture 

It is a culture where the focus is on customers in all the company projects and where the customer experience plays an effective role in the decision processes. Top management and all the employees should believe in customer experience and customer focus should be spread within the company through culture creation activities. For the customer-oriented culture transformation, firstly, awareness should be created in the minds of the employees. Experience and improvement actions are then taken, and finally, they should inspire each other with their customer-oriented work. The transformation should be planned step by step. 

D

Dashboard 

A dashboard is a user interface or web page that provides at-a-glance views of key performance indicators, usually in a graphic, easy-to-read form, of key information related to the progress and performance of a business. A good dashboard is where, at first glance, essential metrics are easily visible and shared with the relevant people for problem-solving. 

Data 

It is all the information, including facts and statistics, that can be analyzed to reach a result in research. As the famous quality guru Edwards Deming says: “Without data, you are just another person with an opinion.” In addition to accessing data, one big problem today is making sense of it and using it to influence business results. Insights from customers, the effects of projects to be carried out, actions that motivate customers to become meaningful when they are always based on data and play a critical role in persuading senior management. 

Data Analytics 

Data analytics is the science of analyzing raw data and modeling it to find trends, transforming it into useful information and creating a business value from high-volume data. In a world where customization actions are increasing day by day, the importance of data analytics is increasing in parallel with it. 

Delivery Time 

It is the amount of time needed from the time when the order is placed until the order is delivered to the customer. If the estimated delivery times are shown at the time of order, it is crucial for the customer experience to deliver the order before the targeted time to comply with the delivery time promise and even exceed the customer’s expectation. 

Design 

It refers to the process of imagining, creating, and iterating products that solve users’ problems or address specific needs in a given market. In customer experience management, the products and processes are examined and designed to make them easier and more enjoyable to use.  

Design Thinking 

Design thinking refers to the cognitive, strategic and practical processes by which design concepts are developed. It is a process of problem-solving that starts with understanding customer needs. Instead of completing and implementing a product or process, it begins with the smallest feasible/usable part and finalizes it with continuous feedback from users. Design thinking’s 5 steps are: Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype and finally, Test. 

Detractors 

In the Net Promoter Score calculation, customers who give a score from 0 to 6 on the 0-10 scale are considered Detractors. They are customers not satisfied with the company. This category of customers would not recommend the company to those around them and would make negative comments about it. The reasons behind low scores given by detractors should be analyzed in-depth to resolve them and improve the customer experience. That way, the detractors can be transformed into promoters. 

Digital Channels 

Abbreviation: DC 

Digital channels are one of the 3 main types of channels companies communicate with customers (the other two main channels are physical channels, like stores or branches and call centers.) The usage rate of digital channels is increasing day by day with the development of technology and changing customer behavior. Websites, mobile applications, social media, Short Message Service (SMS), e-mail, and Interactive Voice Response (IVR) channels are examples of digital channels. 

Digital Customer Experience 

Abbreviation: DCX 

It is the management of customer experience in digital channels. As the usage rate of digital channels increased, the experience in these channels became more important. One of the critical points for a good experience is that digital channels are not separated from physical channels and the interaction between channels (See Omnichannel) should be coordinated. While digital channels provide customers with speed and convenience, they also bring a cost advantage to companies. For this reason, transactions that had to be made via physical channels or call centers (See Call Center/Contact Center), like subscription, complaints and subscription termination, are nowadays becoming possible via digital channels as well. 

Downtime 

See Outage Duration. 

E

E-Mail 

E-mail, which means mail that is sent electronically, is one of the main digital channels to reach customers. It is generally used when formal writing is required or when it is necessary to send documents. The corporate websites contain corporate e-mail addresses for communication. Conversion (See Conversion Rate) of incoming emails into a system and tracking response times are critical in terms of experience. Otherwise, e-mails with no responses or long response times may accumulate and lead to a negative experience. 

Effort

It refers to the activity and effort customers have to exert to get an issue resolved, a request fulfilled, a product purchased/returned or a question answered. The Customer Effort Score (CES) survey is sent to the customer after the experience to track how easily the customers got their needs met. Usually, the effort needed for customers to follow processes and use digital channels is tracked and efforts are made to reduce the CES. 

Emotion 

Emotions are the feelings perceived by the senses. Emotions play a significant role in people’s decision-making mechanisms (See Behavioral Economics). In addition, human memory records and remembers moments with high emotional intensity. This film, showing how emotions govern people, conveys the topic to the audience in a fun way. While managing the customer experience, it is essential to determine where negative emotions are experienced by the customers and eliminate those negative emotions, as well as to increase the impact of positive emotions. 

Emotional Connection 

It is the state of being connected with another person or company with strong emotions. It is vital for companies to connect with their customers emotionally. Emotionally connected customers have higher mistake tolerance and would recommend the company around them. They would establish a long relationship with that company and buy more products and services. Therefore, companies need to follow the emotional connection score metric and plan actions to improve it. 

Emotional Connection Score 

Abbreviation: ECS 

The emotional connection score is the determination of the extent to which customers are emotionally attached to a company. Firms should not only measure satisfaction but also how much their customers are emotionally attached to them because emotionally connected customers are more valuable and have higher loyalty. According to research, emotionally connected customers are, on average, 52% more valuable and loyal to the companies than customers with high satisfaction levels. 

Emotional Experience 

Emotional experience management is planning and managing the emotions and feelings of customers while using a product or service. For this, customers’ expectations must be exceeded. Exceeding expectations also happens by approaching customers with personalization, offering them different experiences and surprising them. This can be done in a planned way or by spontaneous actions of well-trained customer service employees. 

Empathy 

Empathy is the ability to understand the feelings of others and the capacity to place oneself in another’s position. It is very important for the employees in direct contact with the customer to have high empathy skills and improve themselves continuously. Customers who do not feel the feeling of empathy and do not think that they are understood can come to the point of emotionally breaking their ties with that company. It is crucial to test and observe the empathy skills of the employees at the recruitment stage to ensure they can offer a good experience to the customers and show them they are fully understood. 

Employee Engagement  

It is a situation where the employees feel they belong to the company they work for and do not intend to make a job change. Nowadays, employee loyalty is becoming more and more important to companies. Employees primarily connect with the mission and culture of the company and try to match the values of the company with their own values. Afterward, variables such as working environment, colleagues, managers, results of jobs, career path and promotion opportunities can connect employees to that firm or vice versa. 

