Earlier this year an e-mail from the Customer Experience Professionals Association landed in my in-box with a link to a PDF compiling a collection of 2017 predictions from a variety of CX industry pros. (The whole document is a good read and, at 21 pages, won’t take a ton of your time: www.cxpa.org/learn/publicresources.)
Many of the trends and issues that the CX people mention are also relevant factors in marketing research – which is not a surprise, intertwined as the two disciplines are. This was especially apparent as I read responses to a question soliciting advice for those new to CX. As I read them, it was easy to hear them being directed at someone new to marketing research. (Heck, a lot of the advice is even worthwhile for industry veterans!):
“Find a mentor and build a strong relationship with that person. All the classes, certifications, Webinars and white papers in the world cannot take the place of an experienced, battle-scarred mentor.” -- Sarah Simon, Confirmit
“Network, network, network. Transforming the customer experience is tough – and can often be lonely. However, you are never alone. The ever-growing community of global CX professionals is like a big family – we are all here to support, counsel and encourage each other. Make the most of the network.” -- Ian Golding, CX consultant
“Develop a clear storyline (WIFM) for each of your stakeholders and learn about change management. Adopting CX practice is just like embedding any other change in a large, complex organization. Build your CX strategy or plan but work with a change-manager to figure out how you might establish momentum and sustainable change.” -- Tony Hillson, Service Design NZ Ltd.
“Learn about the different paths of expertise in CX, pick the one you are best suited for but don’t forget to branch out and learn skills in the other areas.” -- Tabitha Dunn, Concur
“Understand what your role is – what are the goals and outcomes you’ve been asked to achieve? CX is such a big field – it’s easy to feel overwhelmed and want to boil the ocean.” -- Jeannie Walters, author/speaker
“Be committed – and build hard skills, not just soft skills.” -- Greg Tucker, Tucker and Company
“Determine how to unite the vertical (frontline, middle management, executive) and horizontal (cross-company functions) and gain alignment on vision, strategy and roadmap. Celebrate the quick wins along the way.” -- Karyn Furstman, Safeco Insurance
“This is a discipline that requires right-brain/left-brain thinking. Make sure you are a good listener … and understand that your role is to unite the organization to understand the customers’ perspective and holistic journey – and to make others successful. Check your ego at the door.” -- Jeanne Bliss, Customer Bliss
“Look for your partners. HR and IT are underutilized resources (in our survey of journey-mapping practitioners, only 7 percent invited HR and only 30 percent included IT). Build bridges with these capabilities in order to accelerate your improvements.” -- Jim Tincher, Heart of the Customer
“Have a strategy and a plan focused on impact and value. Find others who have been on the journey. Learn from them. Ensure you have a roadmap and can tell stories about your success and the opportunities in the organization’s journey – both past and what’s coming. Talk to the natural leaders in the organization, paint the picture for them and include them in your planning.” -- Diane Magers, CXPA
‘Show results’
In response to a different question, Confirmit’s Sarah Simon also could have been referring to MR as she enumerated some of the challenges facing CX in 2017: “1. ROI is critical. Practitioners need to put their voice of the customer to work and show results or risk seeing their budgets put to work elsewhere. 2. Broader multichannel data collection adoption. Plummeting response rates will push data collection into new territory – out of necessity – making multichannel data capture a reality. Even for those CX organizations not inclined to want to expand to multichannel VoC, their hands may be forced in order to be able to continue capturing customer intelligence.”