Nothing not festive

I'm getting married. Yes, it's quite a lot to me. For some, this is the best day of their lives, but we see it – and that may be due to our age and Dutch background – a little more practically. We don't live together, so for us it's a day of love. A moment when we arrange everything well for each other. And arranging that, that's what this blog is about. Because it takes a lot of arranging to get this done.

It all started with the online exploration. You can get married for free on Monday morning. By the way, did you know that there is quite a queue for that? No less than nine months. When I see this waiting period, I think more of the duration of an average pregnancy, but maybe these two are related. This is what they call 'simple marriage'. This is possible on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays. I think someone has the Thursday off. Haha. Sorry, I'm rambling on. And this can only be done in the morning. Apparently, getting married cheap, free and easy is also something you do in the morning.

Of course, you can also 'just' get married. This is at the price, but then you can get married in the old council chamber of the town hall, for example. A lot more atmospheric than at the modern city hall at Utrecht Central Station. But location aside, it's all about love.

And you really have to feel that love for each other when you enter this process. It starts with registering your intended marriage. This is a new word for betrothal. Personally, I think that is a great pity. Banns sound a lot cozier, but yes, all the fun has gone away. Because you fill in everything online, it's a process. You enter your details and those of all the witnesses and voila: you press send. After a few days, the congregation came up on the air. The two of us and all the legitimations had to come to the city office to finalize our intended marriage.

Now I'm a fan of 'making a moment of something'. So we planned a day off and went to the city office together in a romantic way. There we received a number from a device in the large hall. We were allowed to go to department C, up the escalator and turn right. We were called upon. All documents were checked again, we paid € 627 (you read that right, getting married is not cheap) and were outside after five minutes. Nothing not festive. No congratulations yet. Just a procedure. Is it just me, or is this a missed opportunity? May 15, they can make amends.

 

This blog was written for CustomerFirst and published on April 15, 2020

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*****

Nienke Bloem is often called the Customer Experience speaker in the blue dress. 

She's a global CX thought leader, educator and a global keynote speaker who inspires audiences with best practices and proven methodologies. She leads a speaking practice, a CX game company and a training business; she breathes Customer Experiences and is author of two CX books.

Her two-day Customer Experience Masterclass is known as the best program to prepare for your CCXP and she is the go-to person for CX leaders who want to advance their leadership and bring direct results from their Customer Experience transformation programs. Since 2020, she hosts a CX Leadership Masterminds program and helps leaders spice up their leadership and deliver an engaging CX Story including a solid CX Strategy. Besides, she is a modern-day pilgrim and found the parallel with leading customer centric transformations. 

With her over 20 years of corporate experience, she speaks the business language. Her keynotes and education programs in Customer Experience are inspiring and hands-on. She is one of the few Recognized Training Partners of the CXPA and it is her mission to Make Customer Experience Work and help you deliver business results. 

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Crash course in human emotions

Emotions you really need to recognize when interacting with customers and employees. For all in customer experience, marketing, sales and operations.

The last couple of days my feelings are deeper than a month ago. I feel sad when I see awful images on ICU's and when I hear stories of loss. I feel disgust of companies that just keep sending their stupid sales newsletters through email, like nothing is going on. I experienced fear while my fiance had corona. I experienced anger seeing people that were just out in the streets, pretending the world was still normal and they could go to the beach or the park, putting lives in danger. But also, I experience joy while watching funny videos, that I receive through WhatsApp. I felt relieved my fiance recovered from corona. I felt surprised when receiving a thoughtful handwritten card with caring words in my mailbox.

Somehow, my emotions are deeper. Are more on the surface and are more intense. Which actually not only happens in my emotional world. It also happens also in yours, your family, community, actually in the world of most humans that are now affected by corona. This requires that we, Customer Experience Professionals, people working in marketing, sales and operations, need to be aware of the intensity of emotions of our employees and customers.

We definitely need to recognize and learn how to deal with emotions to help our customers and employees in the best way.

To help you out to understand emotions and the range of emotions, I share the knowledge by Professor Robert Plutchick and his wheel of emotions. If you understand this, please use it in scripts, customer journeys, emails, campaigns, conversations, and probably many more situations. So, here we go....