It has been observed in different studies that engaged employees have a positive effect on the company's customer satisfaction, financial performance and innovation performance (See Key Performance Indicator). As a result of this commitment, the concept of loyalty emerges, and employees tend to work with the company for a longer period of time. 

Employee Experience 

Abbreviation: EX 

Employee experience consists of all interactions employees have with the company they work for. These interactions begin with the recruitment process and continue until they leave the company. In this process, many parameters such as salary and benefits, career opportunities and ways of doing business create different emotions in employees and all these factors create a perception about that employer. The first step in customer experience management should be to focus on employee experience. It is often seen that companies that give their customers a good experience are also very good at employee experience. 

For example, the motto of the employees at Ritz-Carlton, one of the most customer-centric (See Customer-Centricity) companies in the world, is this: “We are ladies and gentlemen who serve ladies and gentlemen.” Virgin Group chairman Richard Branson said: “We do not have customers in the first place, we have employees. If you take good care of the employees, they will take good care of the customers.” 

Employee Loyalty 

See Employee Engagement. 

Empowerment 

Empowerment is the process of giving employees in the organization the power, authority, responsibility and resources to make decisions and solve work-related problems. When it comes to customer experience, empowerment is very important, especially for first-level employees (See Frontline), who should have some power to directly solve customer queries without needing approval. As one of the best examples, we can give Ritz-Carlton that gives employees a $2000 budget that they can use in case there is a customer need without getting approval from anyone. 

End-User 

An end-user is a person who ultimately uses or intends to use a particular product ultimately. The term end user is used to distinguish the person who purchases and uses the good or service from individuals who are involved in the stages of its design, development, and production. 

Engage  

Engagement is defined as when a customer is committed to a company or brand because of previous interactions and when they choose the same company over another. This commitment is an emotional relationship the customer has with the company. 

Engagement 

See Engage. 

Enterprise Information Portal   

Abbreviation: EIP 

An EIP is a platform where the customer representatives get the information they need in order to inform the customer and take necessary actions. The user-friendliness of these platforms allows the representatives to quickly access the information they are looking for. There should be assigned responsibilities in the company for adding information to the portal accurately and on time. And continuous improvements should be made in order to use the portal in a healthy manner. 

Ethnographic Research 

Ethnographic research is a qualitative research method where researchers observe and/or interact with a study’s participants in their real-life environment. The deepest expectations and needs of customers emerge in these studies. All the factors affecting the customer’s decision are taken into consideration and evaluated. In these studies, what the customer does and how they behave is analyzed for deep insight into how customers think, decide and act. 

Expectation 

The concept of expectation, which we can explain as the belief that something will happen, is the key to how we should treat customers in the area of customer experience. Meeting customer expectations brings satisfaction, and exceeding them brings commitment and loyal (See Loyalty) customers. As a first step, these expectations should be well-known. 

Experience 

According to the Cambridge Dictionary, “Experience is the process of obtaining information by doing, seeing or feeling.” While focusing on the customer experience, first of all, it is necessary to focus on the words customer and experience separately, to know their meaning, their importance today and to establish a connection between them. 

Experience is essentially the activation of the senses and the emergence of a feeling. It is critical for companies to establish a bond with their customers, motivating them to spend more time with them and buy more products/services. For example, watching a documentary gives you an idea about how the rain forests look like. Experiencing it means seeing the greenness of the trees there with the naked eye, smelling the forest, hearing the sounds of the leaves and animals around and feeling the roughness on the surface when you touch a 100-year-old tree. 

Experience / Journey Manager 

In an organization where journey-based experience management is carried out, the experience manager is responsible for measuring and developing customer satisfaction at every step of the journey. 

Experience Economy 

The experience economy refers to the fact that people are now paying for experiences, not products or services. The concept of experience economy was introduced in 1998 by Joseph Pine and James Gilmore. In the related article, Pine and Gilmore explain the development of economic value as follows: First, there were substances we call meta, for example, coffee beans. Later, people began to process them and make these metas available. The product preparation process is to process the coffee beans and ensure they are sold on the store shelves. One step later, these products began to be served. Ordering coffee in a café and bringing brewed coffee to you is the service phase. People pay for this service. 

Nowadays, we are at the fourth stage, and we are not only looking at the service but also how we feel before, during and after that service, and how we connect with the brand providing this service. This led to the experience economy. The reason why customers are ready to spend $5-10 in Starbucks for a coffee that can be bought for much less in any cafe is beyond the service. 

Companies that differentiate their work with experience at the point where product, price and quality cannot be different are one step ahead of their competitors. Customer experience studies aim to provide a better experience for customers and to connect with brands in this world of experience. 

Experience Measurement 

It is the determination and follow-up of the impact of the customer experience. As per Peter Drucker’s quote, ‘’If you can not measure it, you can not improve it.” To create a good customer experience, the experience should be correctly measured, and improvement points should be determined. The most used metric for experience measurement is the Net Promoter Score. Additionally, in customer service channels, the Customer Satisfaction Score and Customer Effort Score are generally used to measure experience. Experience measurement should not only be about scores but it should also be followed regularly with dashboards and action should be taken instantly where necessary. 

F 

Feedback 

It refers to the information, insights, issues, and input shared by the customers about their experiences with your company, product, or services. In order to know how the customer perceives the products/services offered and what improvements need to be made, regular feedback should be collected and analyzed and actions should be taken accordingly.

First Contact 

It is the first point of contact between the customer and the company. Calls made by customers to the call center are called the first level. If the customer’s need cannot be met or the problem cannot be solved, it is forwarded to the back office, that is, to the second level. The ratio of resolving the customer’s needs at the first level is a metric followed by the companies and efforts are made to increase it (See: First Contact Resolution). 

First Contact Resolution

Abbreviation: FCR 

It refers to the situation where the customers get their problems solved in the first contact with the company. First Contact Resolution Rate is one of the important metrics tracked in the customer experience. 

