When Steve Jobs kicked off the Customer Experience (CX) movement in 1997 (video here), he crystallized the idea of understanding customer NEEDS before doing anything else.
At the same time, another CX genius, Jeff Bezos, was three years into creating the most profitable company on the planet and precisely understood Steve Jobs ‘working backwards’ imperative.
There is this Need (even though customers donโt know it yet), and I can create the desire and meet that Need now.
QUESTION 1: Why do so many organizations struggle to become truly customer-centric?
ANSWER: They are using an out-of-date mindset. The thinking is borrowed from the industrial age when optimizing production and throughput was the thing. That way of thinking is about production management, efficiency, effectiveness, and waste elimination. Does that sound familiar? The mindset is not exactly customer focussed.
Next
QUESTION 2: What is (probably) the biggest hurdle to becoming Outside-In and customer-focused?
ANSWER: It is getting passed this industrial age mindset and all the things that come with it. For instance, it is our reward structure. It’s the approach to employee empowerment. Another one is rigid out of date linear processes and systems. I think you get the picture.
Alright, one more concern.
QUESTION 3: If listening to the customer is so important, then what is โbest practiceโ and the emerging next practice?
ANSWER: Often times many companies try to drive forward by only looking in the rear-view mirror. That is by listening to subjective perceptual historic feedback rather than paying attention to every interaction 100% of the time.
The GOOD news isโฆ
In the ACX Masters program, we show you step-by-step how to handle these challenges so you donโt have to Fall into the Bear Pit.
You can get the full scoop and preview here at the BP Group site.
Cheers for now!
There are always more questions than answers ๐ However, in the ACX Masters program, we cover all the bases and provide a set of tools and approaches that enable you to WIN THE TRIPLE CROWN in every CX initiative Join us soon!
Simple things can be very very effective and that is certainly the case with this ‘go-to’ template. Based on the Next Practice of some of the worlds leading companies completing this could change the way you think and do business forever.
It is my first interaction with Top Teams and Leaders and I use it as my first conversation with anyone who says they are tasked with helping transform their organisations (and themselves sometimes!)
[PRESSRELEASE] DENVER, COLORADO – August 31st, 2022
BP Group, the leader and creator of the CEMMethodยฎ in 2006, announced that Multichoice Group Executive Head of Customer Experience and Operations, Roland D. Naidoo, successfully completed all the requirements to qualify as an Accredited OKR Coach fully.
For the full Press Release, go here OR click the button below.
When Steve Jobs kicked off the Customer Experience (CX) movement in 1997 (video here), he crystallized the idea of understanding customer NEEDS before doing anything else.
At the same time, another CX genius, Jeff Bezos, was three years into creating the most profitable company on the planet and precisely understood the working backwards imperative.
A young fresh-faced Jeff Bezos
There is this Need (even though customers donโt know it yet), and I can create the desire and meet that Need now. The rest is history. Watch the 2-minute video here.
Jeff Bezos
Do you want to embrace advanced Customer-Centric thinking and become Outside-In?
When Steve Jobs kicked off the Customer Experience (CX) movement in 1997 (video here), he crystallized the idea of understanding customer NEEDS before doing anything else.
At the same time, another CX genius, Jeff Bezos, was three years into creating the most profitable company on the planet and precisely understood the working backwards imperative.
A young fresh-faced Jeff Bezos
There is this Need (even though customers donโt know it yet), and I can create the desire and meet that Need now. The rest is history. Watch the 2-minute video here.
Do you want to embrace advanced Customer-Centric thinking and become Outside-In?
An output is something you produce; an Outcome is a result of what you produce. โI have answered the customer queryโ is an output, โI have solved the customer problemโ is an outcome. Hereโs anotherโฆ โWe have made 10 cars todayโ is an output, โI have sold 10 cars todayโ is an outcome. As Steve Jobs said in 1997, โYou have to start with the Customer Experience (and their successful outcome) and work backwards.โ
Unfortunately, most organizations focus on outputs and correspondingly can get really good at doing dumb things. Think of the call center and the major typical KPI of Average Handle Time (AHT). That is an output measure. But what is the actual Outcome achieved from the customer contact? If your primary focus is the AHT, thatโs what will drive the behaviors of the people as a priority over everything else; no matter how much you talk of customer-centricity, if you pay them for great AHT, that is what they will focus on.
A model that we use to help us connect the dots is the Customer Performance Landscape.
It is a fantastic tool for creating the linkages between everyone and everything to ensure we are all aligned to Successful Customers and grow shareholder value. You can experience this in our ACX Master program.
Part Two. In Part One we reviewed how poor metrics drive bad behaviours. Lets dig deeper with a typical scenario…
And if you think this experience is unusual grab a coffee and google ‘poor customer experiences’.
Leadership Delusion
The leadership team can talk until they are blue in the face about customer centricity but if they insist on metrics designed for running factories everyone suffers. Here’s another typical conversation:
In all three instances the customer did not achieve a Successful Outcome. In fact there is now more effort required by the customer, and also more cost and time to be incurred for the organisation if the customer does follow through. If the customer doesnโt bother that is more potential revenue lost.
So how does this organisation look to the browsing customer? Pretty awful to say the least.
We know why this is so. Organisations like this are focused on measuring Outputs, rather than measures of Successful Customer Outcomes. If it is so obvious why is it so many persist in this Failure-Demand cycle?
Because they are measuring the wrong things. And guess what? Yes, they will have automated those measurements and put them on fancy management dashboards so everyone can feel happy. Except the customer of course. But what does that matter?
In Part Three – a big reveal. A couple of techniques that will help shape Successful Customer Outcomes brought to you from companies like Amazon, Zara, Zappos and Emirates.
Now, please remember if you pay people to do dumb stuff they will get really smart at it.
Join our upcoming Coaching and Accreditation sessions online, LIVE & Interactive
Do you want to embrace advanced Customer-Centric thinking and become Outside-In?
Simple things can be very very effective and that is certainly the case with this ‘go-to’ template. Based on the Next Practice of some of the worlds leading companies completing this could change the way you think and do business forever.
It is my first interaction with Top Teams and Leaders and I use it as my first conversation with anyone who says they are tasked with helping transform their organisations (and themselves sometimes!)