The basics:

Plutchik considers there are eight primary emotions; anger, fear, sadness, disgust, surprise, anticipaation, trust and joy. Plutchik argues for the primacy of these emotions by showing each to be the trigger of behaviour with high survival value, such as the way fear inspires the fight or flight response (info wikipedia).

How are the eight emotions related:

As you can see in the emotion wheel, each primary emotion has an opposite; joy is the opposite of sadness, trust is the opposite of distrust, fear the opposite of anger, surprise is the opposite of anticipation

The emotions in between the eight basic emotions, are the combined emotions. So disgust plus anger, gives the emotion contempt. Or fear plus surprise, gives awe. As emotions are complex, this way of looking at emotions helps to understand where these emotions come from.

The intensity of emotions:

The emotions I feel in these times of corona, feel deeper, like they are more intense. That is what Plutchik visualizes by the brightness of the colors in the wheel. The deeper the color, the more intense the motion is felt. When looking in the yellow column, the lightest emotion is serenity, more deeper is joy and the emotion in the most intense way is ecstasy.

Plutchik's wheel of emotions provides a perfect framework for understanding emotions

Now what?

It is important for all of us, to dive deeper in emotions of our customers and employees. To understand what the emotions are they are experiencing. Because these emotions need to be taken seriously. As I learned on a mindfulness course, you can compare not taking your emotions seriously, like pushing a cork underwater deeper and deeper. In the end it will pop out faster than ever before. Remember my example of the company that just keeps sending me sales-oriented newsletters, that are in my view, not appropriate right now. I canceled their newsletter. As I explained the reason for my un-subscription, they reacted; "Thank you so much. We value your opinion" Which I know for certain is a standardized email, so they are not listening at all. Now I am really done with them, since I will remember this for a long time.

Three suggestions how to apply the knowledge of emotions:

1. In customer contact – Acknowledge emotions when you have conversations with customers. Or train your staff to acknowledge emotions. It is proven, that the more you ignore the more red/purple emotions, the more they will intensify. This also means that in these uncertain times, customer contact with regards to health, money and other uncertain topics, will take more time. So take that into account in average handle times.

2. In customer / employee communication – Examine what your customer or employee is feeling and experiencing right know. Describe and acknowledge these situations and emotions, so people will read/watch on. Make sure that when you show videos, that the person in the video, is honest and also shows emotion. A best practice, is the video of Arne Sorenson CEO of Marriott, who explains the impact of covid-19 on Marriott for the associates.

3. In Customer journey mapping sessions – Too often I see that Happy, Neutral and Unhappy are used to map emotions. You just read there are many more emotions and it will help you to diversify the emotions of customers. What are they really feeling right now and also, how do you want them to feel in the To-Be journey. Use the wheel in your design thinking processes. This more detailed wheel with described emotions might come in handy. It shows the diversity of emotions. Praise given to Danny Peters that uses this wheel in his customer journey mapping teaching sessions.

I hope this knowledge helps you to understand your customers and employees emotions better. Maybe even the emotions of yourself and the people close to you. Our emotions have deepened, maybe we even feel different emotions. So it is now even more important to be aware and pay the right attention.

Let's get active; Share your thoughts in the comments.

Was this article useful? Please let me know. And even more important, how could you apply or have your applied this knowledge? Please share in the comments. Let's grow our understanding of emotions and the impact on our CX work even more. Thank you and since it is important for all of us, a little personal note; stay safe.

 

Subscribe to her weekly CX Greetz.

 

*****

Nienke Bloem is often called the Customer Experience speaker in the blue dress. 

She's a global CX thought leader, educator and a global keynote speaker who inspires audiences with best practices and proven methodologies. She leads a speaking practice, a CX game company and a training business; she breathes Customer Experiences and is author of two CX books.

Her two-day Customer Experience Masterclass is known as the best program to prepare for your CCXP and she is the go-to person for CX leaders who want to advance their leadership and bring direct results from their Customer Experience transformation programs. Since 2020, she hosts a CX Leadership Masterminds program and helps leaders spice up their leadership and deliver an engaging CX Story including a solid CX Strategy. Besides, she is a modern-day pilgrim and found the parallel with leading customer centric transformations. 

