Giving Great Customer Experience
Explaining The Structured Framework For Customer Experience.
Just Watch!
Cast your mind back to the 9th March 2015 when yet another facet of customer experience got born. The Apple Watch — Once more businesses had to start rethinking. This time it was how to squeeze the promise of their product and service through a 1.5 inch screen*.
“Whether you are running an Airport or a corner shop how we engage with our consumers has changed beyond recognition — the game has been raised…”
* Before this (new channel) we were similarly challenged by computers, smart devices, smart billboards, QR codes, store fronts, massive transformations in the way we all consume TV and — all other forms of marketing and communication.
Always New Beginnings
Integration, technology and miniaturisation has been on the rise for decades. Now it’s completely pervasive. In every move we make and embedded in in all our lives are opportunities for creating a more valuable ‘experience’. If you own Google Home or Amazon Echo you know how powerful we’ve become in a fully connected experience. It’s nothing compared to what’s coming
Think ‘Internet Of Things’ and at the same time take a look at what MEMS will do to change how we think and work over the next few years.
Whatever the device, technology or channel — all types of transaction will continue to be ever more rewarding, valuable and compelling. The big challenge is how well we design the experience/the interface, align the enterprise and operate seamlessly throughout. And at the same time as resonating with actual human beings.
Marketing & Communication
These terms don’t seem to define the task anymore. We now think of all of this as ‘customer experience’. Yet another risky term. It may have a short shelf life due to lack of real meaning and definition, It’s a phrase that many people still have little understanding of what it actuall takes.
Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, Mixed Reality, Big Data, Machine Learning, Algorithms and Bots. Add more — the list is endless. All of it has it’s place and it adds up to what the customer feels. Many of these things are invisible as channels but are very meaningful in terms of the experience.
The Framework For Understanding What Matters!
“Creating compelling customer experiences that are designed to work in the 21st Century…”
Notes On The Framework — The Dimensions* represent our learning over the last 15 years.
We created a ‘customer excellence’ framework. It’s a mechanism that’s designed for thinking and working. It is an intimate way for teams to work through the above and understand the entire ‘journey’ of the experience. The framework is anchored in the idea that if those with their hands on all the levers they will never be capable of defining the best possible outcome.
“We’ve proven how crucial ownership is if we intend to arrive at a valuable experience for clients. Especially if we hope to achieve any meaning behind the overused ‘slogan’ of a compelling customer experience…”
* The dimensions are the main areas that every business needs to understand. Each dimension is properly considered by the team that has most responsibility for delivering them. Not only are they vital parts they must be joined up as complete ‘system of things’ — a truly seamless strategy for ‘customer excellence’.
What Is Customer Excellence Anyway?
We all know that ‘Customer Excellence’ is but a part of the whole story. Any experience that our customers get are within the context of the rest of the business — that means it has a dependence on three things:
- The people that deliver it.
- The technologies that support it and…
- The processes and systems that enable it.
The framework below allows the enterprise to think through the ‘system’ in ways that force it to get each part into perspective — as a result consider what we need to get right. The image below shows the framework. Below that we explain the modules in the framework in a little more detail.
The Order In Which We Work Through The Conversations:
1. Can We Describe Our Strategic Business Intentions?
And As A Result Of Knowing This — Can We Design ‘Customer Excellence’ In Such A Way As To Drive Such Outcomes?
2. How Do We Need To Measure Customer Excellence?
And What KPI’s Would Tell Us That We Are Achieving Them? What Are The Metrics That Would Move the Needle? — Ensuring That We Are Indeed Excellent Within The Customer Experience.
3. What Dynamics Are Critical To Understand?
Dynamics Are The Constantly Changing Forces (Many Out Of Our Direct Control) That Dictate How We Have To Respond. These Are Critical Factors As We Try To Hit The ‘Moving Target’ Of The Ever Changing Consumer Context.
4. What Are ALL The Touch-Points — The Devices, Channels (Call Them What You Like) — Through Which We Can Create Customer Excellence?
Not Just The Ones We Feel Comfortable With Today!
5. What Are The Critical Moments Of Truth?
This Is Our Chance To Delve Into The Scenarios That Portray The Real Lives Of Our Customers — The Moments Of Truth Are Then Mapped So That We Can Anticipate Customer Need — Mapped In Order To Create Compelling Customer Experiences At Every Touch Point
6. What Are The Design Criteria As A Result Of All Of The Above?
These Are The Vital Criteria To Enable Us To Design ‘Excellence’ At Any Moment Of Truth & Via Any Channel Or Media?— Aligned To The Segments, Traits & Other Attributes That Define Our Desired/Target Consumers. This Is What Starts To Design The ‘Experience’.
7. As A Result Of All The Above What Are The Products & Services?
Do We Have The Capability To Meet The Promise We Make? Here We Arrange The Products & Services That Exist (Or Decide That We Need To ‘Make’) The Solutions/Services That Intercept The Customer Journey At The Key Moments Of Truth — All Things Considered. This Starts To Take Us Into The Implications For The Operational Model*
*That’s Considered In A Different Article On Operational Excellence.
8. What Are The Specific Value Propositions & Messaging Strategies?
These Are The Creative Offers, The Stories & Narratives That Will Engage & Inspire The Audiences To Act — They Are Related To Each Moment Of Truth, At Each Touch Point & Across Each Of Our Chosen Customers/Segments.
9. What Are The Standards & Principles That We Need To Set?
These Are The Rules That Align The Organisation And Ensure Our Customers Get What We Promise. They Are The Standards That Will Ensure Excellence And The Experience — Both Directly And/Or Indirectly Via Partners.
10. Can We Resolve The Implications Of All Of This And Translate It Into One Coherent Strategy?
All Of This Has To Be Considered Holistically. It’s Not Each Module Of The Conversations Above In Isolation — It’s The Decisions We Make Across All The Insight They Give Us That Makes For The Unique Experience
What We Do At Group Partners
To Put All Of The Above Into More Context:
