Do you recognise this situation? You contact customer service to change an order. You are told that you have to go through another department. This department explains to you that the request must be validated by a manager. The manager waits for information from the logistics department. Three days later, as a customer, you receive a product you no longer want.
This situation - we've all experienced it - reveals neither an interface problem nor a poorly thought-out customer journey. It exposes an internal dysfunction: compartmentalised teams, rigid processes, information that doesn't circulate. All of which has an impact on you, the customer.
Yet when it comes to improving the customer experience, many companies continue to invest heavily in what the customer sees - new features, reworked interfaces, product improvements - without ever touching on what goes on behind the scenes.
What if, in order to transform the customer experience over the long term, we had to act where it is really built? In internal processes, the circulation of information and collaboration between teams. This article explores five concrete ways of improving the customer experience from within.
Solution 1: Deal with internal irritants before they become structural problems
Internal irritants rarely accumulate by chance. They arise from a bug that drags on or a tool that malfunctions. Individually, they may seem minor, but collectively they create permanent friction for your teams that eventually reaches the customer.
How can this be corrected?
There are simple mechanisms such as a dedicated channel where field teams can report a problem, or set up a weekly review of recurring irritants. You can also make commitments to resolve bottlenecks within a set timeframe. What counts is not so much the system itself as the principle behind it: consider that what the teams report deserves a response. This approach has two effects. It gradually reduces internal friction and it restores teams' confidence in their ability to pass on information. In the long run, this also improves the quality of the feedback.
Solution 2: Map the customer journey to give teams a shared vision
Team segmentation is an organisational reality. But it must not prevent a shared understanding of the customer journey as a whole. When everyone sees only their part of the picture, inconsistencies multiply without anyone really seeing them.
How can this internal problem be improved?
Why not offer maps that are accessible to everyone? Not complex diagrams reserved for project managers, but simple representations showing how the stages are linked together, where the contact points are and who is involved at what stage. These maps serve as a common frame of reference. They enable each team to situate its action within a wider framework and make it easier to arbitrate when faced with divergent priorities.
Another option might be to organise cross-immersion days: a customer advisor spending a day with the product team, a developer listening to calls, a marketing manager accompanying the after-sales service. These experiences create an embodied understanding that goes beyond organisational charts.
How can you improve the customer experience if everyone manages «their part» without understanding the whole? The experience becomes fragmented and your customer feels it.
Solution 3: Invest in internal tools as you would invest in customer interfaces
Teams are expected to deliver a fluid, fast, personalised experience. But they are sometimes given tools that don't allow them to do this: slow interfaces, systems that don't communicate with each other and processes that force them to duplicate information.
What are the solutions?
Apply the same standards to internal tools as to customer interfaces: ergonomics, accessibility, performance. A well-designed CRM means that an advisor can find a customer's history in a matter of seconds, without having to juggle between three tabs. A fluid ticketing system avoids duplication and loss of information. An intuitive back-office interface reduces data entry errors.
These improvements are measured in terms of time saved, errors avoided, team satisfaction and, ultimately, the quality perceived by the customer. Because an advisor who spends less time looking for information can concentrate on the answer itself.
Poorly designed internal interfaces lead to errors, frustration... and therefore friction on the customer side.
Solution 4: Align your external promise with your internal reality
A company that promises simplicity to its customers but imposes complex processes on its teams is experiencing a contradiction. This incoherence is always visible in the end. Employees feel it and it is transmitted, consciously or unconsciously, in their interactions with the outside world.
How can this be resolved?
Check your alignment, not to tell an internal story, but to ensure that what you promise on the outside can actually be lived on the inside. If the brand emphasises trust, teams must be able to trust their tools, their processes and their hierarchy. If it values transparency, information must flow smoothly internally.
This alignment requires concrete choices. Simplifying internal processes when simplicity is promised. Streamlining the flow of information when transparency is valued. Giving teams autonomy when accountability is emphasised.
It's a slow process, but it builds a coherence that you can feel. The teams naturally embody what they experience. If internal communication is fluid, respectful and efficient, this is reflected in customer relations, without the need to over-communicate.
Solution 5: Create the conditions to ensure that the voice of the field is heard and heard loud and clear
The teams in direct contact with customers have an empirical knowledge that dashboards do not capture. They know where the pathway gets stuck, what bugs recur and what questions customers actually ask. This expertise is invaluable, but it doesn't come up spontaneously.
How can we help our teams?
Set up simple rituals to capture this knowledge on the ground: weekly briefings where everyone can share an observed irritant, quarterly sessions where the field teams present their observations to the product or decision-making teams, or collaborative tools to enable documented and monitored feedback.
The important thing is not just to gather this feedback, but to show that it is having an effect. A bug reported by three advisers must be corrected within a week. A suggestion for improvement must be tested and then deployed. A friction identified by the field must be taken into account in the next iteration.
This loop creates a virtuous dynamic. Teams continue to go up the ladder because they see that what they say is taken seriously. And the organisation improves by relying on those who see, on a daily basis, what works and what doesn't.
In a nutshell
These five levers are not independent projects: they feed off each other. What links them? One conviction: the customer experience cannot be decreed. It is built on the experience of our teams, the quality of their tools and their ability to understand and act on the customer journey as a whole. The results can be spectacular, sometimes in a matter of weeks.
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How can we improve the customer experience internally? Five levers to consider.