What is total experience? Definition + strategies for success

Ever had a great support experience with a brand and thought, “Wow, they really have their act together?” It’s a feeling that keeps you coming back. Now, imagine if your employees felt the same way about their workplace. Like customers, employees want the same level of care, attention, and support.

A great customer experience (CX) starts with a great employee experience (EX). Total experience (TX) prioritizes the shared learnings between CX and EX, empowering businesses to improve each without compromising the other. In fact, according to Gartner, organizations that adopt a TX strategy will see a 25 percent higher satisfaction rate across the board compared to those that don’t.

In this article, we’ll explore what total experience entails, its benefits, and strategies for creating a unified and frictionless ecosystem that benefits everyone involved.

More in this guide:

• Core elements of total experience
• Benefits of a successful total experience approach
• Strategies for implementing total experience
• Frequently asked questions
• Integrate your customer service and employee service efforts

Core elements of total experience

Total experience prioritizes the experiences of customers, employees, and users. Much like the Avengers assemble to face Thanos, these elements work together to drive business success by creating a fast, personalized, and efficient experience for customers and employees alike.

Customer experience

The old adage “the customer is always right” has evolved into something far more nuanced and powerful. An exceptional customer experience goes beyond simply agreeing with customers—it’s about diving into their unique needs, preferences, and pain points to deliver personalized service.

To nail CX, you need to remember that behind every customer interaction is a human with feelings, motivations, and expectations. What frustrates and delights them? Do they wish you offered 24/7 support? Understanding and addressing these micro-needs helps build trust and loyalty—two things that are as vital to a business as oxygen is to, well, humans.

Employee experience

If customer experience is the heart of your business, employee experience is the pulse. But all too often, businesses place an overemphasis on CX at the expense of EX. In fact, in the Zendesk Employee Experience Trends Report 2024, 71 percent of EX leaders admit that the service customers receive is better than the service their employees receive.

Think of your staff as your internal customers. From onboarding to career growth, the employee experience journey should be as smooth as the experience you provide your customers. Equip your team with the right tools, resources, and autonomy to thrive.

User experience and multi-experience

User experience (UX) is the user’s overall experience when interacting with external interfaces or internal tools, particularly focusing on how easy and enjoyable they are to use.

Multi-experience (MX) is the practice of creating a consistent and user-friendly experience across all touchpoints, regardless of the specific channel and device used.

Benefits of a successful total experience approach

Successfully implementing a total experience strategy can yield significant advantages for your entire organization, including:

• Improved customer satisfaction and loyalty: A well-executed TX strategy creates stronger connections with your buyers, increasing customer retention and brand advocacy. By consistently delivering exceptional experiences, you’ll build loyalty and encourage repeat business.
• Improved operational efficiency: Total experience initiatives often reveal opportunities for streamlining processes and eliminating silos. This optimization has the potential to improve productivity and collaboration throughout your organization.
• Better employee service: When you prioritize TX, you’re investing in your workforce. Improved internal processes and tools lead to better employee service, resulting in higher job satisfaction, increased productivity, and positive employee interactions.
• Enhanced brand reputation: A cohesive and positive TX strengthens your brand image. Consistency across customer and employee experiences builds trust and credibility.
• Competitive differentiation: A total experience approach can set you apart from competitors in a crowded marketplace. In industries where products and services may be similar, a TX strategy can be a key differentiator that attracts and retains customers and employees alike.
• Sustainable business growth: Happy customers and employees contribute to long-term growth. Reduced customer churn, increased lifetime value, and higher employee retention rates lead to more stable and predictable revenue streams.

TX is an investment that pays dividends in customer loyalty, employee engagement, operational efficiency, and overall business performance. With these benefits in mind, you must determine how to create a comprehensive TX plan that aligns with your organization’s goals.

Strategies for implementing total experience

Now that we’ve covered the what and why of total experience, let’s dive into the how. Here are five strategies to help you get started with total experience.