First Contact Resolution Rate 

Abbreviation: FCR Rate 

It is the percentage of a contact center’s success rate in answering customer queries at the first time of asking. It is a metric often confused with First Call Resolution, which goes by the same acronym. While both measure the same thing, First Contact Resolution does so across every contact center channel, while First Call Resolution is for the voice channel only. Some companies follow this metric by asking customers if their problems are solved in their first communication. 

First Response Time 

Abbreviation: FRT 

It is the time from the moment the request is received from the customer to the moment it is answered. Nowadays, when the concept of speed is crucial, this period should be tracked and reduced as much as possible. 

Focus Group 

Abbreviation: FG 

Focus group work is a qualitative research method. It refers to a group of selected people who participate in a facilitated discussion intended to elicit consumer perceptions and learn about the in-depth opinions (See In-depth Interview) of customers about a particular product or service. The focus group meeting usually lasts between 1-2 hours, where the conversation is directed by a moderator and includes 6 to 8 participants on average. 

Frequently Asked Questions 

Abbreviation: FAQ 

 It is the determination and publication of the questions frequently asked by the customers and their answers. It is usually found on websites. There is a similar question-answer structure in the internal portals used by customer representatives. It is developed so that customers can find the answers to their questions before contacting customer representatives. The more automatic and comprehensive the FAQ, the more decreased the number of customers contacting customer service after reviewing it. 

Frontline 

Abbreviation: FL 

Frontline employees are employees who directly interact with customers. In cases where the knowledge and authority levels (See Governance Model) are insufficient, the customer can refer to the second-level employees. It is important to offer solutions at first contact so that customers can quickly find solutions to their needs and prevent customers from re-expressing their wishes to different people. 

G 

Governance Model 

A representation of the possible ways to establish communication and relationships with senior management and other departments while managing customer experience projects. In order to create a [customer-centric culture] in the company, the creation and healthy functioning of this model are very critical. 

H 

Hold Time 

It is the waiting period of the customer on the line during the call. When this period is extended, the satisfaction of the customer (See Customer Satisfaction) decreases, and the number of lost calls increases. It is a method used by customer representatives when there is a lack of information or in cases where approval is required. 

Human-Centered Design 

Abbreviation: HCD 

Human-centered design is the inclusion of a human perspective in the problem-solving process. In order to do this, the feeling of empathy should be high and the prototypes made are tested with people to shape the design. These designs should be the solution that addresses the core needs of those who experience a problem. For example, it is a human-oriented design that attaches wheels to suitcases and enables people to carry their belongings more easily. 

I 

In-Depth Interview 

In-depth interviews are one-on-one meetings to get feedback from a customer about a product or service. An in-depth interview is a qualitative research technique. In addition to the quantitative research and a high number of customer feedback, a few qualitative studies have to be conducted to get more insight into the reasons and needs behind the behavior and decisions of the customers. During in-depth interviews, one client is interviewed at a time, and open-ended questions are asked from the client with the objective of getting insights from them. 

Inbound Call 

It is a call that a customer initiates to a call center/contact center. Information such as the number of incoming calls, the reason behind the calls, the durations of the calls are frequently used metrics in the development of the customer experience in order to determine the needs and problems of the customers. Reducing the number of incoming calls on a particular topic is an important way to show the financial impact of the customer experience. 

Information 

In customer experience, information and information management has a direct impact on the experience our customers are going to have. The companies should draw and know the process of how and where the information is produced, how it is proceeded and how it is shared with the customer. Any kind of disruption in this process results in incomplete/incorrect information and misleading customers, later resulting in a bad customer experience. It should also be ensured that the information in all channels is up-to-date and consistent. 

Information Portal 

See Enterprise Information Portal. 

Insight 

Insights are what help reveal a deep and clear solution to a complicated problem that cannot be seen clearly to reach a conclusion based on the behavior, words, and actions of the customers. We can cite the example of Coca-Cola realizing that men were reluctant to order Coca-Cola Light before they started producing Coca-Cola Zero Sugar. To gain insight, observing customers while using the product and/or service and qualitative research should be conducted. 

Instant Messaging

Abbreviation: IM 

Instant messaging is a type of online chat that offers real-time text transmission over the Internet. Instant messaging, which started with platforms like ICQ and MSN, has become frequently used with mobile applications such as Whatsapp, Viber, WeChat, Slack and Telegram and quickly replaced SMS (See Short Message Service) communication. Companies started reaching their customers through these channels in order to solve their needs or problems instantly. Supporting customers through WhatsApp is becoming more and more common. 

Interaction 

Every contact that customers have with the company is called interaction. This interaction may be advertising, an SMS (See Short Message Service) received on the phone, or a customer representative talking to the customer. The aim of customer experience management is to define all these interactions and to provide the best experience in every interaction the customer has with the company. 

Interactive Voice Response 

Abbreviation: IVR 

Interactive Voice Response (IVR) is an automated telephony system technology that interacts with the callers, gathers the required information and routes the calls to the particular appropriate recipient. For example, when the call center is called, before connecting to the customer representatives, this voice response system interacts with the customers and tries to fulfill the need by directing them on predefined issues, like 1 for password transactions, 2 for credit transactions and 3 for credit card transactions. The interactive voice response is also used for external calls. Although it is very useful in the customer experience, designing a structure in which customers who want to meet with the customer representative will get lost in the voice response system can negatively affect their experience. 

J 

Jobs To Be Done 

Abbreviation: JTBD 

A job to be done is the unmet need or want that a person feels in response to a trigger. It includes tasks, goals or objectives that a person is trying to accomplish or a problem they are trying to resolve by buying a product or service. If the job that customers want to get done is identified, products and services can be developed in a way that satisfies this need and product market fit can be reached more easily. 

Journey 

In customer experience, the concept of journey refers to the steps the customer takes while using a product or service and the experiences he goes through when interacting with a company or brand. Customer experience teams are responsible for identifying these steps, drawing the customer journey, determining all the touch-points, and developing the necessary projects to improve the customer’s experience at every step of the journey. 

Journey Manager 

See Experience Manager. 

Journey Mapping 

Abbreviation: JM 

It is a visual or graphic representation of the steps of every experience your customers have with you. It illustrates how the products and services are perceived, consumed and experienced by the customer at all touch-points. The customer journey map includes all customers’ interactions with the company at all contact points in every channel. The aim is to detect and eliminate the pain points experienced in these interactions and increase the effect of the positive ones. 