With her over 20 years of corporate experience, she speaks the business language. Her keynotes and education programs in Customer Experience are inspiring and hands-on. She is one of the few Recognized Training Partners of the CXPA and it is her mission to Make Customer Experience Work and help you deliver business results. 

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Post-it Ninja

"Improving the customer experience, that's what we're working on." I'm having an interview with a CX colleague at a government agency. In the case of a large brown paper, she explains to me what I see on this. A beautiful customer journey, full of ups and downs in emotions and many, many post-its. Unfortunately not of very good quality, because there are also a lot of them on the ground. But that's not what this blog is about.

Now I'm a big fan of the post-it myself. Super handy for all your customer journey sessions, workshops, improvement sessions and what not. But I've also wondered how others see me and my CX colleagues. Whether we have customer journey manager, service designer or customer experience expert as a job title.

Let's put ourselves in the shoes of our colleagues. What do they see and what will they think? Could it be something like, 'Hey, there she is again. Always busy with those brown papers and all kinds of colored self-adhesive small papers. Where does that post-it it ninja go next? And what happens to that brown paper? Will she take it off the wall and will something happen to it? Or will this customer journey soon hang on the wall as beautiful office art and is it a reminder of a wonderful session?'

Yes, that could just be the image. And if so, then we have caused it ourselves. It's up to us to show that something is really happening with it. Because what else are we doing? Of course, one of our roles is to increase the customer awareness of colleagues. But we are only successful if the customer notices something. I do know that sometimes we are seen as those post-it it ninjas. Like those guys with the biggest plans and most beautiful sessions, but with too little impact. And we are responsible for that. Also to change that, because we really need to get rid of that image.

We owe it to our CX booth that we have customer impact. That we are where the customer is. That we really know how to improve that customer journey. That we entice leaders to participate in the contact center. That we sometimes use brute force to draw attention to the major customer issues. That every now and then we very subtly let everyone realize that it really can't be like this. Sometimes with post-its and much more often with the 'voice of the customer'. But always with the honest customer story and a lot of do-power. As CX professionals, we are responsible for our own impact. Down with office art, hello customer success. From post-it ninja to customer hero; Let that be our aim.

 

This blog was written for CustomerFirst and published on March 11, 2020

Don't miss another blog? Sign up for my monthly CX Greetz!

 

*****

Nienke Bloem is often called the Customer Experience speaker in the blue dress. 

She's a global CX thought leader, educator and a global keynote speaker who inspires audiences with best practices and proven methodologies. She leads a speaking practice, a CX game company and a training business; she breathes Customer Experiences and is author of two CX books.

Her two-day Customer Experience Masterclass is known as the best program to prepare for your CCXP and she is the go-to person for CX leaders who want to advance their leadership and bring direct results from their Customer Experience transformation programs. Since 2020, she hosts a CX Leadership Masterminds program and helps leaders spice up their leadership and deliver an engaging CX Story including a solid CX Strategy. Besides, she is a modern-day pilgrim and found the parallel with leading customer centric transformations. 

With her over 20 years of corporate experience, she speaks the business language. Her keynotes and education programs in Customer Experience are inspiring and hands-on. She is one of the few Recognized Training Partners of the CXPA and it is her mission to Make Customer Experience Work and help you deliver business results. 

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Nine elements of successful CX Ambassador programs

The latest years I have seen many organizations that worked with CX Ambassadors. So many roles, and so many variations of domain of impact. For example, to implement customer improvements, or to be NPS ambassadors from all teams to make sure the metric and the thought behind it stays alive, or to build a culture of customer centric behavior, or to translate the brand values into daily work. As I have seen so many and some were a success and some just died a silent death (yes, that is a risk), I decided to deduct the nine elements of success.

1. Have common goals that link to the strategy of the organization

When people join an ambassador program, they want to understand how they contribute and what is the WHY of the program. It is the role from the CX team to give clarity on this element of belonging and contribution. Especially the strategy element is important, as people will be asked in their teams and their surroundings what their role as an ambassador is. Also make sure they can translate their work into the strategy and the goals of the Ambassador program. As a CX team you have to be able to answer the question, "When is our CX Ambassador program a success and how does it contribute to the success of the organization?" Because if you can't, your ambassadors most definitely can't either.

