Strativity - Creating Profitable Customer Experiences

At a recent visit in Spain I was introduced to a local bank that describe to me his customer experience challenges. "We are very committed to customer experience," the Spanish bankers declared. "We even commissioned our own scent to be sprayed in all the branches." They reaffirmed the commitment. "So where is your next challenge?" I inquired. "The employees, "they responded, "they are not engaged."

The meeting reminded me a recent array of new customer experience diagrams spreading by different gurus. The latest one, The Customer Experience Continuum, reminded me why some experts still do not get it: customer experience is not a programme to reduce customer complaints; it is a strategy to create differentiation.

The Customer Experience Continuum describes customer experience as a closed loop feedback mechanism that enables listening to customers (through social media, of course) and changing processes to address the identified problems. Such a tactical approach, which is common among many traditional CRM analysts who try to minimise the discipline of customer experience, will ultimately lead an organisation to parity. Organisations that follow this tactical interpretation of customer experience will continue a frustrating journey of addressing customer complaints, reaching parity with customer needs and yet never being able to gain differentiation and loyalty.

In a world where meeting customer expectations is required but no longer sufficient, complaint reduction customer experience programs produce nothing more than cost reduction. Companies reach the parity line and continue to struggle with longer sales cycles and intense price pressure. The reason: reaching parity is catching up with the competitors, but not creating sustainable differentiation.