Is NPS right for you?
Does NPS make sense for you?
Let’s try this thought experiment: Say you’re a plastic surgeon, specializing in a bespoke and specific sort of work that’s…um, shall we say, personal in nature. Naturally, all plastic surgery is by definition personal, but I mean that your specialty is the sort of thing that people…just don’t talk about, whatever that may be. No, I’m not thinking of anything in particular myself. And yes, I’m sure this sort of thing exists. Based on this business model, what do you think the likelihood would be of any of your Customers discussing their procedures (and your work) with other people? Obviously, they’re unlikely to initiate such conversations themselves, but also based on the intimate nature of the need, I don’t imagine “friends and colleagues” of theirs—who might also have use for it—would ever raise the topic themselves either. Even if they’re extremely pleased with your work (and perhaps even more so if they are), your clients are not likely going to recommend your services to friends, family, co-workers, etc. Here’s an obvious place where NPS would make no sense as a metric for you. […]
Don’t abandon your Chief Customer Officer
I was recently speaking with a friend who’s a Chief Customer Officer. She was in good spirits but nonetheless was lamenting a bit about her colleagues: “It’s like I feel I have to defend my existence sometimes,” she said. Oh, boy, have I been there. My career has included time within PMOs, BPM/BPI organizations, and of course CX. Some organizations approach these sorts of disciplines as nice-to-haves, often because it’s fashionable to put effort (or appear to do so) into these sorts of things. At the end of a lean quarter, or if temporary business enthusiasm simply starts to ebb, you find yourself on the chopping block. No matter how poorly sales go, it’s never sales they come looking to get rid of. But our sorts of ‘ancillary’ organizations are often in the crosshairs.
Fortunately, my friend didn’t mean it that way. She didn’t feel her job was on the line or that her team could be cut because people didn’t see the value. That’s a relief. But more frustrating for her was that she found it difficult to gain traction and buy-in for her CX improvement efforts. She has the support of her boss, the CEO, who often speaks of the importance of CX and why having a Chief Customer Officer is so valuable. But whenever she attempted with her peers to institute a change or to improve something in what they did in order to improve their CX, she ran into continual pushback. […]
Employee experience begins with candidates
The world of work out there these days is simply weird. With unemployment clearly and dramatically impacted by the choices made in response to the whole Covid-19 mess, and yet the economy going gangbusters, it’s hard to understand if things are good or bad sometimes.
Lots of organizations are looking to hire, and especially in the CX field, what with the renewed interest in Customer Experience and care as a result of the new world in which we find ourselves. Many an article has been written since the beginning of the saga emphasizing how important Customer loyalty and care are to the ‘new normal.’ I’ve also been fascinated to see what’s going on in the world of CX employment. I’ve mentioned a few times that it’s an interesting world out there for CX jobs, but in some ways, there’s nothing all that unique about our career field than any other business discipline: People want (and deserve) to be treated fairly and respectfully. […]
Reasons to read and share
LinkedIn, Medium, tons of CX blogs and websites, including the Customer Experience Professionals Association (CXPA), Customer Think, and others, are all great sources of information for those looking to expand their knowledge and understanding of Customer Experience. There are insights into specific tactical issues, organizational concepts and approaches, strategic thought leadership, and much more. Given the robust nature of topics within CX, it’s vital to be out there consuming as much information from as many different sources as possible in order to keep up. […]
Shouldn’t we know better?
Let’s start today with a couple of anecdotal experiences:
Anecdote 1: It seems every time I pay in cash (who does that?), this happens: The cashier, when returning my change lays the bills down in my palm, and then pours the coins over top of them. This means that, to put the change away, I have to slide the bills out from under the coins (a la a magician with the table cloth out from under the glasses and place settings), put the change in my pocket, fold the bills with one hand, then fumble them into my wallet, all while trying to manage the bag of items I just bought. Every time this happens, I’m reminded that a much more convenient way to receive change would be the opposite: Put the coins in my palm then either hand me the bills in the other hand or lay them on top of the coins, thus allowing me to fold the bills with one hand and simultaneously chunk the coins into my pocket. That’d avoid the little magic trick of shuffling the bills out from under the change. […]
CX for SaaS
I’ve done some work with some folks in the software as a service (SaaS) space and have lots of colleagues and friends who are also working there. Whenever I talk with them about Customer Experience, I always chuckle when the conversation turns to the Voice of the Customer. […]