K 

Key Driver Analysis 

Abbreviation: KDA 

Key driver analysis (KDA) is the analysis that quantifies the importance of a series of predictor variables in predicting an outcome variable. Each of the predictors is commonly referred to as a driver. The KDA investigates the relationships between potential drivers and customer behavior, such as the likelihood of a positive recommendation, overall satisfaction, or propensity to buy a product. Multiple regression analysis is one of the statistical methods used for this detection. The main factor analysis identifies which areas need to be improved in customer satisfaction so that it can have a more positive reflection on the scores. 

Key Performance Indicator 

Abbreviation: KPI 

A Key Performance Indicator is a measurable value that demonstrates how effectively a company is achieving key business objectives. Organizations use KPIs at multiple levels to evaluate their success in reaching targets. Example: Number of new customers gained, number of retained (See Retention) customers, complaint resolution time, Net Promoter Score, etc. 

L 

Lead 

It is a person or business that may eventually become a client. That person is likely to buy products or services from companies, already expressed the need but have not yet purchased the product or service. Businesses can reach leads through advertising, trade shows, direct mail, third-party lead-generation vendors, and other marketing activities. 

Live Chat 

Live chat is a service offered in order to instantly meet the support needs of a customer by writing to them. With live chat, the customer meets with the customer representative by writing to them. Nowadays, companies are trying to use artificial intelligence and machine learning to develop chatbots to solve customer needs. If the customer’s needs can not be solved or resolved via a chatbot, the customers are redirected to a real person through live chat. This method is used by many companies. 

Loyalty 

Loyalty is when customers are devoted to the company, use its services regularly and do not abandon them even if they come across different preferences. In order to create this loyalty, the companies usually offer Loyalty Cards that give access to special offers and discounts if the customer uses them regularly. According to some research, customers satisfied with service do not always turn into loyal customers. In order to get emotionally attached to the company, customers expect companies to meet their service and product expectations as well as offer them new experiences. 

M 

Machine Learning 

Abbreviation: ML 

Machine learning is an application of artificial intelligence (AI) that provides systems the ability to automatically learn and improve from experience without being explicitly programmed. The use of machine learning is increasing day by day with the help of technology to improve the experiences across the board. 

Market 

It consists of all the customers who have a need and make purchases accordingly. In the customer experience field, It is important for the company’s success to know the market, the customers and to offer products & services that can satisfy their needs. Additionally, it is also crucial to constantly update the products or services offered according to these customer needs. 

Market Research 

Abbreviation: MR 

Market research (or marketing research) refers to the studies used to gather information and better understand a company’s customers in the target market. It can either be qualitative (See: Qualitative Research) or quantitative (See: Quantitative Research). Businesses use this information to design better products, improve customer experience, and create a product or service that will attract quality leads and improve conversion rates. 

Maturity Level 

It is the evaluation made in order to evaluate the level of the companies in a particular discipline like customer experience and to determine the development areas. Although there are methods of calculating the level of maturity made by different consultancy firms, evaluations are generally made on topics such as customer experience strategies, customer experience measurement, and customer experience culture. In order to calculate the level of maturity, it is healthier to get consultancy services from people who are experienced in this field. Corporate work experience is critical for an accurate level of determination. 

Metric 

It is a quantitative (See Quantitative Research) measurement of data. When managing the customer experience, both experiential and operational metrics should be measured and tracked. For example, the Average Speed of Answer is an operational metric that affects the call center/contact center experience and needs to be monitored continuously. 

Moment Of Truth 

Abbreviation: MoT 

The moment of Truth was first defined in 2005 by Procter & Gamble CEO A. G. Lafley. These are the moments when customers communicate with the company, having an idea about the products and/or services offered by the company, creating a perception about the company or changing the existing perception. 

The first moment of truth (FMOT) is when a customer is first confronted with the product, either offline or online. The second moment of truth (SMOT) is when a customer purchases a product and experiences its quality per the brand's promise. The third moment of truth (TMOT) is when consumers give feedback or reactions toward a brand, product or service and become brand advocates. 

In 2011, the term Zero Moment of Truth (ZMOT) was introduced by Google as an online decision-making moment. ZMOT refers to the research conducted online about a product or service before taking action. Click here for more information and resources about ZMOT. 

Multi-Channel 

Multi-channel provides the opportunity to solve customer needs and problems through different channels. An example of multiple channels is to ensure that the subscription process, which can be done through a physical channel, can be done through the call center or digital channels as well. 

Mystery Shopper 

Mystery Shopping is a method of gauging customer experience where individuals are recruited to portray actual customers. It is used in physical channels such as call centers and stores. The recognition of mystery shoppers by the employees after a while is one of the limits of this method. The scenarios should be changed continuously, and the level of knowledge and behavior of the employees should be tested regarding the issues on the agenda. 

Mystery Shopping 

See Mystery Shopper. 

N 

Net Promoter Score 

Abbreviation: NPS 

NPS is a metric used in customer experience to measure the loyalty of customers of a company. Net Promoter Score is the most used method in measuring customer experience. NPS was discovered by Fred Reichheld in 2003 and attracted the attention of companies with this article in Harvard Business Review magazine. In his work, Reichheld revealed how influenced people were by other people’s recommendations and built a metric to measure it. After Reichheld, studies on NPS were made and NPS was accepted as the most correlated metric with company growth. 

NPS scores are measured with a single-question survey where customers are asked to rate on an 11-point scale the likelihood of recommending the company or brand to a friend or colleague. “On a scale of 0 to 10, how likely are you to recommend this company’s product or service to a friend or a colleague?”. Based on their rating, customers are then classified into 3 categories: Detractors who gave a score lower or equal to 6; passives who gave a score of 7 or 8; and promoters who answered 9 or 10. The Net Promoter Score is calculated by subtracting the percentage of detractors from the percentage of promoters, resulting in a score that varies between -100 to +100. 

Network 

It refers to transmission systems enabling information to be transmitted between different sites. Especially in the telecom sector, the healthy operation of the network directly affects the customer experience. In the network experience, two metrics are critically tracked: 

1. Stable operation (line drop, power failure, etc.) 

1. Number of breakdowns (Parallel troubleshooting time) 

Since these metrics, which are tracked operationally, are critical in meeting customer needs, they directly affect the experience. Customer experience teams should be responsible for tracking this type of operational metrics that affect the experience as well as customer satisfaction results. 

