Turning Adversity into Opportunity: ??Sustainable CX

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We’ve moved into a new house in the middle of the Colorado Rockies. Our home features ceilings made from Beetle Killed Pine.

I’m awestruck. The wood, with its beautiful blue-gray stain, looks like a work of art.

??It also made me curious. What the heck is “Beetle Killed Pine?”

Exactly what the name indicates. Mountain Pine Beetles, a native insect roughly the size of a grain of rice, affect pine trees by laying eggs under the bark. The beetles introduce blue stain fungus into the sapwood that prevents the tree from repelling and killing the attacking beetles with tree pitch flow. The fungus also blocks water and nutrient transport within the tree.

As of 2022, the Pine Beetle epidemic aggressively devastated lodgepole pine forests in all 19 Western States and Canada, effectively decimating over 100 million acres of timber at an 80-90% kill rate.

Warm summers and mild winters play a role in both insect survival and the continuation and intensification of an outbreak.?All-in-all about 70% of Colorado’s lodgepole pines met this fate. These trees pose a major ??fire threat. They have to be removed, but if they are not recycled then they have to be burnt, which further adds?to the elevated CO2 levels caused by their?absence.

But the good news? The fungus carried by the beetles that result in the trees' death has no effect on the wood’s strength properties, nor are there any harmful health effects. The wood is used for cabinetry, paneling, and trim work. You can even find it used in the Colorado Convention Center and Coors Field’s Sandlot Brewery. And on my ceiling.

The story of the Beetle Killed Pine resonates with a fundamental principle of sustainability – the art of transforming adversity into opportunity.

The world of customer experience (CX) beckons us to reflect on how we too can navigate challenges and repurpose discarded elements to create lasting value.

The evolving business landscape often faces disruptions that challenge the traditional norms of customer engagement. As customer behaviors shift, market dynamics evolve, and technological advancements reshape the terrain, the conventional approaches to CX can quickly become inadequate, much like the lodgepole pines succumbing to an unforeseen infestation.

We need to reimagine and repurpose. The end of one phase can signal the beginning of another, more innovative chapter.

Much like fast fashion, businesses waste resources not putting customer insights into action. I cannot tell you the number of times...

• I ask to see personas and customer journey maps, only to be told they are under a pile of dust in an old filing cabinet.
• Or I look for the sentiment analysis of the latest six months of reviews, only to be told that the reviews are extracted into a spreadsheet but never actually analyzed.
• Or I watch companies navigate their CX strategy like a game of Frogger, darting between different tactics and approaches without a clear direction, risking collisions with customer dissatisfaction and missed opportunities.

The data, insights, and lessons learned from past customer interactions and experiences can be repurposed to fuel innovation. By analyzing the granularities of customer preferences, pain points, and aspirations, businesses can uncover novel pathways to enhance their offerings and create new touchpoints that resonate more deeply with their audience. This symbiotic relationship between resilience and adaptation is the foundation of sustainability.

What does it look like to create a sustainable CX plan?

1. Capture Insights: Gather customer feedback and insights from past interactions to build a foundation for improving CX.
2. Analyze Patterns: Identify recurring patterns in customer preferences and pain points to uncover opportunities for enhancement.
3. Feedback Loop: Establish a feedback loop that continuously integrates customer input to drive ongoing improvements.
4. Anticipate Needs: Use historical data to anticipate customer needs and proactively address them before they arise.
5. Personalize Experiences: Repurpose customer data to tailor experiences, making them more relevant and engaging.

The lessons from the Beetle Killed Pine underscore the power of resourceful repurposing. By applying this approach in your CX efforts, you're not only practicing sustainability but also building strong customer relationships and fostering long-lasting innovation. Just as the blue stain on the wood tells a tale of transformation, let your CX strategy tell a story of evolution, ingenuity, and lasting value.

LoyaltyCraft?was built out of a passion for helping companies create meaningful customer experiences. Founded in 2016 by Lauren Feehrer CCXP, we focus on strategy, qualitative research, customer design, and employee engagement to help mid-market companies open the door to new customers and keep existing ones from leaving out the backdoor.