There\u2019s a notable difference that deserves greater attention between customer experience (your work) and experience (customer reaction to your CX work). Appreciating what each represent and how they work together improves the opportunity to earn relevance and build relationships.<\/p>\n
For example, those working in CRM<\/strong> might interpret CX as working toward customer satisfaction by achieving \u201cone view of the customer\u201d or aggregating the \u201cvoice of the customer.\u201d Executives leading CX in service and support<\/strong> could see it as investments in technology, processes and metrics though efforts related to contact center innovation and also measurement, i.e., NPS, CLV, CLM, etc. \u00a0Sales and marketing<\/strong> leaders could see CX work as improved customer journeys to reduce churn, increase acquisition and conversion and drive loyalty. IT<\/strong> is often brought in by disparate initiatives and seeking technology solutions for individual group efforts. Consultants<\/strong>, depending on their specialty, may try to look at CX through end-to-end insights to assess and improving shopping (buying) and\/or ownership experiences.<\/p>\n Of course this is just a generalization of the state of CX within the enterprise. But, either way you slice it, or even debate it, it doesn\u2019t matter. If companies don\u2019t agree upon what customer experience is, isn\u2019t and what it should be, as informed buy how customers actually experience the brand, we are not moving forward in any one direction that truly benefits customers.<\/p>\n Sometimes getting back to basics is an extremely humbling and productive exercise to reset and refocus purpose and the work to carry out your vision.<\/p>\n Everywhere you turn, it\u2019s difficult to not see the words \u201ccustomer experience\u201d and \u201csurprise and delight\u201d in the same sentence. But what does that even mean?<\/p>\n At its core, CX necessitates a shift in perspective. This work after all is about customer EXPERIENCE<\/strong>. It\u2019s their experience that counts and should serve as the inspiration for CX strategy. It\u2019s not about what we can do, or how we\u2019re limited in support and resources, or building about legacy stuff because it\u2019s there. As such, we need to see people and sense the real world experiences that they have, feel, share and remember for what it is. That\u2019s the key to unlocking empathy. Customers don\u2019t care about the realities of our business, its limitations, rise-averse culture, regulations, politics, et al. Customer experience must begin with the experience customers have and ultimately the experience they should have. I know that sounds commonsensical. But, really.<\/p>\n Sometimes, when we talk about customer experience, we under emphasize the word \u201cexperience,\u201d which is<\/em> at the end of the day, the heart and soul of CX.<\/p>\n Believe it or not, when I was writing my book X: The Experience When Business Meets Design<\/em><\/a>, I struggled to find definitions for experience and CX that would draw greater support than debate. After a series of conversations, searches and reviews of other definitions, here\u2019s what seemed to stick\u2026<\/p>\n Experience:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n What someone senses, feels and how they react in a moment and how it endures and is recalled over time.<\/em><\/p>\n Customer Experience:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n The sum of all engagements a customer has with your brand in each touch point throughout the customer lifecycle. It\u2019s measured in each moment and the sum of all moment.<\/em><\/p>\n Notice how both definitions put people front and center. In each case, the experience is measured by how they\u2019re sensed and shared\u2026from impression to expression. It\u2019s easy for companies to see customers through an operational lens. But, competitive advantages are earned by changing the focus of that lens by living the brand the way people do to experience their experience. This is how your design for relevance.<\/p>\n You have to first understand what relevance means to and how it\u2019s valued by someone else. Your work in CX must then close the gap that exists between you and relevance now and over time. You have to connect your value to the way others interpret (and appreciate) value. That takes empathy, vision, resolve and the ability to bring together the right people, technologies, and partners to work toward relevant, human-centered experiences.<\/p>\n Not only is customer experience about customers, it is about delivering experiences that they value. Your work in CX, journey mapping, mobile, commerce, innovation, technology, etc., then becomes enablers for delivering relevant, meaningful and even shareable experiences that matter to customers today and as they evolve.<\/p>\n Experience design engenders desired emotions, outcomes, and capabilities. It\u2019s the brand. It\u2019s the products. It\u2019s the journey. It\u2019s the culture of your company. Experience architecture is how these desired experiences are cultivated and reinforced throughout the customer journey and lifecycle. CX really is<\/em> about the process and acts of strategically designing and strengthening a customer\u2019s entire spectrum of interactions with a product or company. They\u2019re then measured by the stories people tell about their experiences in moment of truth, in the moment and collectively as every moment.<\/p>\n Please read\u00a0X, The Experience When Business Meets Design<\/a>\u00a0or visit my previous\u00a0publications<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n Connect with Brian!<\/strong><\/p>\n Twitter:\u00a0@briansolis<\/a> Invite Brian\u00a0to\u00a0speak<\/a>\u00a0at your next event or meeting.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Customer experience aka CX is one of the most important trends changing business today. And, experts believe that it represents the next big competitive advantage for companies that invest in it. But what is customer experience exactly? It\u2019s one of those terms (and movements) that is defined and interpreted differently depending on who\u2019s talking … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[137,964],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6279","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-all-posts","category-briansolis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6279","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6279"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6279\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6280,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6279\/revisions\/6280"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6279"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}A Mission to Surprise and Delight is Not Enough<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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