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Customer Experience (CX) Glossary
Explore our comprehensive glossary of all common customer experience (CX) and related definitions and terms that all customer success professionals should know.
A
Accessibility
Accessibility refers to the design of digital products or services to be usable by all. This ensures everyone can interact effectively with the technology, which improves their user experience, satisfaction, and successful adoption of digital tools.
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the use of machine learning and other advanced technologies to automate and enhance various customer interactions. This can include personalized recommendations, AI-powered chatbots for customer service, and predictive analytics to anticipate customer needs. The use of AI can streamline customer experiences, making digital adoption more intuitive, personalized, and efficient.
Average Handle Time (AHT)
Average handle time (AHT) is the length of time a call center agent or a customer rep spends on a customer call, starting when a customer initiates the call until it ends. AHT also includes the length of time spent on support tasks after the discussion, such as sending over requested information, filing documents, etc.
B
Brand Loyalty
Brand loyalty refers to the trust and preference customers develop towards a brand, often leading to repeated use of its digital products or services. This is usually a result of positive user experiences, high product quality, and effective customer service.
C
Chatbot
A chatbot is an AI-driven software designed to interact with humans in their preferred language via text or voice communication. Chatbots can enhance customer experience by providing instant, round-the-clock customer service, answering common queries, assisting in troubleshooting, and guiding users through the usage of digital products or services, which fosters smoother user onboarding and adoption.
Client Onboarding
Client onboarding refers to the process of introducing new clients to your business, learning about their needs, and setting up systems for communicating, sharing assets, tracking results, etc. Client onboarding typically applies to situations where each of a business’s customers is large enough for 1:1 account services.
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Contextual Help
Contextual help is a convenient and efficient way to quickly resolve user queries. It subtly provides users with the information they need without them even realizing they are seeking help. This type of help is called context-sensitive because it offers concise guidance that is relevant to the situation the user is currently in.
Cross-Channel
Cross-channel refers to the consistent and integrated experience across multiple channels of interaction, like website, mobile app, social media, email, etc. It ensures that customers can switch seamlessly between different channels while using a digital product or service, enhancing their experience and fostering digital adoption.
Cross-Selling
Cross-selling refers to the strategy of selling additional, complementary, or related products and services to existing customers. Ideally, it involves recommending additional features or services that will enhance the customer’s experience or solve additional problems.
Customer Acquisition
Customer acquisition is the process of attracting and converting new customers to use a company’s products or services. It involves understanding customer needs, communicating the benefits of the digital product, and making the adoption process as simple as possible. It’s crucial for growing the user base and driving the success of the product.
Customer Adoption
Customer adoption is the process of introducing a new product to the market and acquiring new or repeat customers. It involves making customers aware of the product and integrating it into their lives. Customer adoption also refers to the rate at which current customers adopt or purchase new products, features, or services, and how quickly they adapt to using them as intended.
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Customer Advocacy
Customer advocacy is when satisfied customers become enthusiastic supporters of a company’s digital products or services. This often happens through word of mouth or social media because customers are so pleased with their experience that they want to share it with others. It’s a valuable tool for both customer retention and acquisition.
Customer Analytics
Customer analytics involves gathering, analyzing, and putting customer data into context from different channels, devices, and interactions. This helps companies make informed decisions and improve sales, marketing, and product development efforts. By using these insights, companies can create strategies, products, and services that their customers will find attractive.
Customer-Centricity
Customer-centricity refers to prioritizing the needs and experiences of customers when designing, developing, and delivering digital products and services. This includes making the interface easy to use, providing strong customer support, and using customer feedback to make continuous improvements.
Customer Churn Rate
Customer churn rate is the percentage of customers who stop using your service within a specific period. You can calculate customer churn rate by using the formula: (Number of Lost Customers ÷ Total Number of Customers at the Beginning of the Period) x 100.
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Customer Communication Strategy
Customer communication strategy refers to a series of practices that aim to enhance the interactions between your company and its customers. By implementing these practices, you can improve customer engagement by providing consistent brand management and support across all channels, effectively addressing their concerns and needs.
Customer Delight
Customer delight is about exceeding customer expectations in the digital adoption process and providing exceptional experiences such as personalized service, proactive support, and unique features. This leads to positive word-of-mouth and increased customer loyalty by exceeding their expectations.
Customer Education
Customer education helps companies provide guidance, best practices, and in-depth knowledge about their products and services. Such programs can assist customers in all stages of their experience, from onboarding new users to engaging unresponsive accounts and pursuing upsell opportunities.
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Customer Engagement
Customer engagement refers to how much a customer interacts with a company’s digital product or service. When engagement levels are high, users tend to adopt the product more readily as they discover its value and develop usage habits.
