That’s a question CX leaders spend a lot of time pondering. For example, I’m often asked questions like, “How fast does our response rate need to be?”
The easy answer? “As quick as you can make it.” That’s the lazy answer, too.
It should come as no surprise that easy, lazy answers – even when they seem logical – might not be the best. But they can also seriously harm your brand.
For example, one Heart of the Customer client focused on same-day shipping for every service request. You ask for it today, they get it out to you today. That sounds better than “good,” right? It seems downright great. Read more
https://heartofthecustomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/man-carrying-big-stone-scaled.jpg12351600Jim Tincherhttps://heartofthecustomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/hotc-logo.pngJim Tincher2021-06-17 05:00:032021-06-17 11:52:39Don’t “Go the Extra Mile” in the Wrong Direction!
As regular readers have probably noticed, I’ve been referencing the massive research project we undertook last year often in recent blog posts, especially while sharing learnings.
Today I want to take you behind the curtain and describe the impetus for the project, explain some of the methodology, and tell you about my motivation and goals. To do that, I need to start at the beginning.
Once upon a time, I was a customer experience failure.
Back in the olden days (olden in CX terms, anyway, as it was more than a decade ago), I led a customer experience program in a division of a large health insurance organization.
If I could only ask you one question to determine if you’re a Change Maker, it would be this: “Tell me about your data.”
Most of the more than 100 CX pros we interviewed in the course of our researchlast year responded with, “What do you mean?” Or they only mentioned survey data.
But not the Change Makers.
They understand that business data is what the organization runs on. And they have a thorough understanding of the metrics that make up their customer journeys, particularly their organizations’ key performance indicators (KPIs). Read more
https://heartofthecustomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/kpi-key-performance-indicator-business-concept-scaled.jpg10351600Jim Tincherhttps://heartofthecustomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/hotc-logo.pngJim Tincher2021-06-02 05:30:502021-06-02 04:46:32Are Your “Averages” Obscuring Your CX Opportunities?
The benefits of customer journey maps – staticandliving – can be transformational for both your organization and your customers. But your maps won’t lead to an increase in customer loyalty or company earnings if your journey mapping process is flawed.
So why do almost two-thirds of journey mapping initiatives fail to drive change?
Because journey mapping is an art and a science, and doing it right is hard. Which makes it tempting to cut corners and rush the process.
But you’re not going to gain anything with those shortcuts if your journey mapping project turns out to be a huge waste of time and resources as a result. And there’s even more on the line than that.
One failed journey mapping project makes it that much less likely that you’ll be able to muster the internal support needed to try again. Read more
https://heartofthecustomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/silhouette-man-jumping-from-failure-success-1-scaled.jpg10661600Jim Tincherhttps://heartofthecustomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/hotc-logo.pngJim Tincher2021-05-28 05:00:032021-06-01 13:13:59Journey Mapping Mistakes to Avoid
It’s hard to overstate how much building an emotional connection with customers matters.
According to the XM Institute, when the emotional experience is rated highly, 76% of customers are promoters. When it’s rated low, only 6% are. More importantly, when the emotional experience is rated highly, 63% will forgive you when problems arise.
But if you haven’t created that strong emotional experience? Only 11% will. Read more
https://heartofthecustomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/nancy-flowers.png310311Jim Tincherhttps://heartofthecustomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/hotc-logo.pngJim Tincher2021-05-21 07:51:212021-05-21 08:01:12Lessons From a Change Maker
Done right, CX is a business discipline where organizations thrive by investing in an improved customer experience. That notion is largely accepted, even though it’s not always practiced.
The challenge there is knowing where to invest.
Success requires finding the sweet spot where an improved experience leads your customers to spend more with you, stick around longer, and/or engage with you in less-costly ways.
So how do you find that sweet spot?
