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A view of the attendees to a CX business meeting

Customer Experience Strategy - The Big Picture

Have you ever looked out over London from the top of the Gherkin? It’s an amazing sight and a grandstand view of a thriving city powered by some of the best technology our 21st century has to offer.

We were there recently to host an event on Customer Experience (CX). But the ultra-modern panorama our guests enjoyed was in contrast to the rather old fashioned focus of our evening: human beings. Specifically we were there to talk about creating a culture that delivers brilliant CX and the main takeaway was that the starting point is people. Yes, technology is important, but a successful Customer Experience strategy starts with a focus on your business goals and company-wide alignment. It means employees being given the tools and motivation to deliver great experiences.

And there isn’t an app for that.

Crucial but broken

It’s no wonder that Customer Experience is at the top of the agenda of many businesses. Brands that put customers first have been shown to enjoy a 5-10% increase in revenue and up to 25% reduction in costs in just two years.  

In short, CX is quickly becoming the main driver of revenue growth for organisations.

But so many organisations are still getting it wrong, their Customer Experience strategy is broken and they’re being outmaneuvered by more agile and imaginative competitors.

At our event we addressed these issues and talked about what needs to be done to fix CX within a business.

Being brave

Chris Barnes, Customer Experience Officer at Kin + Carta, talked about how becoming a customer first organisation requires five main steps:

  •       Aligning your organisation with the right mindset
  •       Identifying moments you can own
  •       Understanding what’s required to change
  •       Agreeing how and what to measure in terms of CX
  •       Focusing on everyday moments and not everything in one big bang

Chris suggested that effective CX requires bravery, pragmatism and a focus on today and the future. Above all, there is a need to always be thinking about humans.

Empowering employees

Clare Willetts, Brand Director and Head of Customer Experience at Virgin, gave a fascinating talk about ‘Human Centric Brands in a Digital World’. 

Sir Richard Branson stated that if you take care of your employees, they will take care of your business. Getting the internal culture right is crucial. Clare described how Virgin provided employees with the autonomy and responsibility that enabled them to provide a great customer experience. She emphasised how AI will also play a major role in CX. 80% of CEOs say that AI is the single biggest change their company will experience in the next 5-10 years. However, less than 30% have done anything about it.

Our final speaker was Alberta Soranzo, Transformation Design Director at Lloyds Banking Group, who inspired our audience with her talk on ‘Unbreaking Service Experiences’. She made the link between a positive workplace environment and great customer experiences. To achieve this she highlighted the importance of  understanding the needs of both the users and the business. Alberta recommended studying the entire system, embracing the constraints and considering the full service stack. 

Overall it was a thought provoking and highly useful evening that highlighted the importance of culture in creating an effective CX. Get that right and you’ve addressed a crucial aspect of doing successful business in the 21st century.

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