2. Make sure the ambassadors have time to act

It depends whether Ambassadors are chosen by management or whether they can volunteer to join your CX Ambassador program. One of the hurdles I often see is that of time. People get their ambassador role on top of their daily work. Especially when working in the frontline, with operational roles, you need to be aware that chances are they promise a lot but are more likely to be scheduled to be doing their regular job. I have seen programs where people got 20 percent of their time to work in the ambassador program; make sure this is planned in the WFM and help your ambassadors to own this new role. Enable them to have conversations with their team members and management. But also, you have to have conversations with the leadership, to emphasize the importance of the Ambassador program and the time people need.

3. Choose ambassadors wisely

Who should be the ambassadors? A very interesting question. Should they be picked by management, is that the modus operandi in your organization? Or could you have a kind of an audition program, where employees get to do interviews and really show why they are a good match? I hope you get to have a say in the selection process and have a diverse group of ambassadors. Especially at the start, make sure you get colleagues that have belief in Customer Experience, that have the right energy, that are curious and that are at crucial positions in the company. Later in time, you can choose to also engage the opponents. Especially when you have the first results in, this will convince them, and it gives you the authority that you can engage all. And of course, make the Ambassador team a diverse one, both on background, gender, roles and global footprint (when applicable).

4. Give guidance and build a system of support and clear governance.

Ambassadors need support to fulfill their role. Often their roles have an evangelist and activist element which has impact on the organizational status quo. This means they have to work on customer change and different behavior. That isn't easy, so help your ambassadors with the resistance they will encounter. Create FAQs with the most asked questions and answers they might give. Help them with tools and interventions so they can really act on their role. It is also important that you help them tell the story, especially when the evangelist element is fundamental. Practice the change story together. Give them customer stories, video clips, customer verbatims, that they can use in their change roles. I often see communities with a shared platform, where all resources can be found. Make sure you are the activator and stimulator of this platform.

5. Share and reward success

Some ambassadors hit the jackpot and some won't. It is very important to deep dive the elements that enhance success. What really works is to put the people in the spotlight that are nailing it. That are really creating customer impact, that raise metrics, that change the customer status quo. I have seen Awards for the CX Ambassador of the year, which is kind of formal. But I have also seen stories highlighted on the intranet and Yammer communities where CX heroes were celebrated. Make sure you put the spotlight on their success, but also on the journey toward success. Share the honest truth and give them the praise they deserve. And... if your ambassador program is a true success, give yourself the right platform and go for a CX award yourself or with the team. Whether at the Global Insights Exchange of the CXPA or the International CX Awards. This can give you the internal authority, praise of colleagues and often an internal leadership boost.

6. Get together in real life

This might be difficult in global programs, but it is of true importance that Ambassadors know each other. So they know their peers, so they can have conversations when stuck, or to build on capabilities. I often see Zoom calls, Skype meetings and yes, these are practical. But when you really want success, claim budget for real life get togethers. Enhance learning, networking and a real foundation of CX belief when you see each other. What I have also seen, is that when Ambassadors have to make a real effort to travel, they are even more connected to the program later. When you finish a person to person event, make sure you give the colleagues shiny certificates or other status symbols they can take to their offices. To show off and have a physical reminder of their ambassador status.

7. Involve leaders

Somehow, I have seen most CX Ambassador programs that only have team members from operational roles. Where are the leaders, where is the management? It can't be that they are too busy... So, when you start and choose the ambassador team, make sure you have the option to also pick leaders. If that is not the case, make sure you engage leaders in a different way. Communicate regularly about the Ambassador program and mention their teams when they deliver results. But also have conversations when the Ambassadors fall short and they indicate they don't get the time they need. These conversations might be tricky, but this is the only road to go. Especially when you feel some leaders don't support the program. If I can give you one most important suggestion it is: include the CEO. Make sure he/she expresses the importance, shows up in a real life meetup, or in a Zoom. That he/she asks questions in meetings how the participation of the Ambassador program is going.

