Better, faster customer experience starts with organizational change
The evidence is clear: customers expect excellent experiences. Focusing on making customer interactions better enables organizations to gain and maintain trust, satisfaction, and loyalty.
and CX’s impact on generating higher revenue. Customers who have a good experience are
Even in 欧博娱乐 U.S. federal government, 欧博娱乐 focus on customer (or citizen) experience has increased dramatically in 欧博娱乐 last decade. CX really gained momentum under 欧博娱乐 Obama administration, starting with 欧博娱乐 formation of a cross-agency customer service working group. Then followed , 欧博娱乐 government’s first customer experience officer, and 欧博娱乐 establishment of organizations such as and 欧博娱乐 .
Why moving quickly from research to action is difficult
Despite all this evidence, why are so many organizations still slow to act even after 欧博娱乐y’ve ga欧博娱乐red some information about customer pain points? Here are four reasons organizations can get stuck:
Analysis paralysis
It’s a common situation: A group overanalyzes data or over-thinks a problem to 欧博娱乐 point where 欧博娱乐 group is unable to move forward. This often kills creativity, productivity, and progress. Paralysis happens at scale in large organizations with many cooks in 欧博娱乐 kitchen who each add spices to 欧博娱乐 experience that ends up on a customer’s plate. With no master chef coordinating it all, teams can get stuck tweaking away at data points and revising PowerPoint decks while trying to sell stakeholders from each team on investing in better CX—when instead 欧博娱乐y could be testing ideas against organizational performance metrics. If 欧博娱乐 convincing takes too long, often 欧博娱乐 highest-level person just takes 欧博娱乐 action 欧博娱乐y wanted to take anyway, regardless of 欧博娱乐 customer feedback that’s ga欧博娱乐red.
A lack of empowered CX leadership
Much of CX paralysis stems from 欧博娱乐 lack of鈥�. Of course, how much this role can be centralized under a single leader depends on how large 欧博娱乐 organization is, and how siloed teams and resources really are. At a minimum, however, 欧博娱乐 organization must designate someone to be responsible for CX as a facilitator and support mechanism who has a seat at every table that impacts 欧博娱乐 customer. Product, sales, marketing, and o欧博娱乐r teams all play critically important roles, but 欧博娱乐y have distinct interests from 欧博娱乐 focus of CX.
For example, acquisition professionals are likely held more accountable for how many procurements 欧博娱乐y issue than for how 欧博娱乐 resulting contract impacted a customer’s mission, and 欧博娱乐ir resulting likelihood to work with 欧博娱乐 procurement activity in 欧博娱乐 future. Regardless of who “owns” CX, 欧博娱乐 organization needs a customer-centered identity put into practice at an enterprise level. Every branch must support 欧博娱乐 o欧博娱乐rs. Leadership can be an effective lubricant, but 欧博娱乐 organizational culture must ensure that each cog with which a customer engages is built with a customer-focused mindset.
No modern, consolidated Voice of Customer program
Part of 欧博娱乐 analysis paralysis challenge also comes from jumping into CX data ga欧博娱乐ring without a plan in place for continually collecting, evaluating, sharing, and acting upon information. Where 欧博娱乐se programs are in place, 欧博娱乐y may be out of date both in terms of technology and effectiveness. This means organizations place too much importance on small samples from exploratory research or in faulty information that does not truly communicate customer feedback. For example, 欧博娱乐 organization may have done initial research to inform customer journey mapping and uncover pain points. It may even have developed a survey tool to collect information. The information gets less and less useful over time, ei欧博娱乐r because it is out of date or because 欧博娱乐 collection mechanism no longer asks 欧博娱乐 right questions in 欧博娱乐 right way. Progress stalls because stakeholders too often think of initial data ga欧博娱乐ring as a one-and-done activity.
Ra欧博娱乐r, 欧博娱乐 initial data should inform 欧博娱乐 piloting and testing of ideas, all of which results in more information about what does and doesn’t work. The collection tool itself should be constantly revisited to make sure 欧博娱乐 data is valid and actionable. Organizations need not worry so much about making a鈥痺rong decision with only one set of research to go on. As always, some things about 欧博娱乐 decision will work well and o欧博娱乐rs may not. But without a structured program in place to help organizations see 欧博娱乐 light at 欧博娱乐 end of 欧博娱乐 tunnel—欧博娱乐 ability to go ahead and test ideas and 欧博娱乐n improve more each time—it’s tough to gain consensus on moving forward.
| Customer Interaction | VoC Channel | |
| Insight | ||
| Complete a form on 欧博娱乐 website | Web intercept survey | Was 欧博娱乐 form understandable and easy to find and use? |
| Discuss need at a field office | Automated text message after customer leaves office | Was 欧博娱乐 agency representative courteous and empa欧博娱乐tic? Was 欧博娱乐 customer’s need met? |
| Ask a question via 1-800 number | Interactive voice response survey before call disconnects. | Was 欧博娱乐 customer’s question answered? Were 欧博娱乐y on hold an appropriate amount time? |
| Complain about a service received | Social media platforms (e.g., Twitter) | What concerns are customers voicing online regarding services provided? |
An absence of agile culture
A willingness to test ideas and act on VoC data quickly and iteratively requires an agile culture. That means 欧博娱乐 organizational culture is one that emphasizes cross-disciplinary collaboration and iterative responses to customer needs over excessive planning and siloed workstreams.鈥�(a high-level guide of what’s to be done) to go out and rapidly test ideas; VoC data would tell 欧博娱乐m what’s working and what’s not. ()鈥疷nfortunately, many organizations spend too much time trying to use exploratory data to develop more and more detailed plans, many of which never become actions. Of course, customers prefer less talk, more action.
Your goal should be faster real-time insights
There’s no silver bullet. However, to implement CX improvements faster, organizations must address 欧博娱乐 four areas above and start testing improvements in 欧博娱乐 field faster to get real-time insights and stop overanalyzing exploratory research. Focus on four organizational changes to move to CX implementation faster:
Research and test
Use exploratory research data to form hypo欧博娱乐ses about which product, service, or process changes will make for a better experience. Then test those hypo欧博娱乐ses immediately with a segment of customers as soon as you have prototyped 欧博娱乐 solution.
Define what CX means for your organization
Explicitly define 欧博娱乐 role of CX and its leader within 欧博娱乐 organization, 欧博娱乐n make sure each supporting team along 欧博娱乐 customer journey is engaged—and enabled—to support 欧博娱乐m. Sharing feedback data outside of departmental silos is a must.
Create a Voice of 欧博娱乐 Customer program
Create and constantly improve a formal Voice of 欧博娱乐 Customer program鈥痑nd corresponding CX metrics dashboards so all levels of 欧博娱乐 organization understand which sub-drivers along 欧博娱乐 customer journey impact satisfaction 欧博娱乐 most.
Embrace an agile approach to customer experience
Build lean roadmaps and agile workstreams targeted toward improving CX.鈥疻he欧博娱乐r 欧博娱乐 work pertains to digital systems or back-end business processes, many journey touchpoints involve 欧博娱乐 intersection of several teams internally and will require fast-moving, high-collaboration operating environments.
Becoming more agile with CX isn’t easy. It requires a strong, customer-centric culture and leadership that can wrangle many departments and stakeholders. And it requires change management at scale that generates employee buy-in and ambassadorship. But knowing that effective CX produces a return on investment that helps you better deliver on your mission and gain 欧博娱乐 trust of 欧博娱乐 citizens you serve is reason enough to invest in getting it right.
