I believe that business leaders should treat customer experience is an imperative. Yet, there are still some parts of the business world where “customer experience” is a new word.
With that said, I jumped on a chat with Kerry Bodine, co-author of Outside-In. A new book about why organizations should focus on customer experience, and how.
One of the challenges in understand what customer experience means, is understanding that there is a HUGE difference between customer service and customer experience. Most think that customer service is customer experience.
Kerry touched on it a little bit in yesterday’s chat:
@kerrybodine Take them to Disneyland ha! Or just use Starbucks (known to most) as an example and explain the differences –#outsidein— Jorge Barba (@jorgebarba) August 23, 2012
And she continues:
@jorgebarba I think using an actual example like Starbucks is a great idea. Here’s the entire#CX, & here’s the#custserv aspect.#outsidein— Kerry Bodine (@kerrybodine) August 23, 2012
@jorgebarba Yes, I often explain the#CX ecosystem as something that’s all around us, but we don’t notice it, like the Matrix! 🙂#outsidein— Kerry Bodine (@kerrybodine) August 23, 2012
And finally, I asked her to explain customer experience to a layperson:
@jorgebarba A lot of companies talk about “putting the customer first” or being “user friendly”…#outsidein— Kerry Bodine (@kerrybodine) August 23, 2012
@jorgebarba Ask them: What does it mean to put the cust first when you’re building a store, considering a new policy, etc?#outsidein — Kerry Bodine (@kerrybodine) August 23, 2012
@jorgebarba I think it also helps to talk about all the diff types of interactions that take place as customers do biz w/ a firm#outsidein — Kerry Bodine (@kerrybodine) August 23, 2012
@jorgebarba And to walk through those interactions together, possibly building a customer journey map, grounding#CX in reality#outsidein— Kerry Bodine (@kerrybodine) August 23, 2012
The bottom line for me is: customers will reward you for providing a memorable and unique customer experience. That is why I begin every conversation with one simple question: Do you want to be remembered?
Anyway, here is a summary of the chat:
[View the story “#outsidein book chat about customer experience” on Storify]
#outsidein book chat about customer experience
Here is a short summary of the #outsidein twitter chat with @kerrybodine of Forrester.
Storified by Jorge Barba · Thu, Aug 23 2012 14:03:19
Why is customer experience important to businesses?
Q2: Why focus on #custexp now? Is this the new business trend of the moment? #OutsideInRichard Gans
A1: Most companies today take an inside-out approach, making biz decisions without considering customers’ needs & perspectives. #outsideinKerry Bodine
A2: In this age, previous sources of competitive advantage – like manufacturing, distribution, & IT – have been commoditized. #outsideinKerry Bodine
A2: Although many people assume that we’re still in the information age, we’ve recently entered the age of the customer. #outsideinKerry Bodine
A2: I’d actually say the OLD business trend was NOT focusing on customers 🙂 #outsideinKerry Bodine
A2: Tech-fueled disruption has given consumers the upper hand, & now the primary source of competitive advantage is #custexp. #outsideinKerry Bodine
A2: That means that #CX isn’t a trend. It represents a new way of doing business that will be with us for decades to come. #outsideinKerry Bodine
Is there a difference between customer experience and customer service?
Q3: Is there a difference between #customerexperience and #customerservice? #OutsideInRichard Gans
A3: Yes, there’s a big difference! #outsideinKerry Bodine
A3: U call #custserv if u have a problem. So equating #custserv with #custexp is like saying that a safety net is a trapeze act. #outsideinKerry Bodine
A3: The net is essential to the trapeze act & it keeps the performers safe, but it alone would make for a dull show. #outsideinKerry Bodine
A3: Similarly, #custserv is part of a larger #custexp show. #outsideinKerry Bodine
A3: Customers discover, evaluate, buy, receive, use, *and get support for* a company’s products & services. #outsideinKerry Bodine
A3: All of the interactions customers have with a company at each of these steps, in total, make up the #CX. #outsideinKerry Bodine
Yeah, the #CX ecosystem is made up of all the employees within an org, and external partners, too. So #custserv is part of that. #outsideinKerry Bodine
And it’s not just frontline CSRs. Everyone in the support org, including those behind the scenes, are responsible for #CX. #outsideinKerry Bodine
I’d love to hear if anyone on the chat is challenged with getting their organizations to understand this difference. #outsideinKerry Bodine
How do you make companies understand that difference between customer service and customer experience?