Neuromarketing 

Neuromarketing is an approach to creating marketing activities using neuroscience. It uses medical technologies such as functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) to study the brain’s responses to marketing stimuli. The effects of the reactions of the customers to various stimulants on the brain are examined to learn why consumers make the decisions they do and what part of the brain is telling them to do it. Generally, marketing and advertising activities are shaped according to these results. 

O 

Objective Key Results  

Abbreviation: OKRs 

Objective Key Results (OKR) is a goal-setting framework for defining and tracking objectives and their outcomes in a given period. A measurable key result is determined for each subject, which indicates where the performance is according to the goals. Key performance indicators (KPIs) are the sub-goals we will follow in order to achieve these primary goals.  

For example, let’s imagine going on a 12-hour car trip. The GPS is an OKR since it shows the way and helps to reach the target, while the information on the front panel, which shows how much gasoline remains, how fast the speed is and is constantly monitored, represents KPIs. 

Observation 

Watching a person or an object and examining it in order to reach information or insight. Observing customers’ needs and expectations in the customer experience provides very important insights. People tend to rationalize their thoughts and feelings into words. And in the observations, the needs and expectations that customers are unaware of can be revealed. 

Observed Value and Performance 

See Perceived Value and Performance 

Omnichannel 

The term omnichannel describes the situation when there is an interaction between the channels serving the customer. For example, a customer calls the call center (See Call Center/Contact Center) and the call center agent creates a record, which is also shown on the website or the branch screen. Since all channels represent a single company in the eyes of the customer, communication and coordination among them are very valuable in terms of providing a single brand experience. 

Open Ended Question 

Abbreviation: OEQ 

An open-ended question is a question that cannot be answered with a “yes” or “no” response. For example, “Can you please give us more detail about your experience?” is an open-ended question. In customer experience management, open-ended questions are used in order to understand the reasons behind the customer’s responses. 

Outage Duration  

Refers to a period of time that a system fails to provide or perform its primary function. Network cuts in the telecom sector and power cuts in the energy sector are operational issues that directly affect the customer experience. It is important to inform customers before any interruption (Planned interruption) and to share the estimated interruption time with customers in case of interruption due to a malfunction (Unplanned interruption). Downtime is an operational KPI (Key Performance Indicator) that customer experience teams should follow, given the strong impact on the customer experience. 

Outbound Call 

An outbound call is a call initiated by a call center/contact center agent to a customer. Outbound calls are typically made to prospective customers and focus on sales or lead generation. But It is also used for research to get customer feedback and learn about their satisfaction or suggestions. 

Outsource 

When the companies have insufficient resources for the customer experience, they use external resources and purchase another company’s service to represent their companies for a certain period of time. Outsourcing is common, especially in call center/contact center services. In terms of customer experience, this can have positive and negative effects. When an outsourcing service is obtained from a good company, the bond with customers can become stronger, and vice versa. It is beneficial to organize activities that would make the outsourcing employees aware that they represent a particular company and feel close to it and its values. 

P 

Pain-Point 

Pain-points, as opposed to pleasure-points, are problems that customers or prospective customers of your business are experiencing in the marketplace. Essentially, pain points are any problems that the customer may experience along their customer journey. Discovering and eliminating these problems is one of the most important steps in managing your customer experience. 

Passives 

In the Net Promoter Score calculation, customers who give a score of 7 or 8 on the 0-10 scale are considered passive and refer to customers who are satisfied with your company but not happy enough to be regarded as promoters. This means they do not recommend the company to others but also do not make negative comments. While calculating the score, the passives are included in the total number of feedback as the denominator.  

The calculation formula is “NPS = (Number of Promoters – Number of Detractors)/Total Number of Feedback”. 

Perceived Value And Performance 

The perception of customers plays a very critical role in the experience. Perceived value and performance are the understanding and evaluation of the benefits and performance of the companies for the customers. Perceived and received may not always be the same. Firms should be able to detect the difference between created and perceived value and performance and reduce this difference as much as possible. 

Persona 

A fictional representation is created to represent an ideal customer for a product or service based on user research and observed behavior patterns of the company’s target audience. 

Personalization 

Personalization is one of the most important points in creating an emotional experience. It refers to offering customized solutions to customers to make them feel valued. For example, Starbucks’ writing names on coffee cups is an example of personalization. Netflix shows personalized content for each customer on the homepage, and even the thumbnail images of movies may differ according to the customer's preferences. New offers are offered based on the data of the products that customers have reviewed and purchased on Amazon. Spotify also analyzes the artists and songs that customers listen to and offers them weekly special playlist suggestions, allowing customers to discover new songs and singers. All of these actions increase the interaction with the company and the customers’ loyalty, resulting in an increase in revenue. 

Pleasure-Point 

In the customer journey, pleasure-points refer to the moments when customers are satisfied with the service or product they receive from the company. Although the main objective is to decrease pain points while drawing journey maps (See Journey Mapping), the pleasure points should also be defined and their impact increased given the positive emotional impact. 

Proactive Behavior 

It is any anticipatory, change-oriented and self-initiated behavior. In customer experience, proactive behavior refers to the situation where the need is sensed and dealt with without the request of the customers. Proactive behavior is critical to building commitment to the customer experience. For this, knowing the customer well and having strong empathy is necessary. For example, it is considered proactive behavior when a company calls the customer to ask if there is a need for a product or service without waiting for the customer to express their need. Such an initiative can be done, for example, based on the period of usage of the product or service. 

Process 

A process is a series of actions that are carried out in order to achieve a particular result. The process of customer information requests also refers to one of the three main types of requests that customer service deals with (the 2 others being information requests and complaints). Customers can contact customer service for various reasons, such as subscription, transfer, cancellation and contact information updates. The important points in such requests are: Providing the necessary information on time for the transaction, short processing time and keeping customers informed about the transaction process. 

