Evaluating CX Strategies
Under the best of circumstances, I’m a bit of a grinch but this has been an undeniably brutal year for humans and Earth. That said, there are things I feel good about as we slide into the last days of 2021. My family is healthy, business has been great, and I have encountered remarkable leaders and innovation that are truly furthering the state of CX. Yes, CX is that important. It affects everyone of us as consumers, patients, students, caregivers, citizens, professionals, customers, parents, and friends.
CX conversation can often be philosophical or inspirational-but-not-actionable. I prefer to talk about the tangible. Sure, there are lots of exciting principles and concepts to carry on about, but what’s most helpful are the strategies and tactics of building capabilities and programs that deliver outcomes—for our customers and our enterprise.
If we assess, set priorities for, and organize CX efforts around specific capabilities and programs, we can’t go wrong.
There are six capabilities that comprise great CX strategies:
- Feedback & Analytics: including Voice of the Customer programs, customer councils, and customer segmentation strategy
- Customer & Employee Engagement: including account management & planning, ‘white glove’ customer care, and customer engagement programs
- Customer Success: including customer communities, product support, and programs that focus on product adoption & value realization
- Customer Marketing: including customer communications, content, and brand advocacy
- Customer-Driven Transformation: including change management and ease of doing business projects
- Customer Planning & Strategy: including governance, customer data, and tools
When I look back at 2021, I see some dreaded greek letters, but I also see customer strategy leaders and organizations who have made real progress across these six dimensions. The even better news is that, beyond the feel-good stories I hear (and tell), there are metrics that can inform our success and guide us in each area toward improvement.
Forget about NPS and CSAT. Look at the efficacy of these capabilities and programs through metrics that objectively view performance; link requirements, aspirations, capabilities, and engagement; and then identify concrete actions to propel us forward. Measuring brand advocacy, the rate of product adoption, value realized, process efficiencies, thought leadership, and engagement in particular programs works.
After all, everything we do should break down into our customers’ objectives, our objectives, what we can do to attain those objectives, and how we measure and course-correct progress along the way. So, look at these capabilities, apply straightforward metrics to them, and put yourself on the path of continuously improving how they are delivered, given the right mix and priorities. Everything else will fall into place.
NOTE: an excerpt of this is contained in a terrific article by Phil Britt from CMSWire here.