@kerrybodine Yes, I have experienced being asked about the difference. Most think #custserv is #cx – #outsideinJorge Barba
@jorgebarba That’s common. Any tips for getting your company to understand the difference? #outsideinKerry Bodine
@kerrybodine Take them to Disneyland ha! Or just use Starbucks (known to most) as an example and explain the differences – #outsideinJorge Barba
@jorgebarba I think using an actual example like Starbucks is a great idea. Here’s the entire #CX, & here’s the #custserv aspect. #outsideinKerry Bodine
@jorgebarba People are more likely to understand the concept when you put it into the context of a #CX they know well. #outsideinKerry Bodine
@kerrybodine Yes, and anchoring it on something they take for granted. #CX #custserv #outsideinJorge Barba
@jorgebarba Yes, I often explain the #CX ecosystem as something that’s all around us, but we don’t notice it, like the Matrix! 🙂 #outsideinKerry Bodine
I agree -> RT @SocialSteve: #custserv = response to customer; #custexp = whole brand experience (much more than communication) #outsideinKerry Bodine
How do you explain customer experience to businesses who’ve never thought about it?
@kerrybodine What is a more down to earth way of explaining #CX to businesses who’ve never thought about it? #outsideinJorge Barba
@jorgebarba A lot of companies talk about "putting the customer first" or being "user friendly"… #outsideinKerry Bodine
@jorgebarba While these phrases are overused (and therefore meaningless in most cases), they can be a good place to start a convo #outsideinKerry Bodine
@kerrybodine Thanks. I start with the question: Do you want to be remembered? That usually gets their attention #outsideinJorge Barba
@jorgebarba I think it also helps to talk about all the diff types of interactions that take place as customers do biz w/ a firm #outsideinKerry Bodine
@jorgebarba Ask them: What does it mean to put the cust first when you’re building a store, considering a new policy, etc? #outsideinKerry Bodine
@jorgebarba And to walk through those interactions together, possibly building a customer journey map, grounding #CX in reality #outsideinKerry Bodine
Love it! RT @ValaAfshar: Customer experience is a collection of memories – is your brand, product or service memorable? #outsideinKerry Bodine
Tell us about a company that’s really benefiting from their customer experience efforts?
Q5: There are 80+ case studies & examples in #OutsideIn. Tell us about a company that’s really benefiting from their efforts around #CX.Richard Gans
A5: @Fidelity has a pool of money dedicated to small #CX improvements. This lets them tackle more projects faster. #outsideinKerry Bodine
A5: One such project: a $20k fix to the automated phone system’s login process, which now saves @Fidelity $4m per year! #outsideinKerry Bodine
A5: In a separate initiative, @Fidelity assigned a dedicated case manager whenever a high net worth investor had a problem… #outsideinKerry Bodine
A5: This drastically reduced the amount of time to resolve these well-heeled investors’ issues. #outsideinKerry Bodine
A5: The # of high net worth customers in the “detractor” category dropped by more than half & happy customers increased. #outsideinKerry Bodine
A5: What’s more, @Fidelity determined that clients who had a good #custexp put 4.5x more $ into their accounts… #outsideinKerry Bodine
A5: In total, this larger pool of happy high net worth customers increased their investments with @Fidelity by several $BILLION. #outsideinKerry Bodine
What are the things that most companies do wrong when ti comes to customer experience?