1. Integrate customer service and employee service efforts

For a seamless total experience, take a unified approach that allows you to share learnings across both CX and EX while streamlining management. One way to do this is by using the same tools for both. For example, AI agents that assist customers with product questions can just as easily help employees with HR inquiries. This way, you’re using the same trusted tools for both, making it more efficient, simplifying processes, and increasing time to value.

Share insights and learnings between CX and EX teams. If your customer support team discovers a particularly effective way to resolve tickets, why not apply those same strategies internally? By cross-pollinating successful approaches, you can create a more cohesive total experience. The goal is to develop exceptional experiences for customers and employees throughout the service journey. This alignment strengthens your overall TX strategy and promotes loyalty and satisfaction across the board.

2. Optimize experiences for customers and employees with AI and self-service

Artificial intelligence can be your secret weapon for creating exceptional TX. AI tools lead to faster, more personalized support and improved efficiency across the board.

• AI agents are AI-powered bots that can autonomously troubleshoot issues, automate tasks, and navigate complex situations.
• Agent copilots support service teams by analyzing tickets, surfacing helpful insights, and suggesting next steps.
• Generative AI enhancement tools speed up ticket resolution by summarizing past interactions and improving the tone and content of customer service agent-written responses.
• Intelligent routing quickly triages and routes requests to the appropriate team, minimizing wait times and increasing resolution speed.

Internal and external self-service resources further amplify the benefits of AI. For employees, self-service tools like knowledge bases and service desk chatbots can provide quick answers on benefits, leave policies, or IT troubleshooting. Externally, self-service and AI for customer experience could include AI-driven FAQs, virtual assistants, and self-service portals to improve the CX. The Zendesk Customer Experience Trends Report 2024 revealed that most customers prefer interacting with bots over humans when they want immediate service.

3. Invest in employee satisfaction

Happy employees make for happy customers. When employees receive the support they need—whether it’s fast responses from HR, easy access to internal resources, or even just a genuine thank you—morale goes up, and so does productivity. This kind of employee satisfaction directly impacts customer interactions, making support experiences smoother and more positive.

Encourage your team to share ideas and feedback to improve processes and give them opportunities for growth. When employees feel supported and valued, they’re more engaged in their work. That engagement leads to better customer experiences and a stronger overall business.

4. Adopt an omnichannel presence

Your customers and employees expect to reach you wherever, whenever, and however they please. An omnichannel presence isn’t just a nice-to-have—it’s a must-have. Think of it as creating a choose-your-own-adventure experience for your customers and employees. Whether someone’s browsing your website on their desktop during lunch break, checking your mobile app on their commute, or using a tablet while lounging on the couch, the experience should be smooth and consistent across all touchpoints.

Your digital and physical experiences should maintain the same level of service, brand voice, and effortless UX across all channels. That way, users can hop from one to another without missing a beat.

5. Develop a holistic feedback and quality assurance ecosystem

Jeff Bezos described Amazon customers as “divinely discontent,” a nod to the innate human desire to always want more and expect better. What amazes us today will be tomorrow’s baseline. To stay ahead of this curve, businesses need a system for collecting feedback and maintaining quality that evolves with customer, employee, and stakeholder expectations.

Start by encouraging internal and external feedback. This can help you spot areas for improvement that might otherwise go unnoticed. Implement Voice of the Customer (VoC) and Voice of the Employee (VoE) programs to capture valuable insights and use them to drive continuous enhancements across your total experience strategy.

But gathering feedback isn’t enough—developing comprehensive quality assurance (QA) processes that cover every interaction is also important. Whether it’s a customer support query or an internal employee service issue, AI-powered QA tools ensure you evaluate every interaction for quality and consistency. Regular audits and optimization of QA programs keep your TX top-notch and adaptable to shifting expectations.

Frequently asked questions

Integrate your customer service and employee service efforts

By focusing on your customers and employees, you can create a total experience that sets your business apart.

With a powerful customer experience solution and comprehensive employee service software like Zendesk, you’ll use the same tools for both CX and EX—enabling quick implementation, reducing total cost of ownership, and delivering a unified, AI-enhanced service experience for everyone, inside and out.

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