Going back to the basics when building a CX programme sometimes seems like a necessary step for creating a successful strategy. It’s also essential for those looking to compose such a programme for the first time.
Whether you are a CX professional or trying to become more aware of the experience being delivered to your customers, these five practical tips by an experienced CCXP will surely be a great source for kickstarting a CX programme!
Essential points for starting a CX initiative
A CX initiative can have several different initiation points, but in all cases, it needs to start with the conviction that customer experience is the key to keep the company in line with market expectations and customer needs. This goes first through a management buy-in and a CX programme clearly defining the goals and KPIs that will be used to measure the process.
Once the base is in place, the first step would be to select the right tracks by running a CX maturity assessment. This part of the process should help in detecting the areas where the organization needs to invest its efforts in order to progress towards the development of a customer-centric DNA.
Keeping the organizational structure in mind
Every business needs a dedicated CX team to manage the practices needed for the CX programme operation. However, the team should only handle and use the right methodology, not be the owner of the action items.
The Product/Service managers are the ones that need to take responsibility, monitor the execution, and refine the journey in predefined milestones. On the programme execution level, it is required to have a CX committee that will oversee the progress of the programme, break the organizational silos, as well as take arbitrage decisions when conflicts arise.
Lining up the CX strategy and business goals
A CX strategy is an approach that comes as a support to the business goals of the company. Since companies exist to make a profit, there needs to be a clear understanding of the way the improvement in customer experience will contribute to the achievement of positive business results.
From a practical perspective, after the journey mapping exercise is over, and we go into the execution phase, it is necessary to start measuring the predefined KPIs. This action will allow estimating the impact that the CX actions have on the improvement of customer satisfaction, as well as on the bottom-line results (revenue/profit). Popular CX metrics are CSAT, NPS, CES along with traditional business metrics such as EBITDA, conversion rate, SLA, and others.
Continuous refinement for a strong programme
Where most organizations fail when running CX initiatives is abandoning the programme after the initial work has been conducted. I would argue that quite the opposite is imperative. Running a CX programme requires continuous refinement of the customer journeys and action plans if one wants to be in line with market trends and customer expectations. The best way to keep a CX programme alive is to invest in the development of a customer-centric DNA that will become like second nature for employees, integrated into their daily way of working.
Final points to focus on when building CX engagement
If organizations want to deploy a successful CX strategy, they should focus on repetitive operations when building the CX engagement. To start creating CX awareness, you can easily deploy a project at a small scale with a group of “CX believers”, share the impact and benefits, and then, expand at a larger scale to the rest of the organization. In this way, you get to establish a successful CX programme that maximizes the impact of customer-centricity on the daily operations of the business and its’ KPIs.