At the end of the day...
Welcome to the final edition of START Here. ??
I recently took on a new full-time role in the financial services industry, so I’m winding down my consulting practice – including this newsletter about customer experience (CX). It has been a rewarding two years of personal growth, but the new opportunity is a great fit for my experience, interests, and values.
One of my favourite parts of the last two years has been engaging with readers of START Here – mostly through private online exchanges or personal conversations. Customer-related topics seem to generate both strong opinions and strong emotions!
I want to conclude this journey with three practical CX themes that I would like to reinforce.
1.???? The customer is always the starting point. It sounds so obvious, but it’s the most common mistake that organizations make. While many organizations talk about being customer-focused, their actions are often driven by other priorities – e.g. quarterly profits, internal politics, executive compensation, management dysfunction, etc. The truth is simple: if you start with creating value for your customers, then benefits will accrue to all stakeholders. Start somewhere else at your own peril.
2.???? Customer Service vs. Customer Experience. Being nice doesn’t matter if you can’t deliver a consistent end-to-end experience for your customers. Growth and loyalty are based on being effective and efficient. Which leads me to my last theme….
3.???? It’s not rocket surgery.* In most cases, customer expectations are very reasonable. They want a fair price, accompanied by convenience and responsiveness. Basically, they want it to be “easy to do business with you.” Identify and remove their points of pain. Measure the customer experience across the value chain and act on the insights. You will be rewarded.
We can make our organizations – and the world – better by focusing on people. At the end of the day, we just need to listen.
To my readers: it’s been a real pleasure exchanging ideas with you. I hope to cross paths again in the future.
All the best. Thanks. - Paul
*Note: This mash-up of “rocket science” and “brain surgery” is silly. But I love it.
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S.T.A.R.T. stands for Strategic, Tactical And Random Thoughts. And you can find it Here.
? 2025 Paul Mlodzik Consulting Inc.
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As a Sr. UX Strategist, I bridge the space between product and UX, and translate user needs and wants to empower our teams to build powerful user experiences and help improve people’s lives through smart design.
5 天前Congrats on your next step, Paul! Loved START.
Senior Underwriter at Saskatchewan Government Insurance Services Limited
2 周Wishing you all the best in the new role!
Multi-discipline marketing executive
2 周In the end its surprisingly simple, isn't it? Three absolute truths. Wishing you the best in your new role!
Leader with a passion for high-performing teams, transformational change, strategic communication, innovation and community.
2 周I am both hopeful and confident that START will live another day in some shape or form ?? All the best in your new role - see you soon to celebrate! ??