Process Management 

It refers to the organizational discipline that provides tools and resources for analyzing, defining, optimizing, monitoring and controlling business processes and for measuring and driving improved performance of interdependent business processes. Managing certain processes with the help of process maps will bring up necessary updates with development suggestions. For example, while the subscription process is made only via physical channels, it is possible to add digital channels to the process, determine the necessary steps and implement them. 

Process Map 

A process map is a planning and management tool or diagram that visually describes the flow of work to complete a transaction in business. Information such as the transactions to be made by the customer, the records to be added to the companies’ systems or how the customer representatives will interact with the customers and at what stage should be included in the process maps. The difference from the customer journey is that the process map includes the steps planned by the company to look at the products and services and to keep the customer alive, while customer journeys include customers’ view of processes from their own perspective and the actual ways they follow. 

Product Lifecycle 

It is the process a product goes through from when it is first introduced into the market until the use declines or the product is removed from the market. The product lifecycle has four stages: introduction, growth, maturity and decline. 

Promoter 

In the Net Promoter Score calculation, customers who give a score of 9 or 10 on the 0-10 scale are considered promoters and are referring to customers who are typically loyal (See Loyalty), enthusiastic, and willing to recommend the company to others. In order to increase the net promoter score, it is necessary to increase the number of these customers and decrease the number of customers who are not willing to recommend the company. It is often not enough to meet customers’ expectations and satisfy them for a recommendation. Firms that give more than they are expected to and make emotional connections with customers are also highly recommended by their customers. 

Prototype 

It is a sample, model, or release of a product that has not yet been fully completed. Especially in design thinking, prototypes are produced and feedback is received from customers before finalizing the product. After this feedback, new prototypes are developed and the same process is followed again until the last version of the product is developed. The prototype product that carries the features of the product in its simplest form in design thinking is called MVP: Minimum Viable Product. 

Q 

Qualitative Research 

It is a non-numerical method used to collect data by observation. Qualitative research can be done, for example, through Focus group studies, In-depth interviews, observation, ethnographic research, etc. While quantitative (See Quantitative Research) studies show general and average results, qualitative studies reveal causes and needs and provide deeper results. 

Quantitative Research 

Quantitative research, in contrast to qualitative research, refers to numerical and data-based research. The basic methods used to investigate numerical data are called ‘statistics’. In order for the results to be meaningful, the design of the questionnaires, sample size, scope, and measurement method should be determined the right way. The calculation module here can be used for a statistically significant sample size. When conducting research, a 95% confidence interval and a 5% margin of error are generally used. For example, while an experience measurement is made for 1 million calls to the call center, 385 successful surveys are needed according to these values. Confidence interval and margin of error improve as the sample increases, but increasing the sample size is not very effective after a point. Surveys such as Net Promoter Score surveys and Customer Satisfaction (See Customer Satisfaction Score) Surveys are quantitative research. 

Queue 

It refers to a line of customers waiting for their turn in order to establish contact with the company. Queue management issues mainly affect call center/contact center experience and physical channels during peak periods. The growth of the line negatively affects waiting times and service delivery satisfaction and needs to be well managed to avoid customer dissatisfaction. 

R 

Recommendation 

The action of suggesting a service or product to other people and recommending it. When looking for a place to stay on a holiday or to eat in a restaurant, the vast majority of people decide based on the reviews and ratings of people who have previously stayed there and dined at that restaurant. In such a world, the importance of making customers happy and getting them to recommend the products and services they receive to the people around them is getting more and more important. 

Regression Analysis 

Abbreviation: RA 

Regression analysis is an analysis method used to measure the relationship between two or more variables. If the analysis is made using a single variable, it is called univariate regression, and if multiple variables are used, it is called multivariate regression analysis. The difference from the correlation is the examination of causality between these variables. 

A univariate regression model is shown as Y = A + BX. Here, X is the independent variable, Y is the dependent variable, A is the constant coefficient and B is the regression coefficient. How much Y changes for each one-unit change in X. Analysis can be done with SPSS. Using the regression analysis allows for calculating the impact level of the operational KPIs and how they are affecting customer satisfaction. 

Relationship NPS  

Abbreviation: R-NPS 

See Top Down NPS. 

Response Time 

Abbreviation: RT 

It is the time between the request from the customer and the first response to it. Even if the problem cannot be solved immediately, returning to the customer as soon as possible and giving information about the process is a critical point in the management of the customer’s request/complaint process. 

Retention 

Customer retention refers to the activities and actions companies and organizations take to keep existing customers and reduce the number of customer churns. Since the cost of gaining a new customer is more than the cost of retaining an existing customer, there are teams fully dedicated to customer retention, especially in businesses with a subscription system. The resulting retention rate is followed as an important metric. 

Retention Rate 

It refers to the percentage of customers who extend their contract and continue to buy the products/services from a company. Retention rate is one of the key metrics followed by companies and a high retention rate logically would show that a business has a low churn rate. 

Return on Investment 

Abbreviation: ROI 

Return on investment is the ratio between net profit and cost of investment. For example, an investment of $100 has been made and the profit of this investment after a while is $120. In this case, ROI = (120-100)/100 = 20%. When calculating the ROI for customer experience, earnings from cost reduction should also be considered. 

S 

Sample 

Given the considerable cost needed to address the target audience while doing research, the sample will represent a smaller number of customers statistically representative of the main mass and whose characteristics approximate those of the population it is selected from. Generally, the number of samples is determined with a 95% confidence level and a 5% margin of error. 

Script 

These are pre-prepared sample texts that include the information that the customer representatives should provide during the interview and the steps of the processes. Although these texts are very effective, especially in new processes and for new customer representatives, automatically following these texts may negatively affect the customers after a while. Customer representatives should be empowered and encouraged to naturally direct the conversation as per the customer’s need. 

Second Level 

These are the units where customer needs are communicated when they cannot be solved at the first contact. For example, the first level gets customer calls, the customer representative sees that the customer’s invoice should be canceled. Still, because he does not have this authority, it gets transferred to the second level. Likewise, as some technical problems require detailed examination, they are sent to the technical units at the second level and investigated. 

Sense 

The path to people’s emotions passes through 5 senses Seeing, smelling, hearing, tasting and touching. When designing customer journey maps, emotions should also be considered at every journey step. Companies then use the senses to relate with customers on an emotional level. Brands can forge emotional associations in the customers’ minds by appealing to their senses. For example, using a specific odor in the stores or working on the specific sound made while opening a product. 

