Customer Success is not CX

I’ve written previously about different job postings with CX-sounding titles.  One of those jobs is in the family of “Customer Success” positions.  If you’re like me, and work in CX, you may have wondered, What, exactly, is, Customer Success?  From a CX perspective, it may be useful to understand how these roles and their responsibilities differ from ours.  To that end, it’s a lot like CX, but it’s not exactly that.  While I’ve not played much a role in this space, I’ve made quite a few connections in the CS world and here’s what I’ve been able to gather from these conversations:
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By | 2020-10-22T14:50:28+00:00 October 22nd, 2020|Categories: CX Jobs, CX Thoughts|0 Comments
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The value of certifications

I once had a mentor whose cubicle walls were covered in certificates and evidence of completion of training and qualification.  People considered him a bit of an egotist and obsessed with certifications.  Credentialism is a thing, after all.  But I asked him once about all his accreditations.  He said, “Some people say, ‘Sure, well you’re just good at taking tests,’ and I say, ‘Yea, I am, I guess.’”  Point being, he was pretty humble and casual about them, but wasn’t kidding himself that lots of folks take them to heart.  In his mind, it didn’t hurt that some people weren’t impressed—he likely wouldn’t lose favor with any of them for being credentialed (he was, it should be said, supremely smart and talented too…that always helps).  But for those who did care, why not jump through a little hoop here and there to get your foot in the door?  I’ll just say, it served him well.

I wrote recently about hiring your CX leaders from outside of your industry.  I understand that that’s quite a plunge to take for some folks:  You mean you want me to go with a complete novice in our industry and trust that person with our Customers?  Our entire CX program?  You must be nuts. (more…)

By | 2020-10-01T14:46:12+00:00 October 1st, 2020|Categories: CX Jobs, CX Thoughts, Leadership|0 Comments
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For a CX leader, don’t hire from within your industry

There’s a meme going around LinkedIn these days about a job posting that requires of the ideal candidate experience that’s physically impossible:  a history of use of a platform or programming language that’s longer than the language’s existence in the first place.  There’s even been a mocking job posting put up with a cascade of similar impossibilities as requirements.

But that led me to thinking:  As I’ve written about before, I sometimes browse through job postings on LinkedIn and Glassdoor in the CX field.  What I mentioned in that previous post was how disparate the actual jobs are that are all listed as “CX” in some way or another.  But the joke about a job requirement for experience that’s literally impossible to have acquired set off a bell in my mind that reminded me of another thing a lot of these CX job postings have in common:  They almost universally require extensive experience in the hiring company’s industry. (more…)

By | 2020-09-17T13:33:10+00:00 September 17th, 2020|Categories: CX Culture, CX Jobs, CX Thoughts, Leadership|0 Comments
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What makes a CX job an actual CX Job?

When I left my last internal, corporate CX gig to go back into consulting, I wasn’t interested in taking on another full-time job. But a series of continuing interactions with recruiters and start-up founders has made me curious about it so from time to time I poke around on job boards and take a look more generally at what’s ‘out there’ on the CX job market.

If you’re looking for CX work, or if like me you just dip into Glassdoor or LinkedIn Jobs every once in a while just to see what’s up, you may have noticed what I did:  It’s like the Wild West out there!

I don’t know if it’s because CX is a relatively young field (or at least it’s become more prevalent lately) or if perhaps “Customer Experience” is becoming popular enough as a term or perhaps a catch-phrase in the business world that it’s popping up more often.  But one thing’s for certain:  There are a lot of jobs listed out there whose titles at least sound like they’re CX.  My first thoughts on this took me back to the trend many years ago where organizations were falling all over themselves to create a Quality Department or Office of Operational Excellence or Business Process Improvement Team and I wondered if perhaps this was another trend that companies are chasing after with varying degrees of success and different levels of actual dedication. (more…)

By | 2020-05-18T15:46:23+00:00 May 18th, 2020|Categories: CX Jobs, CX Thoughts|0 Comments
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Hiring your CX Team

One of the most fulfilling things I’ve ever done as a leader was build a team.  Whether I’m actively looking or get a random call from a recruiter, usually the most intriguing potential aspect of a job is getting to hire people for a team.  I’ve learned a lot of lessons over the years about that.  Naturally first among them (and I learned this the hard way!) is to go out and hire immediately when you’re given the chance.  I’m sure a lot of you are nodding your heads along with that sentiment.

When it comes to hiring a CX team, what’s most important?  Well, the composition of the team will depend greatly on what part the new (or existing) team is supposed to play in the broader corporate landscape.  There are too many branches and possibilities to get too much into the roles of any specific CX team based on its position in the organizational structure.  You’ll surely have analysts, process engineers, perhaps some folks working on culture, and other important facets as well.  But exactly the sorts of skills you’ll need, it’s hard to say generally.

But aside from the technical knowledge and capabilities, what are the characteristics of a good CX team member?  Since CX is a pretty young field*, it’s hard aside from the few certifications that are out there to ensure someone’s proficiency in a technical field is adequately complemented by the knowledge and approach of a true CX professional.
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By | 2020-08-29T19:41:08+00:00 April 24th, 2020|Categories: CX Culture, CX Jobs, CX Strategy, CX Thoughts, Leadership|0 Comments
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