You can't have Customer Experience without addressing THE IN BETWEEN
How can you do a complete Customer Experience overhaul?
A lot of thinking, observing, planning, brainstorming and writing. However, the one tip that is rarely revealed in the standard CX guide or webinar is that customer experience requires logical 360o thinking.
True CX is a circle that surrounds you and your customer.
Therefore, to truly reach another level of Customer Experience, you must address the needs of your INTERNAL CUSTOMERS, EXTERNAL CUSTOMERS and WHAT LIES IN BETWEEN.
It’s THE IN BETWEEN that’s often overlooked when developing a Customer Experience initiative.
What’s THE IN BETWEEN?
Prelude: Before you hop on down the CX rabbit hole, there’s one thing that needs to be locked down and airtight.
The Company Value System and Messaging...
When trying to solve the Customer Experience mystery, you must be a realist. For me, it was understanding my limits. I had to come to the realization that I can’t design a process that addresses every potential pothole and pitfall in the Customer Experience.
So, if you are looking to reinvent or start a Customer Experience initiative, you must understand that CX is not static. The Customer Experience is very dynamic. It can turn on you seconds.
No matter how many rules you put in place, if/then scenarios you document, you must know that the Customer Experience is a living breathing thing. If you smother CX, much like a wild animal that’s caged, it will turn on you, it will rebel against you, it will bite you.
So, what can you do to prevent the Customer Experience backfire?
Address THE IN BETWEEN, Empower Your People.
Your people are your greatest asset and I assume you’ve done a terrific job hiring terrific people. Empower them to make decisions. In the heat of the moment, you don’t want people thinking about what rigid process to follow.
The Customer Experience is comprised of many variables. The 2 most significant CX variables are people and time. Therefore, people shouldn’t be forced to think about step #173 in the CX handbook when trying to prevent a situation from escalating (or was it step #174)….
...they should just think.
Your people should be thinking about the specific situation, the customer (the person) and how both should be addressed based on your company values and messaging. They should be able to think logically and be empowered to make the right decision based on the specific criteria referenced above.
Now simply documenting a value system on a company wiki or on a website is not enough. It won’t change behavior and certainly won’t make anyone feel empowered.
Your company value system and messaging should be:
- The upfront CX agreement with your people
- The team goal, what everyone is working towards
- What unifies everyone within an organization, from the top down
This requires complete organizational buy-in. Your people need to feel your support, hear your support and see your support in real-time for them to be truly bought in.
Failure is most definitely an option (and a good thing)
Your team needs to know that you expect things not to be perfect, that empowering them to make decisions based on a clear value system will lead to Team Learning Experiences (I only consider them problems when they are repeated).
Accept the fact that mistakes will be made because those mistakes have the power to make the Customer Experience better in the long run.
If your people are afraid to make a mistake, it’s not their fault, it’s yours. The moment your people are making decisions out of fear as opposed to empowerment, you know you have a major CX problem on your hands.
Elevate the internal and external Customer Experience…