Sentiment Analysis 

Sentiment analysis is the determination of whether a text is positive, negative, or neutral. It is mainly used to classify feedback from customers. With this analysis, the dominant sentiment is revealed from the feedback and comments left by the customers. Using text analysis methods, emotions are divided into three categories, positive, neutral, and negative. 

Service 

A service is a transaction in which no physical goods are transferred from the seller to the buyer. The seller produces and sells a benefit to the buyer. For example, paying a taxi fare for the transportation service. Since the customers in the service sector do not buy a product, the attitude of the employees is much more critical for a great customer experience. For example, Ritz-Carlton, from the hospitality industry, is one of the companies offering the best customer experience in the world. 

Service Design 

Abbreviation: SD 

It refers to the activity of planning and organizing people, infrastructure, communication and material components of a service in order to improve its quality and the interaction between the service provider and its customers. In service design, the goal is that customers can use the related products and services with people-oriented solutions. 

Service Level 

Abbreviation: SL 

Service level measures the performance of a system or process. Certain goals are defined and the service level gives the percentage to which those goals should be achieved. For example, the rate of meeting the calls coming to the call center where 80% of the customers who want to meet with the customer representative should be connected to the representative in 20 seconds. The agreement signed between the company and the supplier providing the service is called the Service Level Agreement (SLA). 

Service Recovery 

Service recovery is the effort companies put forth to satisfy customers by compensating for their poor experiences with the company, its employees, or its products or services. Customers who have experienced service or product failure, and have not been compensated or helped by the company, can become disgruntled or angry toward the company. These unhappy customers often stop buying from the company or even create negative publicity for the company. 

Effective service compensation actions ensure unhappy customers are more connected to the company. The critical point in service compensation is offering solutions related to customer complaints. For example, defining a free internet package for customers unhappy with not picking up the phone will not be very meaningful since they cannot use the service already. 

For a customer who complains about noise in a hotel, it would be more meaningful to try changing the customer’s room or giving a spa service instead of compensating with a fruit basket. Before moving to the service recovery, it is necessary to make sure that the customer’s problem is solved. Compensatory scenarios for the customer whose problem has not been solved will not connect the customer emotionally. 

Share of Wallet 

Abbreviation: SOW 

It is a metric that shows the share that customers allocate to companies while purchasing a particular product or service. For example, let’s assume that a customer who constantly purchases coffee from coffee shops has a monthly budget of $100 for this. If the customer uses $60 of this budget for Starbucks and $40 for Caffe Nero, the customer’s wallet share for Starbucks is 60% and for Nero 40%. Both companies try to increase the share they receive from the customers and to ensure that they are chosen more over the other options. 

Sharing Economy 

As the tendency of people to experience instead of owning increases, new economies have started to emerge. A sharing economy is an economic system in which assets and services are shared between private individuals. It is the scenario where people create income by sharing products and services they own but do not need with others. One of the best examples of the sharing economy is room renting via Airbnb. Another example is Blablacar, where the empty seat in your car can be rented to someone in need. This creates a win-win situation for both parties. 

Shopper 

The term shopper (a person who is shopping) is mainly used in the retail industry. Shopper Marketing emerged as an extension of this concept and focused on the customer at the point of purchase. It tries to make last-minute appeals to customers at the moment when they are actually prepared to buy something. 

Short Message Service 

Abbreviation: SMS 

It is a messaging service to send written messages from one mobile phone to another. Although it is still a channel being used, it is losing its importance day by day. After instant messaging applications became widespread, SMS use has decreased considerably. However, it is still used as an information channel to reach customers and share specific information about their requests’ status, for example. 

Silos 

In organizations, silos mean that the departments are functioning separately and the organization cannot act as a whole. When each department has its own target, workload and plans, it can be difficult to get together to take actions that will touch customers. 

Simplicity 

In customer experience, we come across the term simplicity in several different ways. Simple processes, practices, instructions and easy-to-use products make people’s lives easier and lay the groundwork for providing customers with a better experience. Even if the customer’s needs are well determined and resolved, if the presented solution is not easy and practical, unfortunately, this solution will not find a response for the customers. As Leonardo Da Vinci once said: “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication”. To find the simplicity, this complexity must be well known, assimilated and filtered through in order to reveal the benefits. 

Single Point of Contact 

Abbreviation: SPOC 

It is the execution of all communications through a single person or a department that serves as the coordinator or focal point of information. In projects carried out within the company, selecting one person from each unit and obtaining comments and approvals from the relevant department will accelerate the processes. From a customer point of view, getting the customer’s problem resolved by a customer representative or officer and reaching the necessary information and approvals within the company from the same contact provides a more comfortable experience for the customer. 

Speech Analytics 

Speech analytics is the process of analyzing recorded calls to collect customer information and improve communication and future interaction. With this analysis, besides the process of transcribing it using the relevant technological tools, the emotional state of the customers and the impacts of their experience can be analyzed. 

Speech to Text 

It is the conversion of audio files into text. Programs and solutions that translate the words into writing are used in order to make the analysis of the verbal sharing of the customers easier. This solution is used in voice assistants and chat applications on many smartphones. 

Subscription 

A subscription is a signed agreement between a supplier and customer that the customer will receive and provide payment for regular products or services throughout a specified time period. Rather than selling products individually, a subscription offers periodic (monthly, yearly, or seasonal) use or access to a product or service. 

Subscription Cancellation 

Process of terminating the subscription contract. According to the terms of the contract, companies may request a penalty fee for contracts that are terminated before the agreed period of subscription is completed. 

Subscription Termination 

See Subscription Cancellation. 

Survey 

A survey is a research method comprised of a questionnaire with the intention of efficiently gathering data from a set of respondents. Surveys play a critical role in measuring customer experience. In order to achieve the desired results, it is crucial to ask the right questions to the right people through the right channel. 

T 

Text Analytics 

Text analytics is the automated process of analyzing large volumes of unstructured text and generating quantitative data as an output to reveal insights, trends and patterns of behavior. Thanks to text analytics, meaningful and usable insights emerge from a large data stack. These insights are used in determining the pain-points and planning the development actions. 

