We have been talking about improving customer experiences almost non-stop for the last few years. And the subject will not be exhausted for a while. The most striking observation we have made in various discussions with our stakeholders is how narrowly the topic is often viewed.
I will, once again, attempt to open up our thinking in case it sparks new ideas in others.
All ways and means of improving customer experience are of course good and valuable, but we believe that real benefits are achieved when development is holistic, continuous and goal-oriented. In this article, I will explain what I mean by this and you might need to adjust the direction of CX development in your organisation.
Customer experience development should not be thought of as a small stand-alone project, but as an overarching development theme for the whole organisation. Under this umbrella theme, there are many types of activities that can be done, such as introducing new technology, revising internal operating models and developing customer interfaces.
This also means that the work will be continuous. Each new strategy period will likely provide new direction on where to focus your CX development efforts next, but your customer experience will never be "fully finalised".
Customer needs and expectations change, data lives and technology evolves. And, so customer experience must also evolve along them.
By holistic, I mean that instead of separate renewal projects led by a CX, development or marketing unit, each department should develop its operations based on common CX goals that have been set for the entire organisation.
By having common strategic objectives that are used to derive departmental objectives and development measures, progress in CX development can be monitored and the impact measured both by each function as well as on the whole. This goals-based approach helps lead and manage CX projects in a holistic manner that is quantifiable with data.
Often, if responsibility about CX development sits within a single unit, it tends to be viewed only from that unit’s perspective. This can make it harder for other teams to fully see its value and importance, and in some cases, the development initiatives may even be underestimated elsewhere in the organisation.
Once customer experience development is set a strategic objective for the whole organisation it can no longer be ignored or downplayed by anyone within the organisation. And the work will not be put on hold when times get tough.
To keep everyone in the organisation moving in the same direction, it helps to define a shared, umbrella-level CX vision. If the vision stays very abstract, it’s hard for teams to use it to guide their work. That’s why it’s important to translate the vision into concrete CX objectives for each department.
In practice, this means asking what customer experience development means in service development, customer service, sales, marketing and so on
When you have a shared vision and clear goals, it becomes easier for each unit to see its own role in customer experience development and to commit to the common development targets.
It’s easy to assume that CX development is automatically customer-centric, but in reality business needs – and sometimes even technology needs – can overshadow genuine customer needs.
Uncovering actual customer needs may feel laborious, and many organisations tend to rely on assumptions about what their customers value. Yet understanding what customers really want and need is one of the most important sources of new ideas and a key way to deliver real value.
It’s equally important to understand the needs and harness the development ideas of your employees. Customer- and employee-centric development should support business objectives, but there are moments when, for example, ambitious growth targets leave little time to “listen” to customers and staff. If this sounds familiar, it might be worth reassessing your leadership practices and your basis for sustainable growth.
As commonly stated “technology is a good servant, but a poor master”. The same applies to data and AI. They are essential enablers for developing intelligent customer experiences, but development cannot revolve solely around, for example, collecting huge data sets if this means all resources will be spent on implementing new technologies.
Investing in any development enablers will require time and money. This is where a clear vision and well-defined objectives prove valuable in keeping your focus on what truly matters.
By now, you hopefully see the value of having a shared CX vision and unit-specific development goals.
The vision and objectives set the direction, but you also need active leadership to get things moving and support to keep them going, Different project groups and peer groups offer a great way to share experiences and expertise across functions and to benefit from synergies.
Once development is underway, KPIs and milestones are practical tools for tracking progress. Regular reporting to management is important, but informal comparisons between working and peer groups can also provide useful insight into how your own unit is developing compared to others.
Customer experience development is not purely about technology, but it is heavily dependent on data. To collect and use data effectively and reliably, you need the right technology.
The efficiency, impact and traceability of CX development are therefore strongly linked to the use of modern data systems and tools. When these systems are well integrated, they form an intelligent data ecosystem where data moves quickly and reliably. A solid data ecosystem helps the entire organisation as well as AI to collect, enrich and share customer data for the greatest benefits.
When the data ecosystem is in order with high-quality customer data centralised and accessible to everyone who needs it, you’re ready to take CX to the next level.
As with every area of business today, customer experience development should be data-driven. Data helps identify development needs, measure progress and, importantly, enable intelligent customer experiences.
What matters most is not the amount of data you have, but its quality and availability. Outdated, poorly structured or unused data does not support better customer experiences. Using data to improve CX is one of my favourite topics – and now that this article is complete, you can move on to explore that in more detail.
If you need help with your CX development, data or AI projects, get in touch!