Creating a standout customer experience (CX) is no longer just a nice-to-have, it's the key to staying ahead of the competition. Expectations have shifted as customers view every interaction as part of a more comprehensive relationship. And businesses do not want to get this relationship wrong – two-thirds of people have committed to never shopping with a brand following a bad experience, according to Sitecore.
To experience leaders, this likely isn't news – we're all constantly beating the drum for better CX. However, it's essential to consider how we approach a solution and, crucially, make the case for prioritising CX-led thinking and funding the right initiatives to deliver those outcomes. Most organisations have a wealth of customer data and internal processes focused on simply maintaining elements of their CX that can otherwise be improved, digitised or transformed to deliver more value to customers and the business. But convincing an internal audience to prioritise growth investments over a 'keep the lights on' mindset can be difficult, especially when bad experiences cannot be easily tied to impacts on the bottom line.
An adaptive CX framework helps businesses navigate these issues, exploring CX opportunities from both a customer and a business perspective. This means breaking down and understanding the most effective operational and technical approaches to prioritise CX improvements, establishing a modern technology strategy that gets your products to market quickly, and ultimately grows your business.
Start with the why, not the what
The first hurdle to improved CX for any organisation is investment. Businesses in the UK particularly need help with funding, with 33% of UK leaders citing financing as a major barrier to getting the most out of digital transformation. This is compared to only 24% of their global counterparts. To deal with this issue, experience leaders need to reconsider their approach to securing support from C-suite leadership.
That starts by connecting your digital transformation to your strategic business objectives. In other words, start with the 'why’ not the 'what’. Why should your business invest in improving CX? Why does enhancing customer experience directly impact key outcomes? These aren't always easy questions to answer, but they're essential to bringing the wider business on board. I also find that asking these questions encourages us to think more critically about CX improvements and consider the best approach to driving long-term success.
So, where to start?
1. Focus on tangible outcomes
First things first, make the right case grounded in meaningful outcomes. Becoming best friends with your finance team is an excellent approach to managing investment challenges. Build a holistic business case, working together to create compelling and credible financial models. Ask yourself what types of business cases are most effective in your organisation and the challenges of making them. To build confidence in how your approach will deliver business value, think about what you need to know and what you need to show.
2. De-risk through insights
It's easy to default to standard business insights or assumptions about user behaviours, needs and motivations instead of working from real customer insights, which may feel more challenging. However, many organisations have a lot of insight from marketing, customer voice and channel data – all of which can help reduce the risks of CX investments as long as they’re identified and used correctly. When drawing on customer insights to develop a business case, ask yourself how visible this information is to other teams. Far too often, critical customer data is kept in silos.
3. Communicate to manage change
Take a leaf from the playbook of other effective change programs in your business – look at work from the marketing team or a digital initiative. These examples of success likely used compelling storytelling to inspire an internal audience. As CX leaders, we can follow suit by making sure our colleagues and leadership have a line of sight of customer insights. We can inspire key stakeholders and bring them on board with the approach by ensuring they feel like they are part of the process when developing and communicating a business case.
It's important to set realistic expectations during this process – so sell a creative, compelling and future-facing vision that aligns with your business objectives and financial models.
4. Balance your head and the heart
For experience leaders, your challenge lies in effectively making the case for improved CX within your organisation. The message should be simple – better customer experience leads to business growth – but it can be a challenge to articulate.
Making a CX-led approach compelling is about appealing to the emotive and showcasing the rational. On the rational side, it’s important to use data-driven insights and analytics so that your strategy leads to effective processes that meet tangible needs. However, the inspirational aspect is equally crucial to spark excitement among stakeholders and secure their support.
Embracing CX transformation for growth
An adaptive CX framework that considers customer and business perspectives is essential to balancing customer expectations and internal pressures. Embracing CX transformation meets customer expectations and positions the business for long-term success in an increasingly demanding market.
Remember to step outside the CX bubble every once in a while. A new point of view beyond technical applications and solutions is important for both business success and our skills as CX leaders.
To learn more about human-centred design and connected brand experiences, drop us a line at hello@hugoandcat.com.
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The cost of undervaluing CX in B2B Organisations
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