Customer Effort Score (CES)
Customer effort score (CES) is a way to measure how simple it is for customers to use a product or solution. This metric helps businesses determine how satisfied their customers are by evaluating the convenience and accessibility of their user experience. By assessing the CES, you can identify if users are having difficulty completing important in-app actions. This gives you detailed information to improve adoption and retention levels.
Customer Experience (CX)
Customer experience (CX) refers to the overall impression a customer gets from interacting with a company’s digital product or service, covering all touchpoints from onboarding to customer support.
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Customer Expectations
Customer expectations are what customers anticipate from a digital product or service in terms of performance and adoption process. Meeting or exceeding these expectations is key to a positive customer experience.
Customer Feedback
Customer feedback refers to the information that customers provide regarding their experience with a product or service. The goal is to understand their level of satisfaction and to help product, customer success, and marketing teams identify areas of opportunity.
Customer Health Score
Customer health score indicates the overall health of a customer, whether they are in good or bad standing. A company’s criteria determine the score, which takes into consideration various behaviors and actions that reflect customer satisfaction. Customers receive points for positive actions and lose points for negative ones.
Customer Journey Mapping
Customer journey mapping is a method of illustrating the various stages a customer undergoes while interacting with a digital product. This includes the steps from initial awareness and adoption to usage and troubleshooting. By doing this, companies can identify customer pain points and improve the overall digital adoption experience.
Customer Lifetime Value (CLV)
Customer lifetime value (CLV) refers to the total value a business can expect to gain from a customer throughout their entire relationship, taking into account the benefits of successful digital adoption and ongoing usage.
Customer Lifecycle
Customer lifecycle refers to the different stages a customer goes through with a digital product or service, from initial awareness, to adoption, usage, potential churn, and retention or re-engagement.
Customer Loyalty
Customer loyalty refers to customers regularly choosing a digital product or service over its competitors. This is usually because they have had a great experience using it and have successfully adopted it.
Customer Offboarding
Customer offboarding is the process customers go through when they stop using a digital product or service. A positive offboarding experience can encourage them to return and create a favorable impression of the brand overall.
Customer Onboarding
Customer onboarding is the process of introducing your customers to your product or service and guiding them through its features. It’s important to provide ongoing support throughout their journey, from sign up to becoming regular customers.
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Customer Portal Software
Customer portal software is a web-based tool that offers customers various resources, support, and live interactions to help them navigate digital adoption. This application improves the customer experience by gathering all necessary information and features in a single, easy-to-access location.
Customer Recovery
Customer recovery is the process of winning back the trust and loyalty of customers who have had a negative experience with a product or service. It often involves understanding their grievances, resolving their issues, and offering compensation or reassurance to reestablish the relationship.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
Customer relationship management (CRM) is the strategy and technology used to manage interactions with potential and existing customers. In digital adoption, a CRM can help track adoption rates, manage customer inquiries, and nurture relationships through personalized communication.
Customer Retention
Customer retention refers to the methods and plans companies use to keep their customers as loyal subscribers. It’s an important measure of performance that can indicate current trends and predict future revenue.
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Customer Satisfaction (CSAT)
Customer satisfaction (CSAT) is a KPI that gauges how well a customer’s expectations are met or exceeded during digital adoption. Achieving high CSAT scores is usually indicative of successful adoption and customer retention.
Customer Segmentation
Customer segmentation involves dividing a company’s customer base into specific groups based on common characteristics such as behavior, needs, or demographics. Segmentation allows tailored approaches to different user groups, enhancing their experience and likelihood of successful adoption.
Customer Self-Service
Customer self-service is a type of customer support that allows customers to solve or troubleshoot product issues on their own, without needing to contact customer support or chat with an agent. This means customers can complete tasks or workflows independently, without assistance from a support team member. Examples of customer self-service include chatbots, knowledge bases, interactive guidance, and FAQ pages.
Customer Service
Customer service is the essence of assisting and advising customers throughout their digital journey, from inquiries to issue resolution. The goal is to enhance customer satisfaction and establish long-term relationships.
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Customer Success
Customer success refers to the people, processes, and support your company provides to advance your customer’s goals and help them achieve their desired results by using your product or service.
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Customer Support
Customer support helps customers effectively use digital products and services by troubleshooting, answering questions, providing instructions, and offering solutions to enhance the customer experience.
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Customer Training
Customer training helps customers get the most out of their investment and achieve their business objectives with a professional service or software. It supports customer success teams in preparing users to successfully integrate the solution into their daily work processes.
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D
Digital Adoption Platform (DAP)
A digital adoption platform (DAP) is a no-code software that can fully integrate with applications and help users learn how to use the application. Digital adoption platforms offer in-app guidance such as walkthroughs, task lists, smart tips, self-help menus, and more to guide the user through every feature of the application.
