What actually works in CX and EX, where companies get stuck most often and how to avoid costly mistakes – notes from practice.
There is something special about experiences that simply work. You do not have to think too much, search for information or worry about what to do next. Somehow, everything just falls into place.
Companies invest millions in Customer Experience yet overlook what the experience is like for the people who create that customer experience every day. Customer experience does not happen in a CX strategy, a Customer Journey Map or a PowerPoint presentation. It happens in the everyday interactions between employees and customers.
How often do companies develop a product, service or process based on what they think the customer wants? They have data, experience, internal experts, benchmarks and research. And they do what seems logical. The problem is that what seems logical to the company does not necessarily make sense to the customer.
Simplicity is one of those things everyone wants but few companies actually design systematically. We all want customers to easily find what they are looking for, quickly understand what they need to do and complete what they came to us for without unnecessary effort.
Customer Journey Mapping is one of the fundamental activities in CX design. And honestly, it is not always an easy task. It requires time, data, customer conversations, involvement from different parts of the organization and a willingness to see things as they really are.
When we map the Customer Journey we try to understand the customer’s entire journey - from their first interaction with the brand to the moment they achieve what they set out to do. But mapping alone is not enough. The map shows us what is happening. Journey Management takes it one step further by asking: What can we do to make it even easier and simpler for the customer to achieve their goal?
Seen in a broader context, Customer Experience (CX) is a set of tools we use to support the business in achieving its objectives. That is how it should be positioned.
In every interaction the customer will feel something — security, trust, relief, satisfaction, happiness, respect, fear, frustration or dissatisfaction. And it is precisely this emotional trace, the “emotional imprint” we leave behind, that shapes how the customer perceives the overall experience and what they remember from it.
A good CX strategy does not only say what we want to do for the customer. It clearly shows how we will achieve it and how we will ensure that the entire organization is moving in the same direction.