As we interviewed hundreds of customer experience professionals across scores of organizations for our research initiative last year, we looked for what indicated the ability to drive impact.
https://heartofthecustomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/internal-hire-scaled.jpg10521600Jim Tincherhttps://heartofthecustomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/hotc-logo.pngJim Tincher2021-09-17 02:17:532021-09-17 02:22:53Your Next CX Hire…Shouldn’t Be a CX Hire
“We’ve all seen those studies where it says a one-point increase of CSAT equals this revenue, but to a Commercial Officer, a CEO, or a CFO, this doesn’t sound real. So it doesn’t put CX in a credible position. We need to prove this based on our own data: ‘These are the scores for the past year, and this is the revenue or the growth in revenue and the growth and shipments for these exact countries. And this is what it looks like. This is the correlation between the revenue and customer satisfaction and NPS.’” – 2020 interview participant
I bet that like me, you love to read research that shows that CX pays. Luckily for both of us, there’s plenty of industry data on the topic. The most compelling is Watermark Consulting’s tracking of stock prices. Read more
https://heartofthecustomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/chart.png616918Jim Tincherhttps://heartofthecustomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/hotc-logo.pngJim Tincher2021-09-08 05:00:222021-09-07 21:11:29Three Ways to Make Your Case
You probably moved into customer experience (CX) because of a passion for customers. You chose this space because you know that if you can improve customers’ experiences with your company, they will be happier, they’ll stay with you longer, and both the business and your customers will prosper.
But actually improving the experience is hard.
If you’re like most of the CX professionals we interviewed last year, the reality has hit you that it’s incredibly difficult to move your silos enough to substantially improve the customer experience. That’s where change management, the missing element in most CX programs, comes in. Read more
The jostling we’ve seen in the CX tech marketplace over the past few weeks ― and discussed in previousposts ― is going to impact more than just the SaaS (software as a service) companies in play.
It’s going to impact you…and the way CX is practiced going forward.
This slew of recent transactions (such as CSG’s purchase of Kitewheel), will spur innovation and consolidation that will result in broad, new enterprise experience platforms. These offerings will pack a powerful punch by combining previously disconnected technologies and capabilities, such as journey mapping, analytics, and orchestration. Read more
https://heartofthecustomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/expectations-scaled.jpg9731600Jim Tincherhttps://heartofthecustomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/hotc-logo.pngJim Tincher2021-08-19 07:11:582021-08-19 07:14:03Tech Innovations Will Raise Expectations
Do you feel it? That rumbling beneath your feet? It’s a seismic tremor that’s changing the CX landscape.
Back in December, I predicted 2021 would be The Year of CX Data. This summer we’re seeing that play out on an even grander scale than I expected.
This pivotal moment in CX history makes designing compelling journeys that deliver an emotional outcome to earn your customer’s loyalty more efficient and cost-effective than ever before. Technological capabilities have advanced to the point where we can cover all the key Xs – EX (employees), CX (customers), and UX (users) – to deliver an optimized outcome for both the company and the customer. Read more
https://heartofthecustomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/puzzles-blog-1-scaled.jpg11361600Jim Tincherhttps://heartofthecustomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/hotc-logo.pngJim Tincher2021-08-03 16:55:482021-08-03 17:00:34The Year of CX Data Shifts Into Overdrive
Journey orchestration is the ability to deliberately create individual journeys for customers based on your data, sending the right messages at the right time to the right customer.
Platforms from Salesforce, Adobe, and others incorporate this capability into their platforms, and third-party offerings from Thunderhead, Kitewheel, Usermind, and Pointillist work across systems, without having to put everything into your CRM.
It still surprises me how slowly the marketplace has grown since Heart of the Customer first began offering journey orchestration capabilities almost two years ago. According to Owler, the four cross-platform companies I named above have a combined estimated revenue of less than $50 million.
https://heartofthecustomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/2021-what-s-text-work-table-trends-research-new-things-business-startup-concepts-scaled.jpg12091600Jim Tincherhttps://heartofthecustomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/hotc-logo.pngJim Tincher2021-07-28 07:59:092021-07-28 06:36:21A New Era for Journey Orchestration
Customer experience (CX) is about more than surveys.