Digital Customer Experience
Digital customer experience refers to the way customers interact and communicate with your brand online. This encompasses everything from discovering your brand, signing up, making purchases, and getting support. It involves all online platforms, such as your website, emails, and social media accounts, as well as any other points of contact. It also takes into account interactions with your brand from third parties, like blogs, review sites, and indirect interactions.
Digital Experience Platforms (DXP)
A digital experience platform (DXP) is a set of digital tools that assists companies in providing user-friendly digital experiences for their customers. DXPs operate across multiple channels and link each department with relevant customer data. This allows your team to monitor the content you’ve published and how customers interact with it as they progress from potential leads to sales.
E
Emotional Intelligence (EQ)
Emotional intelligence (EQ) refers to the ability of customer support and service teams to understand and respond to the emotional needs and states of customers. High EQ can lead to more empathetic and effective interactions, enhancing the customer experience.
Empathy
Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of customers during their customer experience It helps customer service teams provide personalized, sensitive support, fostering better relationships and smoother digital adoption experiences.
End-User Support
End-user support refers to the help and resources provided to users that engage with your product or service. End-user support can take many forms, including technical support for troubleshooting issues, guided training on how to use specific features, and providing helpful resources so users can get the most out of their digital customer experience.
F
FAQ Page
An FAQ (frequently asked questions) page is a section of a website where businesses provide answers to commonly asked questions about their products or services. The goal is to provide instant assistance to customers by addressing their common concerns, inquiries, or issues, enhancing their experience and potentially reducing the workload on customer service teams.
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Feedback Loop
A feedback loop is a process where the outputs or results of a system are used as inputs for future operations. In digital adoption, feedback from users can be used to improve the product and help future users in their adoption process.
First Contact Resolution (FCR)
First contact resolution (FCR) refers to the percentage of customer inquiries or issues that are resolved during the initial interaction. A high FCR rate can result in increased customer satisfaction, as it allows users to make better use of digital tools with fewer obstacles.
First Response Time (FRT)
First response time (FRT) refers to the amount of time it takes for a customer to receive the first response to their query or issue. In digital adoption, a shorter FRT can enhance the customer experience by showing them that their questions or issues are important and attended to promptly.
H
Help Center
A help center is an online customer education resource that aims to provide quick solutions to users’ inquiries about your product or service. It offers self-service support, which sets it apart from other customer support options. Its purpose is to assist users in finding the information they need to resolve their issues.
Help Desk Ticketing Systems
A help desk ticketing system is software that assists in creating, managing, and tracking customer issues. It equips your support team with the necessary tools to respond to inquiries, communicate with customers, and collaborate with team members in a prompt manner.
I
In-App Guidance
In-app guidance refers to various resources that help users in familiarizing themselves with a product during onboarding. These resources may include interactive walkthroughs, tooltips, self-help widgets, and other formats that educate users on product functionality, drive engagement, and encourage product adoption.
In-App Tutorials
In-app tutorials are guides or lessons embedded within a digital product or application that assist and educate users on how to use the features effectively. They follow a step-by-step approach, guiding the user through specific tasks within the app, and may include tooltips, pop-up instructions, walkthrough videos, or interactive demonstrations.
K
Knowledge Base
A knowledge base is a helpful resource that contains information about your company’s products and services. Customers can use it to find answers to their questions, learn how to use an interface, or access technical specifications. Its main purpose is to enable customers to get the answers they need without having to contact your company for support.
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M
Multichannel
Multichannel in digital adoption refers to the use of various platforms or mediums, like email, social media, or in-app messages, to communicate and engage with customers. This strategy enhances the customer experience by meeting customers where they prefer to interact.
N
Net Promoter Score (NPS)
NPS is a customer satisfaction metric that gauges how likely your users are to recommend your product to others on a scale of 0 (not at all likely) to 10 (extremely likely).
O
Omnichannel Customer Experience
An omnichannel experience is a unified journey that covers various customer touchpoints and provides a smooth customer experience. When executed well, it enables customers to begin their journey on one channel and carry on to another while receiving a consistent level of assistance.
P
Pain Points
Pain points are specific problems that customers encounter during their customer experience. Identifying and addressing these pain points is crucial for improving the customer experience and facilitating smoother transitions to new digital tools or platforms.
Personalization
Personalization refers to tailoring the customer experience based on the specific needs, preferences, or behaviors of each user. It can enhance the customer experience by making interactions more relevant and engaging, thereby accelerating the adoption process.
Proactive Customer Support
Proactive customer support involves anticipating and addressing the needs, challenges, and concerns of customers before they arise. This approach demonstrates your commitment to their success and can also help minimize the number of incoming issues and support tickets.
