Creating the Customer Experience is Not Just a Marketing Responsibility
Joe Kessler
Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer | Global Executive | Change Management | Culture Champion | Marketing | Managing Director
How many of us as CMO, Head of Distribution or Head of Business Development have been charged with increasing sales? Better yet, Profitable sales? Ok, now that we agree 100%. How many have the lead to create a superior or delightful customer experience? Probably less than 100%. With several posts the last few days, plus a few less than desirable recent experiences with a bank, caused me to reflect what I’ve seen go well and horribly wrong. A successful customer experience starts with a framework of:
- Leadership:
Does your organization empower a single person (CEO, CMO, COO, CAO or other senior lead) to lead and facilitate the process across the organization? Is there buy-in to the idea, aligned to the business strategy, and backed by the CEO? Are you working together and not at cross purpose? Can you deliver what the customer wants, when they want it and how they want it, at a cost the company can sustain?
- Customer Definition:
Does your organization know the customer? Are there defined segments or personas? Have you conducted a customer journey? You probably can’t address each segment at once due to expense and resource, but have you committed and prioritized?
- Communication:
Does your organization understand the value and need for both strategic and tactical communications? Has a vision been articulated by senior leaders, middle management and employees? Is there a story telling culture and does everyone know their role? Have you built understanding, then belief and ultimately engagement?
- Persistence:
Does your organization persist with a passion to win? Unfortunately, 70% of change efforts fail. Why? First, never creating the burning platform. Second, failing to communicate, and third, not creating and sharing the shorter-term wins and then persisting. It is rare the organization can’t design the right systems, services & products, and procedures.
An awesome customer experience is an amazing event creating advocacy, new sales, and retention. It can go horribly wrong when we lose sight of why we are in business and succumb completely to shorter-term pressures such as getting the caller off the telephone line in less than 2 minutes.