Q6: I’m sure people wonder about this…..What are the things that most companies do wrong with it comes to #CX? #OutsideInRichard Gans
Well, I think the first thing that companies need to do is take #CX seriously! #outsideinKerry Bodine
Companies often *say* they want to improve the #CX, but they’re not prepared to put in the work/time/$ to make it happen. #outsideinKerry Bodine
To truly master #custexp, companies have to apply the same rigor that they do to other parts of the business. #outsideinKerry Bodine
That’s why our team at #Forrester developed our #custexp maturity model, which describes the 6 disciplines of #CX. #outsideinKerry Bodine
The 6 #CX disciplines are strategy, customer understanding, design, measurement, governance, and culture. #outsideinKerry Bodine
Companies must create a #CX strategy to guide the work of all employees. #outsideinKerry Bodine
They must actively design their customer interactions based on a clear and complete understanding of what customers need. #outsideinKerry Bodine
They must measure the resulting #custexp and feed those metrics into a governance process that assigns #CX accountability. #outsideinKerry Bodine
And they must shift their corporate culture through hiring, socialization, and rewards. #outsideinKerry Bodine
If companies balk at the idea of embarking on this type of transformation, it’s a clear sign they’re not serious about #CX. #outsideinKerry Bodine
What about metrics?
PERCEPTION #CX metrics tell you what customers thought and felt about their interactions — their perception of the exp #outsideinKerry Bodine
DESCRIPTIVE metrics tie those perceptions to what actually happened (on hold for 12 minutes, broken seatback TV, etc.) #outsideinKerry Bodine
OUTCOME metrics tell you what customers will do as a result of their exp – tell a friend, buy from you again, etc. #outsideinKerry Bodine
When you tie these 3 types of metrics together, you can connect biz outcomes and metrics to changes in the #CX. #outsideinKerry Bodine
How do you sell customer experience within the organization?
Ecosystem mapping is a great way to get ppl from diff silos to understand how their work impacts each other AND the customer #outsideinKerry Bodine
Are the 6 disciplines of customer experience equally important?
Q7: In #OutsideIn, you have a chapter on each of the 6 #CX disciplines. Are they all equally important?Richard Gans
I really like to think that all 6 #CX disciplines are equal. They’re each a critical piece of the puzzle. #outsideinKerry Bodine
But if I had to pick just one #CX discipline that’s most important, it would be customer understanding. #outsideinKerry Bodine
Knowing who your customers *really* are, what they feel about today’s #CX, what they want from your firm tomorrow. #outsideinKerry Bodine
Customer insights drive each of the other 5 #CX disciplines. If u get this part wrong, everything else will go off the rails. #outsideinKerry Bodine
Without a foundation of customer understanding, there really is no way to turn your company #OutsideIn.Kerry Bodine
What’s one thing companies can do right now to improve their customer experience efforts?
Q8: What’s one thing that companies can do right now to improve their #custexp efforts? #OutsideInRichard Gans
A8: Go out and talk with your customers. Quit hiding behind surveys and one-way mirrors and TALK with them. #outsideinKerry Bodine
A8: Surveys and focus groups are not going to get you the kind of insights you need to design an amazing #CX. #outsideinKerry Bodine
A8: At the very least, jack into your call center and listen to what your customers have to say. #outsideinKerry Bodine
A8: Even better, go to your customers’ homes or offices. Visit your stores, banks, airports. And TALK with your customers. #outsideinKerry Bodine
A8: Invite customers to your office & ask them to help you co-design experiences that truly meet their needs. #outsideinKerry Bodine
A8: Companies that invest even a small amount of time/$ in TALKing with customers will see returns. #outsideinKerry Bodine
What are the key takeaways from your book that you’d like readers to embrace?
Q9: What are the key takeaways from #OutsideIn that you’d like readers to embrace?Richard Gans
A9: I’ll keep my answer simple with two key messages… #outsideinKerry Bodine
A9: #Custexp has become the most powerful and most sustainable source of business advantage. #outsideinKerry Bodine
A9: But in order to reap the full potential of #CX, you have to treat it as a business discipline. #outsideinKerry Bodine
