Customer experience is an always-on effort
Think of a great single experience you’ve had with a company. Perhaps the product was amazing, a person helping you was incredible, or a process worked flawlessly. Maybe you had an issue with the product and customer service resolved it above and beyond. Maybe retail environment was easy to navigate and was enjoyable. Maybe there was a program made available to you that helped you learn how to use a product properly.
Now think of a great relationship you’ve had with a company over time, where you generally love their products or you enjoy dealing with them. Maybe you love the range of products they offer. Maybe you like how easy it is to purchase from them. Maybe you like how they help navigate you to the right product or service.
Now think about a company where the total customer experience – all facets of your interactions with them – is running on all cylinders, consistently, over a long period of time, no matter what the product is or who you are dealing with at the company. The way you find products, the products themselves, ancillary products, support services, people, physical environments, websites, and mobile apps work together seamlessly. Everything is integrated and frictionless – consistently over time.
Thinking of a great single experience is easy. Thinking of a great relationship becomes a bit more difficult. Thinking of a great total customer experience (consistently, over time) is near impossible.
Love Apple products? Sure. How about working with iTunes? Not so much.
Love the Disney theme park experience? Definitely. But trying to figure out the latest version of Lightning Lane? A tough task.
And these are beloved brands. Does any company provide a great total customer experience? Can any company – given shareholder primacy, which drives short term decision-making in the interests of the company – do so? We say ‘yes’, which is our work’s purpose. There are three fronts of a strategic shift toward a focus on customer experience:
Challenging the notion of shareholder primacy as the best way to generate growth (a long term play)
Infusing CX into the operating model
Taking a strategic approach to CX execution
It‘s always-on, all-out, all-hands, never-ending work. But so important, purposeful, and worthy of pursuit.
