This past season of Voices of CX, we spoke with thought leaders from all over the CX map. We’ve chosen a few of the highlights, some of those ideas that changed and informed our perspectives on the industry in big, new ways that we didn’t expect.
Jay Baer – Talk Triggers
To start the season off strong, Jay “the guy that wears the fancy suits” Baer introduced us to the concept of ‘talk triggers’, those experiences and values that customers just can’t help but chatter about. They’re a source of tremendous organic growth, but Jay stresses that they can’t be a flight of fancy — they must be a conscious operational choice in order to work their magic. That means they’ve got to be consistent and repeatable.
‘Surprise and delight’ is great when it works, but it creates an expectation gap for customers when that same experience can’t be delivered at scale. And when the customer experience is consistently great, or even just good, everything else will follow naturally.
Matt Dixon – The Effortless Experience
Like Jay, Matt Dixon stresses the paramount importance of consistency, and adds to it the need to reduce customer efforts whenever possible. He brought us up to date with the Customer Effort Score (CES), a metric largely of his own design, made to measure and ensure the customer’s experience is as smooth as possible throughout their journey.
Remember the “Easy Button?” That’s the sound you want to hear: “Huh, that was easy.” Why? Because bad experiences stick much harder than good experiences…some estimate five times more, in fact. If companies are bad at ‘surprise and delight’ anyway, why not focus instead on removing or reducing the experiences that suck? It’s a no-brainer.
Denise Lee Yohn – Be Customer-Informed, but Brand-Led
Denise’s forte is branding, and the powerful customer experience that comes from deeply integrating a brand with its culture. She believes in anthropologically-informed research, observing the daily lives of customers and discovering the decision motivators and critical moments where brands can jump into action for the greatest impact.
But her greatest insight was this: “Be customer-informed, but brand-led.” We couldn’t agree more. Value for the consumer comes from brands having a clear identity, something unique that sets them apart from the crowded marketplace. Despite the inherent value of a strong customer experience, the brand always comes to customers’ minds first, and following best-practices alone isn’t how you get noticed.
Marcus Cunha – Research Integrity and the Scientific Methodology
Marcus is a heavyweight academic, and he helped found the Masters of Marketing Research Program (MMR) at UGA, the first program of its kind in the United States. The goal was simple: increase the quality and reliability of data gathering through rigorous academic study.
The scientific methodology is too often underserved in the corporate community. The MMR provides that market with professionals who understand the fundamentals of surveying and research. They further augment that knowledge with new techniques and technology that’s being developed all the time, like augmented and virtual reality-enhanced shopping, and biometric data gathering like EEG, eye-tracking and facial coding.
Want more? Voices of CX: Season 4 is arriving in Fall 2019. Stay tuned – It’ll be a big one!
