What is total experience?

“Always treat your employees exactly as you want them to treat your best customers.” Stephen Covey was onto something when he coined this quote at…

Krista Vermeer profile picture

Krista Vermeer

September 1, 20223 minutes read

“Always treat your employees exactly as you want them to treat your best customers.” Stephen Covey was onto something when he coined this quote at the center of total experience.  

What is total experience? Gartner defines it as a business strategy that creates superior shared experiences by weaving together four disciplines – employee experience (EX), customer experience (CX), user experience (UX) and multiexperience (MX) – across multiple touchpoints to accelerate growth. 

Putting all the pieces together  

Total experience can drive greater customer and employee confidence, satisfaction, loyalty and advocacy through the holistic management of stakeholder experiences. Despite a growing industry focus on digital transformation, by 2025 Gartner predicts1 that 50% of large organizations will have failed to unify engagement channels – causing a disjointed and siloed customer experience that lacks context. Disparate systems are like an incomplete puzzle with separate pieces scattered throughout different departments or functional areas of an organization. But when the pieces are prioritized and put together, they tell a complete story by forming the full picture.  

Why total experience is important  

The disruption of the last two years has sparked lasting changes for customers and businesses. Digital fatigue is everywhere. According to OpenTextTM research, 80% of survey respondents experienced information overload driven by factors like constant information 24/7 or too many apps to check each day, contributing to their daily stress every day – up from 60% in 2020.  

At the same time, customers are expecting seamless, personal, omnichannel journeys from every brand they interact with. OpenText research shows a personalized digital experience can make or break a sale: 44% of respondents said they will try to only interact with businesses that offer an excellent experience online, and 28% said they won’t use a brand at all if the experience isn’t excellent. For 72% of respondents, having an excellent digital customer experience is a key factor in their purchasing decision. 

Experience is the only sustainable differentiator for businesses in the future. Forrester research shows that customer experience leaders grow revenue faster than CX laggards. CX leaders also cut costs, reduce risk and can charge more for their products.  

Improving CX helps increase customer retention by reducing churn. On average, when companies deliver a good service experience by solving problems quickly, their customers are 2.4 times more likely to stay with them.2 Other business benefits include higher cross-sell and upsell potential, more new customers and a decreased cost to serve customers. Customers who have better experiences spend more with a company. When brands deliver a high-quality experience by communicating clearly, their customers are 2.7 times more likely to spend more with them.2 Therefore, CX and total experience take on heightened significance in an uncertain economy.   

Build communication-centric experiences  

A total experience strategy brings all departments together with customers in a shared digital experience. Pave your path to loyalty and growth by creating relevant, communication-centric digital experiences that are frictionless, omnichannel, data-driven and highly personalized. Learn more.  

  1. Gartner: Rethink Customer Experience for a Disrupted World with the CX CORE Model: A Gartner Trend Insight Report, 16 February 2022.  
  1. Forrester: The ROI Of CX Transformation, 22 Jan., 2021 

Share this post

Share this post to x. Share to linkedin. Mail to
Krista Vermeer avatar image

Krista Vermeer

Krista is content strategist with a passion for writing and storytelling. She has over 10 years of experience in digital marketing, social media, communications and PR at tech, investment and insurance companies.

See all posts

More from the author

OpenText named a leader in the 2022 Aspire CCM-CXM Leaderboard

OpenText named a leader in the 2022 Aspire CCM-CXM Leaderboard

The OpenTextTM Experience Platform for Communications solution was recently recognized as a Leader in the 2022 Aspire LeaderboardTM for Communications Experience Platforms (CXP). The 2022…

August 5, 2022 2 minutes read
How Digital Asset Management is transforming customer and employee experiences across industries

How Digital Asset Management is transforming customer and employee experiences across industries

The growing volume and complexity of digital content in most industries has made DAM a crucial capability in a wide variety of organizations.

March 21, 2022 6 minutes read

Stay in the loop!

Get our most popular content delivered monthly to your inbox.