Let’s ask better questions
With text analytics and artificial intelligence and sentiment analysis, technology has really moved us into a new world of possibilities when it comes to understanding our Customers’ feedback in a variety of formats. I’ve seen some pretty amazing uses of this new world of business analytics and high-level number-crunching. The way some software out there is able to analyze and synthesize even unstructured data is pretty mind-blowing.
So why are we still doing VoC the same way? […]
Rethinking the ROI of CX
Articulating the return on investment (ROI) of Customer Experience efforts is a recurring theme among CX professionals. As I moderate panels on webinars and sit as a guest on podcasts, listen to my peers talk, and read articles, I hear the questions all the time: How do you define the ROI? How do you sell CX to leadership? I’ve even written about it myself on several occasions.
I know some of my fellow CX consultants go so far as to use the ROI of CX as their calling cards…not only engaging in the discussion but also leveraging it as the heart of their pitches to clients. Some make bold promises and predictions, and some are simply advocates of the idea that you’ll boost your business results in some undefined (and sometimes not so undefined), yet unambiguously wonderful way with a dose of CX. Now, of course, some are more circumspect than others, but there certainly seems to be a trend toward using things like revenues, sales, and market share as the driving reason for engaging in CX endeavors. […]
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. […]