By working the issue backward and managing it working forward, through the Chain of CX Value.
https://heartofthecustomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/metal-chain-is-connected-with-red-hot-link-power-concept-3d-illustration-1-scaled.jpg10661600Jim Tincherhttps://heartofthecustomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/hotc-logo.pngJim Tincher2021-05-12 19:04:032021-05-13 10:12:03Follow the Chain of CX Value to Drive Impact
Heart of the Customer maps customer journeys for a wide range of B2B organizations, from healthcare to manufacturing to distribution and more. We’ve found one area of friction common across industries: backorder issues.
Whether mom and pop retail storefronts or global manufacturers, customers with products on backorder face similar situations. Here’s how it generally plays out:
They take an order from their customer and promise a delivery. Then they find out that the product is on backorder. That puts them in an difficult position. Do they scramble to find a new supplier? Look for an alternate product? Disappoint their customer?
https://heartofthecustomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/warehouse-management-software-application-computer-real-time-monitoring-scaled.jpg10681600Jim Tincherhttps://heartofthecustomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/hotc-logo.pngJim Tincher2021-05-08 06:45:512021-05-08 06:44:08Backorder Issues: The High Cost of Reduced Inventory
After more than 150 hours of interviewing CX leaders – and surveying 200+ more! – it’s clear that one thing separates the best from the rest:
The best CX programs start, end, and do everything in between, based on how their efforts will add value to the business.
Some companies start with their survey scores, then try to validate that the scores matter. Others never do that, and just hope improving survey scores will lead to higher loyalty.
The best – those we call “Change Makers” – start by understanding how the business generates value from an improved customer experience, then ensure that every activity is focused on achieving that outcome. Read more
https://heartofthecustomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/value-scaled.jpg10981600Jim Tincherhttps://heartofthecustomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/hotc-logo.pngJim Tincher2021-04-30 05:00:202021-04-29 17:21:49Six Ways to Show B2B CX Value
Heart of the Customer’s Jim Tincher sat down with Style Psychology Founder and CEO Kate Nightingale recently, to discuss the role of emotions in the customer experience. (But it’s 2021, so of course “sat down with” means “met on Zoom.”) Below is a lightly edited transcript of that conversation. You can watch the complete video here.
Jim: So we were on a panel together [The Art and Science of Creating Exceptional Customer Experiences, now available on demand] and we were talking about emotions in the experience. And one of the other panelists brought up the “effortless experience.” Both you and I had a visceral reaction to that book. I have my thoughts, but let’s start with you. Tell me more why you reacted to that.Read more
https://heartofthecustomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/hotc-logo.png00Jim Tincherhttps://heartofthecustomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/hotc-logo.pngJim Tincher2021-04-17 06:37:292021-04-17 06:40:33Interview: Kate Nightingale of Style Psychology
Does it take you five hours to update your customer health dashboard, only to have three people barely glance at it?
Worse yet, did someone else send out an Excel report that everyone read instead, even though you have a dashboard for their use?
In other words, is your dashboard on mute? Read below for three ideas related to dashboards that you might not have considered. Read more
https://heartofthecustomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/turn-it-up-scaled.jpg10661600Shawn Phillipshttps://heartofthecustomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/hotc-logo.pngShawn Phillips2021-04-09 06:00:462021-04-29 14:54:45Turn Your Dashboards Up to 11
Journey maps are the clearest way to visualize your customer experience. Download our Journey Mapping Toolkit to start.
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Don’t “Go the Extra Mile” in the Wrong Direction!
/1 Comment/in CX Program Strategy, Voice of the Customer /by Jim TincherThat’s a question CX leaders spend a lot of time pondering. For example, I’m often asked questions like, “How fast does our response rate need to be?”
The easy answer? “As quick as you can make it.” That’s the lazy answer, too.
It should come as no surprise that easy, lazy answers – even when they seem logical – might not be the best. But they can also seriously harm your brand.
Because nothing comes without tradeoffs.
For example, one Heart of the Customer client focused on same-day shipping for every service request. You ask for it today, they get it out to you today. That sounds better than “good,” right? It seems downright great. Read more
Revealing Change Makers’ Secrets
/0 Comments/in Customer Experience Vision, CX Program Strategy, Driving CX Culture Change /by Jim TincherToday I want to take you behind the curtain and describe the impetus for the project, explain some of the methodology, and tell you about my motivation and goals. To do that, I need to start at the beginning.