Product Support
Product support is the system put in place to educate and assist users on how to use a product, solve any problems they encounter, and use their feedback to enhance the product. This includes content, tools, and self-help resources.
R
Real-Time Support
Real-time support means providing customers and users with immediate guidance in their moment of need. This eliminates the need for them to wait, resulting in a better user experience, higher adoption rates, and increased customer satisfaction.
Remote Call Center
A remote call center is a customer service center where agents and sales employees work from home. Unlike on-premise call centers where employees work at a physical location, a remote call center is a virtual workplace.
S
SaaS Customer Onboarding
SaaS customer onboarding is the process of introducing your customers to your product or service and guiding them on how everything functions. An all-encompassing onboarding process takes into account the whole journey your customers go on from the moment they sign up for your product or service to when they become regular, contracted customers.
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SaaS Customer Success
SaaS customer success refers to the combination of people, processes, and support that a company provides to help customers achieve their goals and desired outcomes through the use of their product or service.
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SaaS Customer Support
SaaS customer support is the process of providing assistance and support to your SaaS product customers. This includes helping them make informed decisions before purchasing and providing support even after the deal is closed.
Salesforce
Salesforce is a CRM platform used to manage customer interactions and data. It improves customer experience by offering personalized interactions, streamlining customer service processes, and facilitating efficient communication across various digital channels.
Sentiment Analysis
Sentiment analysis involves using AI or analytics to understand the feelings and attitudes of customers toward a digital product or service. This information can be used to improve the product and the overall customer experience.
Service Level Agreement (SLA)
A service level agreement (SLA) is a contract between a service provider and the customer that outlines the level of service expected. In the digital world, an SLA may cover uptime guarantees, response times for support requests, and other performance metrics that enhance the customer experience.
Social Customer Service
Social customer service is the practice of providing customer support through social media channels. It can help resolve customer issues in a timely, public, and interactive manner, thus enhancing the overall customer experience.
T
Ticket Deflection
Ticket deflection is a self-service model that allows customers to solve their problems independently, without contacting customer support. A knowledge base, chatbots, in-app tutorials, and FAQ pages provide customers with the necessary information to find answers to their questions. As a result, organizations can reduce the number of support tickets they receive.
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Time To Resolution (TTR)
Time to resolution (TTR) is the duration between when a customer files a support ticket and when their problem gets solved. It can be measured per case or on average to evaluate the overall performance of your team.
Time To Value (TTV)
Time to value (TTV) is a customer success metric that gauges how quickly a customer can see positive outcomes from using your product, and validate their investment.
Touchpoints
Touchpoints are specific points of interaction between the customer and the company during the digital adoption journey. Identifying and optimizing these touchpoints can improve the customer experience by ensuring each interaction is helpful and positive.
U
Upselling
Upselling refers to strategies used to encourage customers to upgrade to a higher-tier product or service, or to add on additional features, based on their usage patterns and needs.
Usability
Usability refers to how easy a digital product or service is to use. In the context of digital adoption, good usability can facilitate the adoption process, reducing the learning curve for customers and leading to a better overall experience.
User Engagement
User engagement refers to how your customers make use of your product or app. This can entail how often they access it, the amount of time they spend on it, or even the extent to which they interact with it.
User Experience (UX)
User experience (UX) is about how a customer feels when interacting with a digital product or service. It covers a broad range of factors, including usability, accessibility, and efficiency. In digital adoption, a positive UX is crucial as it can accelerate the adoption process and increase customer satisfaction.
User Journey Mapping
User journey mapping is a visual representation of how a typical user interacts with a product over time, starting with the new user onboarding process. This popular research technique helps to reveal user experience and how they use the product.
User Retention
User retention refers to the number of people who continue to use your product within a certain timeframe. You can choose the period of time you want to measure, whether it’s monthly, quarterly, or a specific timeframe. You can either calculate the retention rate for your entire app or focus on particular functionalities. If you want to evaluate your product as a whole, you can look at the number of logins over a certain period. For more specific insights, you can examine the number of users who interacted with a specific feature during the given timeframe.
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V
Voice Of The Customer (VOC)
Voice of the customer (VOC) in digital adoption refers to the process of collecting and analyzing customer feedback to understand their experiences and expectations with a digital product or service. It aids in shaping product development and customer service strategies to enhance the overall customer experience.
W
Whatfix
Whatfix is a digital adoption platform (DAP) that enhances the customer experience by providing personalized, contextual, and real-time assistance as users navigate through software applications. This reduces confusion, boosts user proficiency, and accelerates digital adoption.
Z
Zendesk
Zendesk is a customer service software and support ticketing system that plays a crucial role in digital adoption by providing a platform for customer support, including tracking, prioritizing, and solving customer support tickets. It improves the customer experience by streamlining customer interactions and providing efficient problem resolution.
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