After a couple of decades of CX professionals trying to raise the customer strategy up the company totem pole, we are now in a place where most execs claim CX as a primary focus and potential differentiator. This begs the question; how can you differentiate when everyone is doing it?

Simple (not really)

1. Do it Smarter
2. Do it Faster
3. Do it Better

The reality is that whilst so many businesses will claim they are trying to become, or are a customer centric company, many will fail and many are not being real with themselves. This means there is still  a significant opportunity to gain market through great CX.

So, why do so many companies fail when trying to become more customer centric?

1. Do it Smarter

There are many reasons, but what I find most interesting is that there are some slight differences between what client side and vendor side execs say when it comes to the problems (read: blame);

Client Side

• Lack of Employee buy-in
• Over-promised vendor capability
• Lack of vendor support
• Company culture
• Legacy systems
• C-Suite support
• Speed of execution
• Access to data to guide decisions
• Project resources

Consultants

• Culture
• C-Suite support
• Started with the tech and not the problem
• Poor leadership
• Commitment
• Project resources
• Didn’t use enough consulting (joking)

When talking in depth with both there is an understanding that one piece played the biggest part in the downfall… Culture.

What they all agree on is that if they could focus on one thing that would have the greatest impact on their ability to transform, it would be Culture.

It is no wonder we have had more people asking about employee experience solutions.

The second thing that seems to be unanimously agreed is that whilst technology can be the great enabler, when a project is born from the desire to use a piece of technology rather than a business need/problem, there is a high chance of failure. If the project starts with “we need a VOC platform” rather than, “we don’t understand if we are doing a good job for our customers”, go back to the drawing board.

2. Do it Faster

At our last Chief Customer Officer Sydney, Mark Reinke CCO at Suncorp, talked about using your ability to transform quickly as a differentiator. I think that this is a really important way to view transformation. It is something that will only happen faster and faster over time, so where you may currently have a slow moving, bureaucratic company today, the negative impact of this will only compound over time as your competitors improve.

If you can transform your CX practices, process and technology faster than your competition, then you will be able to consistently take advantage of the first mover benefits.

3. Do it Better

I hate to harp on about the culture element but to have the best CX, you need people who feel empowered to help their customers. You need people who love helping their customers. If you don’t have this you are fighting a losing battle.

Having said that, I have found many examples where the culture is affected by processes and policies that make it very difficult for the customer to have a simple and/or enjoyable experience.

So, whilst you are working on improving your employee experience and your culture, ensure that your processes and policies aren't working against you. The name of the game is effortless. Think about how easy it is to book an Uber. Whilst you may have greater regulatory barriers to hurdle than Uber, is your process as effortless as possible.

Forget about all the gifts and delighting and other stuff until you have this sorted.

So to summarise;

• Start with the business problem/opportunity, not the shiny object (Don’t be a Magpie)
• Focus on your people and their experience
• Focus on creating a culture that rewards and focuses on great CX
• Workout your transformation muscles and keep pushing until you can move faster than your competition
• Make it effortless for your customers

If you can nail these things, you will be 80% of the way there.

Join us to uncover more CX strategies at the upcoming Chief Customer Officer Sydney, taking place on the 1-2 November.

Author:

Ben Shipley, International Business Development and Partnership Development, Corinium Intelligence