Set your CCO up with authority
Recently I wrote about a friend of mine, a Chief Customer Officer who was struggling with breaking through to her leadership colleagues the importance of taking action to improve the organization’s CX. Her frustration, I surmised, was rooted mostly in a lack of support from her CEO, who, although her heart was in the right place, hadn’t strategically lined out the proper role of the CCO and set those expectations in the first place. While that was a pretty specific instance, I’ve actually heard from a couple others who share a similar experience, so I figured I’d make a more general post about the proper care-and-feeding of your CX executives.
The advent and popularization of the role of the Chief Customer Officer is a great thing. I’ve certainly entertained initiations to be one myself, in fact, and do some work as a Fractional CCO. I’m grateful to see the excitement many business leaders are showing in the importance of CX in their organizations, and dedicating a role (and a staff and office) to Customer Experience goes a long way toward putting your money where your mouth is. But it can also be a hollow gesture if not properly executed and expectations not sufficiently set. So here’s a quick rundown of not why or that you need a CCO, but rather, how to install one: […]
Are we conversing?
I spent the last three weeks on Reserve status with the Air Force. It’s an exercise I anticipate and enjoy every year, but it inevitably gobbles up a lot of my time when it rolls around. As such, I’ve been a more passive observer on LinkedIn, Customer Think, CXPA, Twitter, and other forums in which I usually participate more actively. The experience has been enlightening this year as I deliberately went through a lot of articles I’d saved and only now got around to reading, followed up on some messages, and felt more free to drop in with comments here-and-there. […]
NPS may be hurting your employees
If you’re looking for a reason not to use NPS as your top-line CX metric, I’ve got one for you: Depending on your business and/or your business model, it’s just plain dumb. […]
Just stop with the KPIs already
Okay, so this is going to be controversial. Scandalous, even. But I’m going to come right out and say it:
Please stop with the KPIs. Just quit it already.
Whether you’re using NPS, C-SAT, CES…whatever it is, you’re only hurting your own CX efforts.
And I’ll tell you why: Because you’re not getting anything out of it. Not out of your top-line metrics, at least. If I ask you what your NPS tells you, you can probably go on about Customer loyalty, likelihood to repurchase, share of wallet, and many other great things that have come out of white papers and case studies over the years. That’s awesome, and I’m sure the entire leadership team is intrigued. You may have even validated those academics with evidence from your own organization. […]
Is fear affecting your decision making?
Way back when I decided to leave active duty I took a friend, a fellow captain, to the informational meeting held by Cameron Brooks, the placement company that went on to help me land my first post-military civilian job. We had each been in the Air Force for about a decade, and I think he was just curious about what they had to say. We met up after the presentation and he was cool to the idea of making the move. I asked him why and his reply was so stark and simply stated that I remember it today: “I don’t know anything else.” (Any other life than the military, he meant.)
Now, since those days we’ve fallen out of touch so I’m not sure if his decision was the right one…only he can make that call anyway. Today I imagine he remained in the service, and now likely retired or is near it. What I do know is that my friend’s fear of doing something new kept him from jumping from active duty into a new civilian career…kept him from making a move based on analyzing an opportunity. Not to disparage his choice—ultimately perhaps he’s better off—but fear was his driving factor. […]
Keeping up with your professional network
One of the things that makes being an independent consultant different from work ‘on the inside’ is that doing things like keeping up with LinkedIn and other ‘work-related’ social networks is actually part of the job. While it may seem a luxury to be able to find cool stuff here or find out about promotions and career moves of connections, LinkedIn and other such platforms are bread-and-butter. It’s where we connect, sometimes where we find leads, and always where we share our insights. If you’re not in this sort of business, LinkedIn may be something you rarely even think about or a site you hardly ever visit. I know that, in my last corporate incarnation, I had several colleagues who never used LinkedIn, some of whom didn’t even have profiles. I had one co-worker who insisted that she never used it because she didn’t want to give the impression to the boss that she was looking for work (she wasn’t, but still, her reasoning went, why give anybody a reason to think so?) If you’re not as active as those of us who live and breathe business networking but still want to find a good way to stay in touch, below is an article I wrote a few years ago while I was working full-time that I think still stands up. I’ve updated a couple of spots and of course, edited it for clarity. Enjoy. […]
