Why has CX become the cornerstone of customer's growth, success, and loyalty? In an interview with Nate Brown, Chief Experience Officer at Officium Labs (Part 2)
Continuing my interview with Nate Brown, Chief Experience Officer at Officium Labs, we discussed why CX has helped drive growth, success, and loyalty. You can read the first part interview here.
What should organizations focus on when designing or improving CX?
When it comes to improving or designing CX, "Leading Change" by John Kotter is the model I put into practice and recommend. It is a clear and concise roadmap for how we will bring CX programs or initiatives to organizations.
This model suggests eight processes leading to an effective change. It starts with establishing urgency and encourages people to see the need for change. It guides businesses to improve their business process that ultimately affects the customer experience.
Doing so enhances and helps develop integrity in what we do as an organization. Not only does it eliminate inefficiency, but it also improves the broken process and ensures that all the customer's interactions are seamless, coordinated, and outcome-focused. Engagement metrics such as VoC, CSAT, and NPS® attest to whether we have delivered or fulfilled our brand commitments.
Why do we need to elevate or position CX as a competitive differentiator?
CX is a mind shift in how we think about customer experiences, the products we develop, and the services we provide. It transcends this vision into how we can relate the value of the CX mentality to our ability to serve customers.
In other words, we are at risk of falling behind if the quality of the service we deliver is unacceptable. For instance, if customers view us as reliable and trustworthy, their perception changes and their trust is high. But if they perceive us as adversarial and unreliable, their trust declines and so does their loyalty.
If CX becomes a competitive differentiator and primary focus, it creates a vision to help develop meaningful strategies for achieving the CX vision.
How has CX evolved?
There have been a couple of iterations for the past few years. Originally CX started as a survey program that was largely conducted via phone or direct mail.
Over time, it has changed and focuses on providing an effortless experience. It now eliminates unnecessary friction to create a seamless, consistent, and efficient CX. It does not mean blowing customers’ minds but saving their time, setting clear expectations, and delivering on those expectations.
CX professionals are more focused on this now as CX becomes a mission-driven purpose of an organization. It becomes a new domain or pioneering evolution where the brand capability and mission are fused.
It is no longer what the brand does, the logo it acquires, the image it portrays, the personality it invokes, or what the look and feel is. It is the overarching brand commitment, motivating values, competitiveness, and the vision of an organization for achieving customer goals and desired success.
Thanks for speaking with me, Nate. Last thoughts?
It feels a bit cliché, but CX today is still being misunderstood. For some, it is just the break-fix mentality. They fail to realize that CX is rooted in people's feelings, emotions, and perceptions.
It articulates the connection between customer behavior and organizational success that led to positive customer perception. CX is not what the company thinks it is, but rather what the customer thinks. Without the drive (CX) to fuel innovation (CS), we will not be heading in the right direction.
