So, I want to put these untruths to bed once and for all.
Here I bust 5 of the customer experience myths I hear all the time:
Yes, tech is totally an enabler. I believe that digital customer engagement tools can truly give your business a competitive edge, but technology isn’t a silver bullet. Investing in tech will only make your business stronger if it is used correctly. Technology is an opportunity to automate certain customer interactions, but it isn’t a replacement for human interaction - aside from streamlining processes and making your customers’ lives easier, your tech should be freeing up your employees to make meaningful connections and lasting impression with your customers.
Improving CX doesn’t need to cost big bucks, it just takes big change a shift in paradigms. The only thing your organisation must invest in is spreading your message and ensuring that everyone is on board with constantly and consistently applying your CX principles across your entire organisation. The people, the product and the processes that impact on your customer must all be lined up like little ducks with your customer-centric principles neatly in a row. Consistency, not cash, is the key.
Implementing initiatives to enhance customer experience is about getting all 1,000 people that work for you to apply one small improvement, rather than a few people in your organisation to make dramatic, sweeping changes. For change to be meaningful, it must be universal. Enhancing customer experience is about changing your business at its core, and developing policies and strategies that permeate your entire organisation. Start with small changes, scale them up, then keep growing your initiatives. Ensure you record and communicate the incremental improvements and success to everyone in your business.
Sadly, wrong. If you measure your weight, does that make you health-conscious? No, it just means you know what you weigh. That’s a good step towards health-consciousness, but it isn’t enough - you need goals, you need accountability and you need action. In much the same way, if the outcomes into your research into customer satisfaction are not linked to KPIs and accountability then you are totally wasting your (and your customer’s) time.
Your customer is your raison d’etre, of course, but there is someone at the core of your business who without you cannot and will not achieve positive customer relationships. Who? Your employee. Think of the people who work for you as an internal customer, because you cannot expect great CX without awesome SEX (staff engagement experience.) Your employer brand and reputation will impact on your commercial brand and reputation, but there is more at stake than that. The people who work for you are the most important part of your business because only when you get it right with them will they be getting it right with your customers. Forget that at your peril.
It’s time to stop believing in these CX fairy tales that are preventing your business from gaining the competitive advantage that truly exceptional customer experience can bring. If you aren’t looking at CX as a strategic differential value, then you are behind your competitors, and it’s time to play catch up.
