In our industry, acronyms abound. And the fewer the letters, the higher the opportunity for confusion. The latest acronym to permeate the communications industry is “TX” which has previously been used as a moniker for “Transmission”, “Transaction” and even “Transformation”. In its latest incarnation, however, is stands for “Total eXperience”, and specifically Total customer experience. And as is typical with newly fashionable terms, everyone who uses the term has a slightly different definition of what it includes.
At the core of TX however, sits a fundamental principle: Customers interact with a company or a “brand” in multiple ways. From the first impressions created by marketing and advertising to the initial engagement with the company’s website or mobile app, the purchasing or onboarding experience, the delivery timescales, the look and feel of the product or the interaction with the service delivery, the transactional communications, the after-sales support, the ongoing follow-up communications, and every other customer touchpoint, everything contributes to the Total Customer Experience.
Few companies today consider Total Customer Experience holistically, from the point of view of the customer, as a single design issue. And yet, it’s this total experience that determines the overall impression of your company to the customer. Any one of these individual touchpoints may delight or frustrate a customer, but it’s the overall experience that will determine if that customer will become an advocate or if they will seek out an alternative, competitive product or service.
You will see the term TX used more and more by vendors, analysts, consultants, in articles, and marketing materials, as the market recognises its significance. Whenever you come across the term, consider two things: (1) Do they actually mean “total” customer experience? Are they really referring to all touchpoints a customer has with an organisation, and do they understand the total journey that a customer faces in their interaction with a company, or only looking at a specific product line, or interaction type? And (2) are they striving for consistency, clarity, simplicity, speed and quality, across every part of the customer journey, or are they focusing on solving one specific problem at a time, such as onboarding, or statements, or mobile app, or customer support.
TX may be the new acronym on the block, but it’s not a new concept. It’s a fundamental differentiator for customers who continue to have choice, and it is great to see more and more organisations starting to think that way, puting themselves in their customer shoes and looking at themselves from the outside in.