8. Have 'who takes over' conversations and an on-boarding program

People will leave teams, get new roles, get sick or might even leave the company. To have continuity, you need to think of this at the beginning. Especially when people are selected and start: be honest and ask what will happen when they eventually are not there. For whatever reason. Do they have somebody that can replace them, do they have a next in line idea? It is a good conversation to have, since this also shows your sincerity and serious approach to the Ambassador program. When they stop, give them a fond farewell, a big thank you. Also give the new ambassadors a warm welcome. Make sure you have a welcome/onboarding procedure. That is crystal clear on expectations. That helps you and the ambassador to start of in the best way.

9. When the vibe is down, stop or show stamina and refresh

The good thing at the start of a CX Ambassador program is that everybody is fully energized. Starting new things just has a good vibe. The lights are all green, the program has power, maybe even an own logo. You have somebody who is responsible for the selection, communication and the meetups. And then ... after a year the vibe might be down. The participation is less. Other priorities might come up. What to do? This should already have been taken care of in the startup. To raise the 'what if questions' and the mitigating actions. But it will happen. This is the moment where you have two choices. Either you stop the program. With a real celebration of the success, a big thank you to all participants. Or this is the moment your endurance comes in. Where you show stamina. Continuity is key and you have to stick to the rhythm of communication. Make time in your calendar to prepare meetings, to tape videos, to share stories. And when the vibe is really down: refresh. Give the program a boost with a new logo. With a new story line, maybe even a new face of the CX team.

When to start an CX Ambassador program

Ambassador programs are just tha bomb. Yes, I am an enthusiast and I have seen some great examples where the organization was engaged by the success of the program. You don't start an Ambassador program when you just started the CX team. It is something to start when you have grown a little more mature. When the fundamentals are there: a CX team, a clear CX Strategy and of course the budget.

Your learnings

I am so curious for your learnings. I have two questions:

  1. What are fundamentals that you have encountered in your CX Ambassador program that really created success, that are your success factors?
  2. Please be in contact when you have a great Ambassador story. As I am writing the CX Travel Guide in English, I am looking for international stories and I would love to learn from yours and share your story.

So, please share your insights and comments and of course, feel free to like, love and share this post.

 

** Subscribe to her weekly CX Greetz. **

 

 

*****

Nienke Bloem is often called the Customer Experience speaker in the blue dress. 

She's a global CX thought leader, educator and a global keynote speaker who inspires audiences with best practices and proven methodologies. She leads a speaking practice, a CX game company and a training business; she breathes Customer Experiences and is author of two CX books.

Her two-day Customer Experience Masterclass is known as the best program to prepare for your CCXP and she is the go-to person for CX leaders who want to advance their leadership and bring direct results from their Customer Experience transformation programs. Since 2020, she hosts a CX Leadership Masterminds program and helps leaders spice up their leadership and deliver an engaging CX Story including a solid CX Strategy. Besides, she is a modern-day pilgrim and found the parallel with leading customer centric transformations. 

With her over 20 years of corporate experience, she speaks the business language. Her keynotes and education programs in Customer Experience are inspiring and hands-on. She is one of the few Recognized Training Partners of the CXPA and it is her mission to Make Customer Experience Work and help you deliver business results. 

 

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The 3 learnings for YOU from the best CX team of 2019

Look at this photo. Isn't it a brilliant moment of fame? These are the winners of the International CX Award 2019 for Best Customer Experience Team: the CX team of KCB Bank. This bank is located in Kenya and their CX team nailed it when it comes to CX. What can you learn from them? I will share my insights, as I was one of the judges of this category and the host of the Awards.

1. Name of your CX team

When you are in the profession of Customer Experience Management, you want to differ from other teams within your company. You are responsible for the customer and the change within the company into customer centric behavior. You are there to elevate these KPI's that matter. It could be NPS or CSAT, but that is what you are there for. So, what is your team name? The CX Team of KCB, named themselves Team Possibilitarians. To propel the customer experience agenda, they have made the KCB Customer Experience Team a fun place to be, as they believed that offering delightful customer experiences can only be natural and seamless in a fun, but yet an official setting. Sorrow!