Text To Speech 

Abbreviation: TTS 

It is an assistive speech synthesis technology that converts text into spoken voice output. Although text-to-speech systems were first developed to aid the visually impaired, it is now used extensively to meet different customer needs by offering a computer-generated spoken voice that would “read” text to the user. 

Ticket 

Refers to the records registered in the system in order to follow up on the demands and needs of the customers. Customers can open their own records using digital channels. Also, representatives can open the requests via channels such as call centers and physical channels. Saving under the right title, directing them to the right team, informing the customer regularly, and resolving them quickly is critical in terms of experience. The monitoring and reporting of these transactions made through the system reveal the pain points in the customer journey. 

Top 2 Box 

Abbreviation: T2B 

Customer Satisfaction Score and Customer Effort Score are generally measured on a 5-point scale. The highest 2 values are the 4 and 5 values on this scale. In addition to the average score, the Top 2 Box score is followed by some companies together with the Bottom 2 Box score. The lowest 2 values are considered to show dissatisfied customers (1: I am not satisfied, 2: I am not satisfied), and the highest two values are satisfied customers (5: I am very satisfied, 4: I am satisfied). The Top 2 Box score, then, is simply the percentage of respondents who selected either the top box (Extremely satisfied) or the second box (Satisfied) response. 

Top Down NPS

The top-down NPS (Net Promoter Score) provides a reference to how the business stacks up against the competition and helps managers identify actions that can truly differentiate the customer experience. The top-down NPS measures the business or business unit’s NPS score and is used to track competitive scores and drive management incentive plans, whereas Bottom-up NPS is measured directly after customer interaction at designated key touchpoints and is considered very useful in identifying what factors drive customer loyalty. Since it is a score that has a high correlation with company profitability, it is an experience metric that is followed in most companies and added to the targets. 

Total Quality Management 

Abbreviation: TQM 

It is the fulfillment of human, business, product and/or service quality requirements used to meet customer needs with a systematic approach and the contribution of all members of an organization in improving processes, products, services, and the culture in which they work. Although TQM was used by Henry Ford, it was adopted in Japan in the second half of the 1900s and spread all over the world. While the companies were competing with product and price at that time, the competitive advantage became the quality. Nowadays, quality has become a standard, which increases the importance of offering a unique experience for companies to differentiate themselves. 

Touchpoint 

Abbreviation: TP 

Every point of contact or interaction, especially between a business and its customers or consumers, is considered a touchpoint. It refers to all the interactions where consumers come in contact with the company and where they can compare their prior perceptions of the business and form an opinion about it, whether it is a person-to-person interaction, through a website, a store, an app, or any form of communication. 

Transactional NPS 

Abbreviation: T-NPS 

Transactional NPS is a type of Net Promoter Score introduced by Bain & Company. Transactional NPS is the result of the tendency of the customers to recommend the company when considering the interaction made after the interaction/transaction with the company. Since it is transaction or channel-based, it is usually used as a target metric of the related department. On the other hand, Top Down/ Relationship NPS is generally included in the company’s target, enabling it to compare itself to its competitors. Relationship NPS asks the customers about the likelihood of their recommendation of the company, regardless of the transaction/channel. 

U 

Upsell 

Upsell is the scenario in which customers purchase more or purchase a more expensive option than the product/ service they are using and therefore generate more revenue for the company from existing customers. For example, a customer who uses the Internet at 50 Mbit speed and switches to the 100 Mbit package or a customer who wants to buy a medium-sized burger combo and gets persuaded to buy a large-sized combo instead. 

Usability 

Usability is the ease of access and/or use of a product or service. Some products focus so much on the product itself and do not consider whether customers can use that product easily or not. No matter how developed it is, at the end of the day, if the customer cannot use the product or service comfortably, you will not be able to meet their needs. The level of usability of a product is determined by its features, the context of usage and the user’s needs. 

User Experience 

Abbreviation: UX 

User experience is the emotions and feelings that customers experience and feel while using a product or service, especially in terms of how easy or pleasing it is to use. Developed products or services should focus on having a deep understanding of users, what they need, what they value, their abilities, and their limitations. 

V 

Value Proposition 

Abbreviation: VP 

To summarize in one sentence, the value proposition is a promise a company makes to its customers. Since these promises create expectations for the customers and these expectations are directly related to their experience, the value proposition should be determined very well and the promises that cannot be kept should not be given to the customers. The value proposition can be summarized in 3 areas for companies: 

1. Promise 

1. Keep your promise 

1. Do not make promises you cannot keep 

The value proposition is the company’s answer to the question, “Why should I buy your product”? 

Verbatim 

Verbatim is defined as an exact repetition without changing the words. In Customer Experience, Verbatim refers to open-ended questions in customer experience measurements and feedback analysis. Analyzing these responses helps uncover key service themes that can be addressed to improve the customer experience, as they show the comments made by customers without distorting them. 

Voice Of Customer 

Abbreviation: VoC 

The voice of the customer refers to the opinions, comments, expectations, and sentiments of the customers regarding a service or product. This allows companies to improve their products and their customer service and can be an effective way to retain customers. Customer experience management platforms such as Pisano can be used to instantly hear the customer’s voice and take action accordingly. 

Voice Of Employee 

Abbreviation: VoE 

The voice of the employee refers to listening to the comments and opinions of the employees and planning the actions according to them. Just as it is important to hear and take the voice of the customer into account, it is also very important to listen to the voice of the employee and make the lives of the employees better to provide a better customer experience. Particularly, suggestions for improvement of the process/product/system and working environment should be taken from the customer service employees who are constantly in contact with customers, and these ideas should be evaluated and developed. Listening to the voice of the employee will also reveal the insights necessary to improve the employee experience (See Employee Experience). Feedback can be received from employees regularly using surveys, meetings or various software. 

W 

Welcome Call 

It is a call made to new customers to welcome them and ask them if they have any needs. It is an effective way to start a positive start with customers to guarantee Higher customer satisfaction levels and exceed their expectations. 

Wow Moment 

Wow moments are what turn everyday clients into your top customers and can create a customer reference. If we take the example of an airline company, performing the flight on time is meeting the client’s expectations, while celebrating a passenger’s birthday with a cake exceeds the client’s expectations and creates a wow moment.