Why Your Customer Experience Fails and How to Fix It as a Leader

People naturally aspire to perform meaningful work and positively impact others, yet numerous barriers can hinder this intent.

Reason 1: Ambiguity in Brand Promise

Often, employees are unclear about the intended customer experience, interpreting the brand promise based on recent marketing efforts or not at all. Without a uniform understanding of the brand promise, delivering a consistent experience across a broad team becomes challenging, leaving customers longing for the "nice" agent.

Reason 2: Lack of Ownership and Pride

Many employees view their roles as tedious, bound by stringent rules and harsh metrics, and lose sight of their core purpose—to serve. However, we've seen numerous employees redefine their roles and contributions, shifting from merely earning a paycheck to serving with pride.

Reason 3: Poor Employee Experience

When employees feel undervalued, they disengage as a self-preservation strategy, reflecting their treatment in how they interact with customers. Emotions are infectious, and a negative employee experience can directly impact customer relations.

Reason 4: Overemphasis on Compliance

Employees often become so preoccupied with adhering to procedures and navigating multiple systems that they forget customers are human beings seeking empathy. What gets measured gets managed, and prioritizing operational metrics over empathy can be detrimental.

Reason 5: Insufficient Development of Interpersonal Skills

In the rush towards digitization and automation, the focus on developing essential interpersonal skills has waned. This neglect can lead to negative customer interactions before an actual purchase is even made.

Strategic Actions for Leaders:

1. Clarify Your Brand Purpose: Ensure every team member understands and shares a unified view of your brand’s mission.

2. Lead by Example: Encourage leaders within your organization to exemplify the brand purpose in every action.

3. Empathetic Employee Treatment: Treat your employees as well as you expect them to treat your customers.

4. Empowerment to Care: Allow employees the freedom to own and enhance the customer experience genuinely.

5. Measure What Truly Matters: Focus on metrics that resonate with both customer satisfaction and employee pride.

Embrace these strategies to see your brand flourish into one that customers and employees alike love and respect.