[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2020\/01\/31\/x-o-data\/#BlogPosting","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2020\/01\/31\/x-o-data\/","headline":"X+O data: Two sides to every CX story","name":"X+O data: Two sides to every CX story","description":"X O data: Operational data represents day-to-day data, while X data comes from customer feedback. The two combined offer incredible insights into your CX.","datePublished":"2020-01-31","dateModified":"2024-07-19","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/contributor\/stephanie-thum\/#Person","name":"Stephanie Thum","url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/contributor\/stephanie-thum\/","identifier":334,"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/05bbc9017e3f89b9d6d4846c0cf0828093f534181adceca83e1773c2378f6385?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/05bbc9017e3f89b9d6d4846c0cf0828093f534181adceca83e1773c2378f6385?s=96&d=mm&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"The Future of Commerce","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/logo-foc-schema-app-1.png","url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/logo-foc-schema-app-1.png","width":172,"height":60}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/thumbnail-4558fc75c106ccea6540ff7fa7902153.jpeg","url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/thumbnail-4558fc75c106ccea6540ff7fa7902153.jpeg","height":375,"width":1200},"url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2020\/01\/31\/x-o-data\/","about":[{"@type":"Thing","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/customer-experience\/","name":"Customer Experience","sameAs":["https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Customer_experience","http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q984142"]},{"@type":"Thing","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/customer-experience\/customer-experience-general\/","name":"Customer Experience","sameAs":["https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Customer_experience","http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q984142"]},{"@type":"Thing","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/commerce\/intelligent-enterprise\/","name":"Intelligent Enterprise","sameAs":["https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Intelligent_enterprise","http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q6044119"]}],"wordCount":1122,"keywords":["Data Privacy","Experience Management"],"articleBody":"What’s X O data? Perhaps the best way to explain it is to first think of the saying, “There are two sides to every story.”In today\u2019s data-driven business world, when it\u2019s more important than ever to understand and respond to customers, that quote is more relevant than ever.X + O Data: Defining the two sidesIn customer experience, those two \u201csides\u201d of the customer\u2019s story are represented by operational data (O-data) and experience data (X-data).Here’s how X O data is defined:O-data is your company\u2019s \u201cside\u201d of the story. It\u2019s about what\u2019s happening in the day-to-day operations of your business, based on data from your existing information systems.Examples include numbers of new or lost customers, number of website visitors, referrals, call center volumes, new staff hire numbers, and sales figures, for example. Most companies already have a lot of this data on hand, so it can be an easy first stop in gathering what you need to begin understanding the experiences of your customers.X-data is your customer\u2019s \u201cside\u201d of the story. X-data comes to you straight from your customers\u2019 feedback, usually through surveys, interviews, focus groups, e-mails, and contact center recordings, for example.It reflects the customer\u2019s perceptions and feelings as they try to solve their problems with your products and services. X-data can be quantitative or qualitative.Getting started with Xs and OsGetting started can sometimes be a struggle, but it might not be as hard as you think. Here are some basic considerations to jumpstart your thinking.First, the O-side One common question many business executives ask is how do you decide which O-data points matter? Which ones should you be watching? My advice is simple. Ground your approach in what makes sense for your business. Link back to your company\u2019s strategic goals, objectives, and plans.Let\u2019s say, for example, your company has a strategic goal to improve the ease of doing business for customers. You and your colleagues determine (hopefully with customer input) that \u201cimproving the ease of doing business\u201d means clearing away glitches and administrative hurdles that slow down or delay the completion of customer transactions. Your starting O-data points could include a standard for how long certain types of transactions should take.Then, set a measurable goal\u2014maybe the number of minutes, clicks, or days you want to trim away from customers\u2019 experiences with completing a transaction. Then, start measuring and monitoring the actual number of minutes, clicks, and days transactions are taking, and compare that to your goal. Calculate averages, longest transaction times, shortest times, and your performance to your time-oriented goals. Put it on an easy-to-read dashboard for reference.Two pitfalls to avoid in setting O-data goals:Avoid verbs. O-data measures, metrics, and goals won\u2019t begin with verbs. Use terms like \u201cnumber of,\u201d \u201cpercentage of,\u201d \u201caverage of,\u201d \u201cratio of,\u201d etc. when you\u2019re setting O-data standards and goals.Keep it simple. Avoid the temptation to create convoluted indices from multiple O-data points. Those \u201cindices\u201d inevitably wind up confusing stakeholders, instead of providing clarity about what\u2019s happening with customers and the business.Then, the X-sideNow you need X-data. It\u2019s the other \u201cside of the story,\u201d so to speak.Let\u2019s stick with the example of \u201cimproving the ease of doing business for customers.\u201d Let\u2019s say you\u2019ve figured out the O-data side of customers\u2019 experiences with your company and you\u2019re measuring, monitoring, and triaging O-data surrounding transaction times. Now you need to know the customer\u2019s thoughts, feelings, and perceptions about doing business with you. X-data could originate from a short survey you send to all customers after they have finished the type of transaction you\u2019re already monitoring with O-data, as discussed above. You might ask a question like:On a scale of 1-10, please rate how easy or difficult it was to complete your transaction. You could then calculate an average effort score based on the total number of responses you\u2019ve received after that same type of transaction. You could also look at the highest score, lowest score, and your performance to whatever goal you may have set for how you want customers to perceive their level of ease or difficulty, during a certain timeframe. It could be daily, weekly, monthly, or quarterly, for example.That\u2019s a very simple way of approaching things. And you could stop with one question on your customer survey. But if you\u2019re ready to take in a little more feedback, then you may want to ask another question or two or leave room for unstructured, open-ended feedback in your survey.Here are three opportunities you might consider for collecting more X-data.Seek to understand the customer\u2019s outcomes. Ask the extent to which the customer was successful in using your product or service, or the degree to which your company\u2019s services impacted the customer\u2019s life or business. To what extent do they trust you to care for their\/their loved ones\u2019 needs?Understand how easy it was for the customer to spend their time or money with you. Ask how easy or how difficult was it for the customer to locate your business, park, pay, communicate with a clerk, complete an application, drop off a package, reach a company rep on the phone, or access the disabled amenities at your facility.Understand if their experiences matched their expectations. To what extent was their wait time burdensome? Did they feel respected by the contact center agent? You can also ask about facility cleanliness or helpfulness of information on a webpage, for example.To get your X-data points, you\u2019ll assign numbers, scales, averages, percentages, ratios, or categories to the feedback, and then use those for your analysis.With optional, open-ended, unstructured feedback, you can listen for what customers may want to tell you outside the parameters of your survey or interview. Open space is a smart way to stay open to things about your customers\u2019 experiences you may never have thought about. Today\u2019s sophisticated experience management platforms can peruse those verbatim remarks for you and identify trends and red flags.Putting it all togetherX O data, when well-thought-out and harmonized with your company\u2019s strategic goals, will fill you in on the story of customers\u2019 experiences in a more holistic way than just O-data alone, or X-data alone.Together, X- and O-data can give you the insights needed to make customer-focused choices, decide how to allocate resources, and prioritize decisions that solve your customers\u2019 problems. And all of that just happens to be great for business.  Enterprise, meet your customer.Interactions, data, front and back office \u2013 connected.It starts HERE."},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"2020","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2020\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"01","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2020\/\/01\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"31","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2020\/\/01\/\/31\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"X+O data: Two sides to every CX story","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2020\/01\/31\/x-o-data\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]