Once upon a time, I was a customer experience failure.
Back in the olden days (olden in CX terms, anyway, as it was more than a decade ago), I led a customer experience program in a division of a large health insurance organization.
Read more
Are Your “Averages” Obscuring Your CX Opportunities?
/0 Comments/in CX Program Strategy, Metrics & ROI, Surveys & Feedback /by Jim TincherMost of the more than 100 CX pros we interviewed in the course of our research last year responded with, “What do you mean?” Or they only mentioned survey data.
But not the Change Makers.
They understand that business data is what the organization runs on. And they have a thorough understanding of the metrics that make up their customer journeys, particularly their organizations’ key performance indicators (KPIs). Read more
Journey Mapping Mistakes to Avoid
/in Customer Journey Mapping, CX Program Strategy /by Jim TincherThe benefits of customer journey maps – static and living – can be transformational for both your organization and your customers. But your maps won’t lead to an increase in customer loyalty or company earnings if your journey mapping process is flawed.
So why do almost two-thirds of journey mapping initiatives fail to drive change?
Because journey mapping is an art and a science, and doing it right is hard. Which makes it tempting to cut corners and rush the process.
But you’re not going to gain anything with those shortcuts if your journey mapping project turns out to be a huge waste of time and resources as a result. And there’s even more on the line than that.
One failed journey mapping project makes it that much less likely that you’ll be able to muster the internal support needed to try again. Read more
Lessons From a Change Maker
/0 Comments/in CX Program Strategy, Interviews with CX Experts, Metrics & ROI /by Jim TincherIt’s hard to overstate how much building an emotional connection with customers matters.
According to the XM Institute, when the emotional experience is rated highly, 76% of customers are promoters. When it’s rated low, only 6% are. More importantly, when the emotional experience is rated highly, 63% will forgive you when problems arise.
But if you haven’t created that strong emotional experience? Only 11% will. Read more
Follow the Chain of CX Value to Drive Impact
/0 Comments/in CX Program Strategy, Metrics & ROI, Surveys & Feedback /by Jim TincherThe challenge there is knowing where to invest.
Success requires finding the sweet spot where an improved experience leads your customers to spend more with you, stick around longer, and/or engage with you in less-costly ways.
So how do you find that sweet spot?
By working the issue backward and managing it working forward, through the Chain of CX Value.
Read more
Backorder Issues: The High Cost of Reduced Inventory
/in Customer Experience Vision, Customer Journey Mapping, Voice of the Customer /by Jim TincherWhether mom and pop retail storefronts or global manufacturers, customers with products on backorder face similar situations. Here’s how it generally plays out:
Read more
Six Ways to Show B2B CX Value
/0 Comments/in B2B Journeys (or B2B2C), Metrics & ROI /by Jim TincherThe best CX programs start, end, and do everything in between, based on how their efforts will add value to the business.
Some companies start with their survey scores, then try to validate that the scores matter. Others never do that, and just hope improving survey scores will lead to higher loyalty.
The best – those we call “Change Makers” – start by understanding how the business generates value from an improved customer experience, then ensure that every activity is focused on achieving that outcome. Read more
Interview: Kate Nightingale of Style Psychology
/0 Comments/in Customer Experience Vision, CX Program Strategy, Interviews with CX Experts /by Jim TincherJim:
So we were on a panel together [The Art and Science of Creating Exceptional Customer Experiences, now available on demand] and we were talking about emotions in the experience. And one of the other panelists brought up the “effortless experience.” Both you and I had a visceral reaction to that book. I have my thoughts, but let’s start with you. Tell me more why you reacted to that. Read more
Turn Your Dashboards Up to 11
/0 Comments/in CX Program Strategy, Journey Analytics & Orchestration /by Shawn PhillipsWorse yet, did someone else send out an Excel report that everyone read instead, even though you have a dashboard for their use?
In other words, is your dashboard on mute? Read below for three ideas related to dashboards that you might not have considered. Read more