Customer experience specialists take a bird’s-eye view of every interaction between a customer and your organization. They can help your business become more customer-focused.
So how do you hire customer experience specialists? What follows are some tips for finding top customer experience specialists on Upwork.
How to shortlist customer experience professionals
As you’re browsing available customer experience consultants, it can be helpful to develop a shortlist of the professionals you may want to interview. You can screen profiles on criteria such as:
- Industry fit. You want a customer experience specialist who understands your industry so they can help you figure out how to offer a great CX to your target market.
- Project experience. Screen candidate profiles for specific skills and experience (e.g., familiarity with UX design to help improve a software product).
- Feedback. Check reviews from past clients for glowing testimonials or red flags that can tell you what it’s like to work with a particular customer experience specialist.
How to write an effective customer experience job post
With a clear picture of your ideal customer experience specialist in mind, it’s time to write that job post. Although you don’t need a full job description as you would when hiring an employee, aim to provide enough detail for a contractor to know if they’re the right fit for the project.
An effective customer experience job post should include:
- Scope of work: From customer segmentation to customer journeys, list all the deliverables you’ll need.
- Project length: Your job post should indicate whether this is a smaller or larger project.
- Background: If you prefer experience with certain industries or CRM tools, mention this here.
- Budget: Set a budget and note your preference for hourly rates vs. fixed-price contracts.
Ready to offer your clients a superior CX? Log in and post your customer experience job on Upwork today.
CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE SPECIALISTS FAQs
What is customer experience?
Customer experience (CX) is the sum experience of the entire customer journey from discovery to checkout to product support and beyond.
Here’s a quick overview of the skills you should look for in customer experience professionals:
- Customer experience
- Strong communication skills (written, verbal, visual)
- Customer relationship management (CRM)
- CRM tools (e.g., HubSpot, Zoho, Salesforce)
Why do you want to hire customer experience specialists?
The trick to finding top customer experience specialists is to identify your needs. Is your goal to use a combination of content and customer service to offer a superior customer experience? Are you seeking a CX manager experienced in tracking customer analytics with a CRM tool such as HubSpot? The cost of your project will depend largely on your scope of work and the specific skills needed to bring your project to life.
How much does it cost to hire a customer experience specialist?
Rates can vary due to many factors, including expertise and experience, location, and market conditions.
- An experienced customer experience specialist may command higher fees but also work faster, have more-specialized areas of expertise, and deliver higher-quality work.
- A contractor who is still in the process of building a client base may price their customer experience services more competitively.
Which one is right for you will depend on the specifics of your project.
How long should you contract a customer experience specialist to complete your project?
As difficult as it is to estimate how long you will need a customer experience specialist, budgeting time is very important to keeping your project on track.
Be prepared to budget more time for more-demanding customer experience projects. For example, answering phone calls as a customer service representative well versed in CX will be less involved than managing B2C interactions as a customer experience manager (CXM).
What are the steps involved to hire customer experience specialists?
Here’s how to hire customer experience consultants in four simple steps:
- Identify your project needs, whether you need a customer service rep or a CXM.
- Define the scope of work and write a detailed job post. Be specific about deliverables (e.g., mapping customer journey for an online store).
- Review proposals and shortlist potential customer experience specialists for unique skills needed to bring your project to life (e.g., experience improving the CX of a Shopify store).
- Interview customer experience talent to gauge whether they’re the right fit for your project.