CX is about understanding customers through operational and financial metrics, reaching into each individual’s journey, and making a difference.
So now might be a good time to ask for a raise, because you’re going to be doing a lot more!
Leaders in the CX space are spending money consolidating disconnected CX technologies into enterprise experience platforms. Your job as a CX leader is to lean in and take advantage of the upward momentum, and spread the reach of what CX is all about in your company. Read more
In giving bonuses based on overall survey results, companies are assuming that 1. teams actually know what to do in order to improve customer satisfaction and 2. they won’t do it unless incented to.
Both points in that statement need to be analyzed.
First, understanding how to drive customer satisfaction (I’m using this as a catch-all for NPS, customer effort, etc.) isn’t that easy.
When I led a CX program in the health savings account (HSA) marketplace, I asked teams what they thought the top drivers of satisfaction were. Product thought it was about features. Marketing thought it was about educating on how to use the HSA. Sales thought it was about pricing.
I’ll get right to the point: Change management is cheaper than bribing employees. It’s more effective, too.
The CEO of a client organization recently asked us about offering a bonus tied to their Net Promoter Score (NPS). He believed that this would motivate employees to think more about customers and improve their experience.
Without mincing words, I told him I thought that was a terrible idea – one that is universally frowned upon.
He pushed back: “Why? What’s the evidence? Other organizations are doing it. Why is it so bad?” Read more
https://heartofthecustomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/nps-bonuses-scaled.jpg10661600Jim Tincherhttps://heartofthecustomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/hotc-logo.pngJim Tincher2021-07-09 04:00:092021-07-13 21:58:32Why Do Bonuses for NPS Scores *Seem* Wise?
Research from CustomerThink, Forrester, Pointillist, and the XM Institute agree: Few CX programs can prove that their work matters to business outcomes.
This reminds me of a story from my college days.
I was visiting my buddy Rick, and we went down to the rec room in the basement of his dorm to shoot some pool. Tucked in the corner was a video game.
A little background you should know: When I was in high school, I had a paper route that included a vending machine. That meant I always had pocketsful of quarters. Which, given the era, meant lots of afternoons at an arcade, happily feeding those quarters into video games. Read more
https://heartofthecustomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/video-game-scaled.jpg10021600Jim Tincherhttps://heartofthecustomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/hotc-logo.pngJim Tincher2021-07-03 08:33:132021-07-06 09:39:04Do the CX Buttons You Push Matter?
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Your Next CX Hire…Shouldn’t Be a CX Hire
/0 Comments/in CX Program Strategy, Driving CX Culture Change /by Jim TincherWe’ve documented the top items a few times in the past: linking everything to business value, understanding the technology and data, measuring and improving emotions, and using change management. Read more
Three Ways to Make Your Case
/1 Comment/in CX Program Strategy, Driving CX Culture Change, Metrics & ROI /by Jim Tincher“We’ve all seen those studies where it says a one-point increase of CSAT equals this revenue, but to a Commercial Officer, a CEO, or a CFO, this doesn’t sound real. So it doesn’t put CX in a credible position. We need to prove this based on our own data: ‘These are the scores for the past year, and this is the revenue or the growth in revenue and the growth and shipments for these exact countries. And this is what it looks like. This is the correlation between the revenue and customer satisfaction and NPS.’” – 2020 interview participant
I bet that like me, you love to read research that shows that CX pays. Luckily for both of us, there’s plenty of industry data on the topic. The most compelling is Watermark Consulting’s tracking of stock prices. Read more
CX Needs Change Management
/in Customer Experience Vision, Driving CX Culture Change /by Jim TincherBut actually improving the experience is hard.
