This is our time to shine. As the world changes rapidly, your company is looking to you to deliver the digital transformations necessary to support a new reality for your customers. Those digital adoption goals set for 2025? They’ve been moved up to 2021. With urgency.
This year has shown us that a successful customer experience requires technology. There simply aren’t any projects to deliver an improved journey that can afford to overlook IT. Heart of the Customer’s research this year has also shown this to be a key differentiator for market leaders, who utilize more kinds of technology than their peers. Read more
https://heartofthecustomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/internet-things-communication-technology-1-scaled.jpg9151600Shawn Phillipshttps://heartofthecustomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/hotc-logo.pngShawn Phillips2020-11-20 11:20:382020-11-20 11:20:38An Open Letter to My Friends in IT
At Heart of the Customer, we recently had a software client who wasn’t winning as many sales as they expected. We mapped their customers’ pre-sales journey and found that the company was putting out their best practices, but prospective clients were ignoring them.
They just didn’t consider our client a trusted authority.
It’s common problem among CX pros. You see customers making “bad” choices, such as not making the best use of your company’s products or services. So you create communications to share the recommended approach, but you just can’t get customers to change their behavior.
https://heartofthecustomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/social-proof-1-scaled.jpg10661600Jim Tincherhttps://heartofthecustomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/hotc-logo.pngJim Tincher2020-11-13 06:00:312020-11-13 05:50:29Unmask the Power of Social Proof
In CX, we all focus on making the experience easier on our customers. (We even made it the title of our book.) But building loyalty isn’t as simple as removing friction.
Don’t get me wrong. It’s definitely worthwhile to simplify your customer experience. Friction is a key driver behind loyalty destruction, and your organization will benefit from streamlining processes and making it easier for customers to resolve issues.
But it won’t build fans who will go out of their way to order from you. That takes something bigger. Read more
Let’s not beat around the bush: $#@&*%! coronavirus trashed your journeys.
Prior to the pandemic, organizations had clear strategies on how to serve their customers, working to deliver an ever-improving experience to earn loyalty.
A better experience is still required…but how we go about providing it – and what “it” even is – has completely changed, particularly for B2C companies, where among other things, face-to-face interactions now take place mask-to-mask.
When I hosted a fireside chat earlier this month with Alison Circle, the Chief Customer Experience Officer for the Columbus Library system, she told me how difficult new protocols necessitated by the pandemic have made it to forge personal connections between staff and customers. But safety just has to come first. Read more
https://heartofthecustomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Picture1.png200200Jim Tincherhttps://heartofthecustomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/hotc-logo.pngJim Tincher2020-10-29 06:00:322020-10-30 08:02:02For B2C, Cleanliness Is the New Black
As CX practitioners, we work to uncover the Voice of the Customer (VoC) and use it to drive the company to improve. We combine qualitative and quantitative methods to understand what customers need and communicate this to the rest of the company to ensure we remain relevant to customers.
But if you’ve ever worked within a B2B company, you may have come across another source of feedback that, if you’re
not careful, can trump your VoC – the VoLLC. You may not have heard of this term – largely because I just made it up – but it’s certainly something you’ve run across. The Voice of the Last Lost Customer.Read more
https://heartofthecustomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/10.23-blog-image.jpg300400Jim Tincherhttps://heartofthecustomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/hotc-logo.pngJim Tincher2020-10-23 06:00:592020-10-28 14:21:193 Tips to Manage the Voice of the Last Lost Customer
I’ve always been a big reader, but the pandemic has given me even more time to indulge my passion. I recently devoured Conscious Capitalism, by John Mackey and Rajendra Sisodia.
It really struck a chord with me, particularly this paragraph calling on businesses to stop using the term consumer: “Businesses must think of their customers as human beings to be served, not as consumers to be sold to. In fact, the very word consumer objectifies people, suggesting that their only role is to consume.”
https://heartofthecustomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/frame-scaled.jpg10661600Jim Tincherhttps://heartofthecustomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/hotc-logo.pngJim Tincher2020-10-15 06:00:382020-10-26 16:37:24What’s in a Name? Your Ability to Please Your Customers
I’ve yet to meet anyone who can believe it’s already October. Nonetheless, its arrival also means it’s time for CX Day, the annual celebration of customer experience practitioners and their successes!