2. Business rationale

Customer Experience Management is a business profession. That means – as CX professionals – we are there for a business reason. To deliver business value: to customers and therefore to the company. To create a competitive advantage, to help innovation, to boost a customer centric culture. That is also what CEO's expect of the CX profession. Within KCB, the team is led by Job Njiru. The banking industry in Kenya, faced homogeneity and a dynamic environment created by Customers. The CX team had to look for clear paths to help remaining the market leader in a very competitive market. Customers demanded personalized and differentiated experiences. They required products initiated by their requests and the products to meet their expectation of reliability, speed, efficiency, low cost and convenience. KCB thought of a plan to ensure that their customer needs are met. In 2018 a Customer Experience Division was created within the bank as an independent division, reporting to the Chief Operating Officer, "to eat, think, dream and sleep as the customer". To align that, they created a business metric that really measures CX support across all staff, named Rate My Support (RMS). The team has grown in score and helped building a customer centric culture across the business, helped meeting customer service level agreements by reducing TAT on complaint resolution from 72 hrs in 2017 to 24 hrs in 2019, improving NPS by 5 points up, making them the market leaders in the Kenyan banking industry. So, the question is: what is your business rationale and how can you show your success?

3. The CX Story for change

How do you engage the organization? Do others understand what you are doing with your team? Do they know what to do and how? What I love about the CX team of KCB Bank, is that for 2019, they decided to focus on the 4E's of customer experience which for them are Emotion, Expectation, Effort and Execution. This has helped building customer trust, enhancing customer understanding and building a community of believers who advocate KCB globally. What is your acronym? Your list of 4E's (or other elements) that creates engagement and that are memorable elements?

Congratulations to all members of the CX #TeamPossibilitarians of KCB Bank with your win. It was a fierce competition in this category within the awards, but you so much deserve it. And for all readers of this blog: will you also compete in this year's International CX Awards? It will help you within your company as an authority and it will give you the praise you deserve.  I certainly hope to meet you and challenge you to compete on the Elite Podium of CX!

 

** Subscribe to her weekly CX Greetz. **

 

*****

Nienke Bloem is often called the Customer Experience speaker in the blue dress. 

She's a global CX thought leader, educator and a global keynote speaker who inspires audiences with best practices and proven methodologies. She leads a speaking practice, a CX game company and a training business; she breathes Customer Experiences and is author of two CX books.

Her two-day Customer Experience Masterclass is known as the best program to prepare for your CCXP and she is the go-to person for CX leaders who want to advance their leadership and bring direct results from their Customer Experience transformation programs. Since 2020, she hosts a CX Leadership Masterminds program and helps leaders spice up their leadership and deliver an engaging CX Story including a solid CX Strategy. Besides, she is a modern-day pilgrim and found the parallel with leading customer centric transformations. 

With her over 20 years of corporate experience, she speaks the business language. Her keynotes and education programs in Customer Experience are inspiring and hands-on. She is one of the few Recognized Training Partners of the CXPA and it is her mission to Make Customer Experience Work and help you deliver business results. 

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20 Good Customer Intentions for 2020

Ok, it's the end of January when you're reading this column. Only I'm writing it now that we've just started the year. And traditionally, we collectively think about our New Year's resolutions.

I wouldn't be a CX expert if I didn't link those resolutions to customers. That's why I'm giving you a nice overview of 20 New Year's resolutions. Hopefully, they are already completely normal in your organization. Let's check that out.

  1. We don't use small print, which we can't really explain.
  2. We do not do no-reply e-mail addresses. Because it's strange that we, as an organization, are allowed to talk to a customer, but that they are not allowed to say anything back.
  3. Our surveys are short and sweet and look cool.
  4. If a customer fills out a survey, we also do something with it. We improve our services and provide feedback on what we have done.
  5. We respond to reviews that the customer leaves.
  6. We like the customer and they experience that in all our customer contact.
  7. If we promise to call a customer back, we will.
  8. Of course, the customer never has to repeat his or her story, we use our CRM system in such a way that all colleagues know what has been discussed.
  9. If our customer can't figure it out digitally, we offer an alternative.
  10. We thank the customer because he has been a customer for many years. If new customers get a nice offer, then of course our valued customers will get that offer too.
  11. We do not hide our phone number on our website.
  12. Our management regularly participates at the 'front end', so that they too can enjoy our customers.
  13. We might send our customers a card this year. With their birthday, or just because we like it.
  14. With us, a customer is never on hold for long, not even if we are the Tax and Customs Administration.
  15. We don't use annoying hold music.
  16. If something goes wrong, we sincerely say 'sorry' and solve it.
  17. We never blame another organization when something goes wrong, but take control ourselves.
  18. Our letters are written in understandable language.
  19. We never ask for nines and tens for our services, but are genuinely curious about every customer experience.
  20. Of course, our contact centre is also open in the evenings and/or weekends, if our customer needs it.