If you’re like most of the CX professionals we interviewed last year, the reality has hit you that it’s incredibly difficult to move your silos enough to substantially improve the customer experience. That’s where change management, the missing element in most CX programs, comes in. Read more
Tech Innovations Will Raise Expectations
/0 Comments/in CX Program Strategy, Journey Analytics & Orchestration /by Jim TincherIt’s going to impact you…and the way CX is practiced going forward.
This slew of recent transactions (such as CSG’s purchase of Kitewheel), will spur innovation and consolidation that will result in broad, new enterprise experience platforms. These offerings will pack a powerful punch by combining previously disconnected technologies and capabilities, such as journey mapping, analytics, and orchestration. Read more
The Year of CX Data Shifts Into Overdrive
/in CX Program Strategy, Journey Analytics & Orchestration, Metrics & ROI /by Jim TincherDo you feel it? That rumbling beneath your feet? It’s a seismic tremor that’s changing the CX landscape.
Back in December, I predicted 2021 would be The Year of CX Data. This summer we’re seeing that play out on an even grander scale than I expected.
This pivotal moment in CX history makes designing compelling journeys that deliver an emotional outcome to earn your customer’s loyalty more efficient and cost-effective than ever before. Technological capabilities have advanced to the point where we can cover all the key Xs – EX (employees), CX (customers), and UX (users) – to deliver an optimized outcome for both the company and the customer. Read more
A New Era for Journey Orchestration
/0 Comments/in CX Program Strategy, Journey Analytics & Orchestration /by Jim TincherPlatforms from Salesforce, Adobe, and others incorporate this capability into their platforms, and third-party offerings from Thunderhead, Kitewheel, Usermind, and Pointillist work across systems, without having to put everything into your CRM.
It still surprises me how slowly the marketplace has grown since Heart of the Customer first began offering journey orchestration capabilities almost two years ago. According to Owler, the four cross-platform companies I named above have a combined estimated revenue of less than $50 million.
Read more
Orchestrate…or Risk Becoming Irrelevant
/0 Comments/in CX Program Strategy, Journey Analytics & Orchestration /by Shawn PhillipsCX is about understanding customers through operational and financial metrics, reaching into each individual’s journey, and making a difference.
So now might be a good time to ask for a raise, because you’re going to be doing a lot more!
Leaders in the CX space are spending money consolidating disconnected CX technologies into enterprise experience platforms. Your job as a CX leader is to lean in and take advantage of the upward momentum, and spread the reach of what CX is all about in your company. Read more
Change Management, Not “Bribes,” Improves CX
/in Driving CX Culture Change, Surveys & Feedback /by Jim TincherIn giving bonuses based on overall survey results, companies are assuming that 1. teams actually know what to do in order to improve customer satisfaction and 2. they won’t do it unless incented to.
Both points in that statement need to be analyzed.
First, understanding how to drive customer satisfaction (I’m using this as a catch-all for NPS, customer effort, etc.) isn’t that easy.
When I led a CX program in the health savings account (HSA) marketplace, I asked teams what they thought the top drivers of satisfaction were. Product thought it was about features. Marketing thought it was about educating on how to use the HSA. Sales thought it was about pricing.
They were all wrong. Read more
Why Do Bonuses for NPS Scores *Seem* Wise?
/in Driving CX Culture Change, Surveys & Feedback /by Jim TincherThe CEO of a client organization recently asked us about offering a bonus tied to their Net Promoter Score (NPS). He believed that this would motivate employees to think more about customers and improve their experience.
Without mincing words, I told him I thought that was a terrible idea – one that is universally frowned upon.
He pushed back: “Why? What’s the evidence? Other organizations are doing it. Why is it so bad?” Read more
Do the CX Buttons You Push Matter?
/0 Comments/in Customer Experience Vision, CX Program Strategy /by Jim TincherThis reminds me of a story from my college days.
I was visiting my buddy Rick, and we went down to the rec room in the basement of his dorm to shoot some pool. Tucked in the corner was a video game.
A little background you should know: When I was in high school, I had a paper route that included a vending machine. That meant I always had pocketsful of quarters. Which, given the era, meant lots of afternoons at an arcade, happily feeding those quarters into video games. Read more