How employee engagement and customer experience are linked

When it comes to employee engagement, the stakes are high. Highly engaged employees provide a wealth of benefits to your organization, with high employee engagement and high customer satisfaction closely linked. Read on to learn about the connection and how it impacts your customer experience.

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Need a refresher on what employee engagement is before you get started? See these: 

• What is employee engagement, and why does it matter?

• 2022 employee engagement statistics: trends, stats + charts
• Employee engagement vs. employee experience: know the difference

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Why is employee engagement important in customer service?

The stats speak for themselves; engaged employees do better for your customers.

Not only are engaged employees 4.5x more likely to do their best work, but organizations that prioritize highly engaged employees also have customer loyalty rates 233% higher than those that don’t. 

On average, engaged teams also have 10% higher customer ratings than their disengaged counterparts, and sales are increased by 18%.

How does employee engagement affect customer experience and satisfaction?

Now you know why employee engagement is so vital to your customer service, let’s explore how engaged and disengaged employees impact your customer experience cycle at every stage:

Stage 1 - Awareness

This is where your customer’s life cycle with your business begins. First impressions count. Whether interacting with your marketing or stepping onto a shop floor, customers are looking for organizations they can trust. 

Engaged, loyal employees are more likely to communicate brand values effectively and authentically. 

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Stage 2 - Engagement

With initial awareness in place, customers often seek further engagement before making a purchase. This can look like interacting with your organization on social media or looking up customer reviews. In addition, they’ll pay attention to how other customers are treated.

Disengaged employees can have long-term negative impacts on customer service. It only takes one disengaged team member to leave a lasting dent in your reputation. 

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Stage 3 - Evaluation

The evaluation phase is a stage of deep discovery for customers before investing in a service or product. This may involve looking for answers to their questions and making contact to find out further information. 

If employees are not knowledgeable about your offerings and cannot offer the reassurance potential customers crave, they’ll look elsewhere before even purchasing.

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Stage 4 - Purchase

This is where customers make their purchases. Your customer service at this stage is make-or-break. Creating excellent customer service here not only secures sales but has the power to create customer advocates that tell others about their positive experience with your organization.

Engaged employees are intrinsically motivated to do all they can to achieve a sale and provide a positive onboarding experience. 

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Stage 5 - Product and support experience

Did you know securing a new customer is 6-7x more expensive than keeping an existing one? Meaning it’s crucial to keep existing customers satisfied at this stage. In fact, 68% of consumers say they will pay more for products and services from a brand known for good customer service.

Disengaged employees will always provide the bare minimum. Highly engaged employees go above and beyond. Giving customers the support they need at every stage by cutting pain points.

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Stage 6 - Bonding/advocacy

This is the final stage of the customer engagement cycle, where customers jump back in to buy again or feel driven to spread awareness of what you do.

Engaged employees keep the positive experience going at this stage because they’re as passionate about the product, service, or organization as your end users are.

Simply put: engaged employees mean an improved customer experience at every stage. So when you prioritize engaged employees, you’re prioritizing happy customers too!

How to increase employee engagement

Looking for ways to increase employee engagement within your teams? Here are a few ways to get started:

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• Start measuring your employee engagement, so you know what you’re working with
• Learn more about the science behind employee engagement to increase your chances of success
• Invest in the right software - consider these top virtual employee engagement platforms, and engagement apps
• Put together a plan - check out these engagement-boosting strategies with real-life examples

Start making team building a priority! We share loads of virtual team building activities and ideas for team building at work.