Are there any items in this list that you don't already do for customers? Then decide to do things differently from today. Let's get started. Happy 2020!

 

This blog was written for CustomerFirst and published on January 29, 2020

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The need of a development plan (and what it has to do with tulips)

Last year around this time, I got to visit two of the greatest names when it comes to Customer Experience. Disney and Zappos. I traveled to California to learn all about CX magic at Disney Institute. In Las Vegas I got a tour at Zappos where I interviewed leaders at their fun property. Many of the learnings I shared in my blogs and I even published an e-zine on my insights at Zappos. But why did I do that? Why did I choose these two companies as my Go-To-Learning-Place for 2019? It's all about development. Let me share my vision with you in this blog.

Buy my flowers!

But first I want to share with you that tulips are my favorite flowers. Nice to know, right? Or not? But hang on, it has to do with the story? The picture you see is taken at the local flower market in Utrecht. Every Saturday you can buy all kinds of flowers and plants on this market. It is a very bright and happy place to visit, even when it rains. The colors, the smells, the people and especially the salesmen and women behind their flower stands make me smile. They get it when it comes to selling their goods. They look at you, recommend their flowers and try to lure you into their domain.

What could happen - and they understand sales really well, so it probably will happen - is that they seduce you to buy some flowers. Not just the flowers you planned to buy. But more and different ones. Which will cost you more money than you had planned to spend and they will take up more room in your house. Colorful, yes! But maybe not what you went out for.

Stick to the plan

The same might happen with development. You go out there, see all kinds of education and inspiration, but what to decide? When you go online you might get lost in a maze of development options. To learn new skills, get inspiration, be a better entrepreneur, learn all CX, be a better you. I know many people that get seduced to follow webinars, free events and buy education as a result. Sometimes for the good. Often maybe not for what they planned to do. Is that bad? No, but think of all the time and money that is wasted. So when I go out to get tulips, I get tulips. And maybe one extra bunch of flowers to give away. But I stick to my plan.

The big picture

That is where my big picture in development comes in. Every year I determine in what area I want to develop myself. Two examples to show you how I do it. In 2018 I wanted to learn more about comedy, about being funny on stage or when delivering my Masterclass. To learn what my trade was, when it came to this art. I went to a standup comedy weekend in Brighton with Jill Edwards, had a day course with Jeremy Nichols and watched tons of comedians. On stage as well as on Netflix. A big learning experience that resulted in finding out that I am more of an improv comedian, than a standup comedian. But it was such a good learning ride.

Personal and business development

2019 was all about learning more on CX. Really deep diving into my own profession and learning from the best. The reason I went to Disney and Zappos. And why I hosted the International CX awards and why I was a judge. Because we were also writing our book about CX, I needed to focus on my profession. An extra touch was that both Disney and Zappos focus on change from a cultural lens. Very handy with regard to our Employee Experience Game and the Masterclass CX Culture I am developing. This investment in me was not only an inspirational one, but also a business smart decision!

The plan for 2020

This year will be all about growing my facilitation and audience interaction skills. I want to find my own interaction games (I already have some fun ones, but I think I can be better). Not only in a small setting like our CX Masterclass with 16 participants, but also with audiences of thousands. I like people in my audience to be really involved. So, I have work to do. I will visit the Global Speaker Summit in Namibia in February to learn from the world's greatest speakers and I will join the annual PSA Australia event in Adelaide to get some Down Under magic. In April I have booked myself a seat in a two-day Masterclass to be a better Master of Ceremony. I don't fancy becoming an all-round MC, but at customer events, I love the role. Because I can add some Nienke Bloem and CX magic to the day.

Your theme for this year

So, what to learn from all this? The big picture. My question to you is, what is your theme for the year? Do you like my way of bringing focus to personal development? Or do you have other ways, that I can learn from? Please share, because there are far more ways when it comes to development, and there is no good or bad. Oh well, actually there is a bad one. That is doing nothing. Staying still. Not investing in yourself. So, when you are at the flower market, I hope you'll be seduced to buy some flowers. I will get myself some tulips.