Visit the CXPA’s website for a complete list of events. Also check out LitmusWorld’s week of related offerings, including their #CXDay2020 Voice of Experts series, where I am honored to be featured. (I was also recently named one of their Top CX Influencers for 2020.)
For my part, I’m going to mark the day by focusing this post on the power and potential of CX for B2B enterprises. Read more
https://heartofthecustomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/1ca7b08e-2e4e-b606-7ed8-ab05f5ff36e3_file.jpg355355Jim Tincherhttps://heartofthecustomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/hotc-logo.pngJim Tincher2020-10-06 07:50:402020-10-08 07:53:47CX Day Topic: How to Become a Trusted Advisor
There’s no doubt about it – culture change is sexy. So sexy, that it’s where most customer experience programs focus. But starting with culture is putting the cart before the horse. And we all know you’re not going to get anywhere that way.
The problem is that most employees believe they’re doing the right thing for customers – it’s those people in [insert name of some other department] who are messing up. So if you start with culture change – putting together training, creating a customer room, waiting for improved outcomes – you’re loading your cart before you have the means to propel it forward.
https://heartofthecustomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/domino.cropped-scaled.jpg12001600Jim Tincherhttps://heartofthecustomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/hotc-logo.pngJim Tincher2020-10-03 07:00:372020-10-03 16:53:44Culture Is the Cart, Change Is the Horse
We’re in the homestretch of my series on how to apply John Kotter’s change management work to customer experience! The penultimate seventh step, Sustain Acceleration, is an important reminder that you can’t rest on your laurels.
As Kotter writes in 8 Steps to Accelerate Change in Your Organization: “So you’ve had a few wins. It can be easy to lift your foot off the gas pedal after experiencing some success. Instead, this is the time to press harder and use those wins as momentum to further fuel the change.” Read more
https://heartofthecustomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/accelerate-1-scaled.jpg10671600Jim Tincherhttps://heartofthecustomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/hotc-logo.pngJim Tincher2020-09-24 06:00:212020-09-30 09:47:58Don’t Just Drive CX Success, Sustain It
The good news is that CX programs frequently excel at this. Many organizations have focused internally so much that they can easily find areas where they can develop quick wins.
Whether they have the infrastructure in place to execute them? Well, that’s another story.
The ripest opportunities for quick wins often come from digital efforts. Shortening a process here, improving communication there – these changes can make a real difference. Even when you need to take more comprehensive action, break it down so that you make an impact in the short term. This often paves the way for the success of your longer-term initiatives. Read more
https://heartofthecustomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/trophy-scaled.jpg10681600Jim Tincherhttps://heartofthecustomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/hotc-logo.pngJim Tincher2020-09-18 06:00:462020-09-24 14:58:14Propel CX Momentum With Quick Wins
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An Open Letter to My Friends in ITNovember 20, 2020 - 11:20 am
An Open Letter to My Friends in IT
/0 Comments/in CX Program Strategy, Journey Analytics & Orchestration /by Shawn PhillipsThis is our time to shine. As the world changes rapidly, your company is looking to you to deliver the digital transformations necessary to support a new reality for your customers. Those digital adoption goals set for 2025? They’ve been moved up to 2021. With urgency.
This year has shown us that a successful customer experience requires technology. There simply aren’t any projects to deliver an improved journey that can afford to overlook IT. Heart of the Customer’s research this year has also shown this to be a key differentiator for market leaders, who utilize more kinds of technology than their peers. Read more
Unmask the Power of Social Proof
/in B2B Journeys (or B2B2C), CX Program Strategy /by Jim TincherAt Heart of the Customer, we recently had a software client who wasn’t winning as many sales as they expected. We mapped their customers’ pre-sales journey and found that the company was putting out their best practices, but prospective clients were ignoring them.
They just didn’t consider our client a trusted authority.
It’s common problem among CX pros. You see customers making “bad” choices, such as not making the best use of your company’s products or services. So you create communications to share the recommended approach, but you just can’t get customers to change their behavior.
Read more
An Effortless Experience Isn’t Enough
/in CX Program Strategy, Interviews with CX Experts /by Jim TincherIn CX, we all focus on making the experience easier on our customers. (We even made it the title of our book.) But building loyalty isn’t as simple as removing friction.
But it won’t build fans who will go out of their way to order from you. That takes something bigger. Read more
For B2C, Cleanliness Is the New Black
/0 Comments/in CX Program Strategy, Interviews with CX Experts, Surveys & Feedback /by Jim TincherPrior to the pandemic, organizations had clear strategies on how to serve their customers, working to deliver an ever-improving experience to earn loyalty.
A better experience is still required…but how we go about providing it – and what “it” even is – has completely changed, particularly for B2C companies, where among other things, face-to-face interactions now take place mask-to-mask.
When I hosted a fireside chat earlier this month with Alison Circle, the Chief Customer Experience Officer for the Columbus Library system, she told me how difficult new protocols necessitated by the pandemic have made it to forge personal connections between staff and customers. But safety just has to come first. Read more
3 Tips to Manage the Voice of the Last Lost Customer
/in CX Program Strategy, Voice of the Customer /by Jim TincherBut if you’ve ever worked within a B2B company, you may have come across another source of feedback that, if you’re
not careful, can trump your VoC – the VoLLC. You may not have heard of this term – largely because I just made it up – but it’s certainly something you’ve run across. The Voice of the Last Lost Customer. Read more
What’s in a Name? Your Ability to Please Your Customers
/in Customer Personas, Driving CX Culture Change, Voice of the Customer /by Jim TincherIt really struck a chord with me, particularly this paragraph calling on businesses to stop using the term consumer: “Businesses must think of their customers as human beings to be served, not as consumers to be sold to. In fact, the very word consumer objectifies people, suggesting that their only role is to consume.”
Read more
CX Day Topic: How to Become a Trusted Advisor
/1 Comment/in B2B Journeys (or B2B2C), CX Program Strategy /by Jim TincherI’ve yet to meet anyone who can believe it’s already October. Nonetheless, its arrival also means it’s time for CX Day, the annual celebration of customer experience practitioners and their successes!
Visit the CXPA’s website for a complete list of events. Also check out LitmusWorld’s week of related offerings, including their #CXDay2020 Voice of Experts series, where I am honored to be featured. (I was also recently named one of their Top CX Influencers for 2020.)
For my part, I’m going to mark the day by focusing this post on the power and potential of CX for B2B enterprises. Read more
Culture Is the Cart, Change Is the Horse
/in CX Program Strategy, Driving CX Culture Change /by Jim TincherIn this final post in my CX-focused series on applying John Kotter’s 8 Steps to Accelerate Change in Your Organization, we cover the eighth step: Institute Change.
The problem is that most employees believe they’re doing the right thing for customers – it’s those people in [insert name of some other department] who are messing up. So if you start with culture change – putting together training, creating a customer room, waiting for improved outcomes – you’re loading your cart before you have the means to propel it forward.
Read more
Don’t Just Drive CX Success, Sustain It
/in CX Program Strategy, Driving CX Culture Change /by Jim TincherAs Kotter writes in 8 Steps to Accelerate Change in Your Organization: “So you’ve had a few wins. It can be easy to lift your foot off the gas pedal after experiencing some success. Instead, this is the time to press harder and use those wins as momentum to further fuel the change.” Read more
Propel CX Momentum With Quick Wins
/in CX Program Strategy, Driving CX Culture Change /by Jim TincherThe good news is that CX programs frequently excel at this. Many organizations have focused internally so much that they can easily find areas where they can develop quick wins.
Whether they have the infrastructure in place to execute them? Well, that’s another story.
The ripest opportunities for quick wins often come from digital efforts. Shortening a process here, improving communication there – these changes can make a real difference. Even when you need to take more comprehensive action, break it down so that you make an impact in the short term. This often paves the way for the success of your longer-term initiatives. Read more