 

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*****

Nienke Bloem is often called the Customer Experience speaker in the blue dress. 

She's a global CX thought leader, educator and a global keynote speaker who inspires audiences with best practices and proven methodologies. She leads a speaking practice, a CX game company and a training business; she breathes Customer Experiences and is author of two CX books.

Her two-day Customer Experience Masterclass is known as the best program to prepare for your CCXP and she is the go-to person for CX leaders who want to advance their leadership and bring direct results from their Customer Experience transformation programs. Since 2020, she hosts a CX Leadership Masterminds program and helps leaders spice up their leadership and deliver an engaging CX Story including a solid CX Strategy. Besides, she is a modern-day pilgrim and found the parallel with leading customer centric transformations. 

With her over 20 years of corporate experience, she speaks the business language. Her keynotes and education programs in Customer Experience are inspiring and hands-on. She is one of the few Recognized Training Partners of the CXPA and it is her mission to Make Customer Experience Work and help you deliver business results. 

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Complain or complain?

It's 2012 and I've just become responsible for customer experience at KPN in the consumer market. We want to write a change strategy – one that is not only functional, but above all that appeals and involves real change.

We describe the change from the perspective of the customer and the employee. For the colleagues, we want them to tell enthusiastically and proudly at a birthday party that they work at this telecom company. But where to start? Because if you told them you worked at KPN, you had the guarantee that you would immediately be treated to a drama story at every party. That mechanic this, that call center employee that, or then in the store this... How nice would it be if you could solve the problem?

That's why, together with my team, we came up with the KPN Ambassador app. In it, the employee could immediately report the problem that came to his or her attention. So far, so good. The app was built, the processes connected to it and now it had to be tested with complaints from practice. As a true ambassador, I made a LinkedIn post, introduced the app and asked my network: what issues do you have that I can solve for you? The stories came in in no time. Then and then this and that had happened. I found no less than forty complaints in the comments.

I contacted everyone and while talking to these people I found out that in 39 out of 40 cases there was no complaint, but complaining. There was nothing left to solve. They just never listened carefully, never really paid attention, never once sincerely said sorry. What a lesson. There is an essential difference between a complaint and complaining. Because the one case where I was able to take action, that was a legitimate complaint. I was able to enter it into our Ambassador app and it was (of course) solved well.

What was also so cool about it was that colleagues conjured up their app for complaining partygoers. They kept asking questions, and just by listening and showing that they could solve complaints, the complaining disappeared like snow in the sun. Just take a look at it this week. We all have a habit of complaining. But take it from me: if you listen to a complaining customer and give them genuine attention, you can prevent the complaint.

 

This blog was written for CustomerFirst and published on December 18, 2019

Don't want to miss a blog? Sign up for my monthly CX Greetz!

 

*****

Nienke Bloem is often called the Customer Experience speaker in the blue dress. 

She's a global CX thought leader, educator and a global keynote speaker who inspires audiences with best practices and proven methodologies. She leads a speaking practice, a CX game company and a training business; she breathes Customer Experiences and is author of two CX books.

Her two-day Customer Experience Masterclass is known as the best program to prepare for your CCXP and she is the go-to person for CX leaders who want to advance their leadership and bring direct results from their Customer Experience transformation programs. Since 2020, she hosts a CX Leadership Masterminds program and helps leaders spice up their leadership and deliver an engaging CX Story including a solid CX Strategy. Besides, she is a modern-day pilgrim and found the parallel with leading customer centric transformations. 

With her over 20 years of corporate experience, she speaks the business language. Her keynotes and education programs in Customer Experience are inspiring and hands-on. She is one of the few Recognized Training Partners of the CXPA and it is her mission to Make Customer Experience Work and help you deliver business results. 

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The faucet leaks

There I had another one. Such a confirmation letter from a service I purchased. In corporate terminology, I would call this a process letter – one of those letters that the system poops out on its own, because a customer has ordered, changed or cancelled something.

Of course, it is important that these letters come out automatically. Because it is no longer quite of today, that there is a room full of typists. Who type these kinds of letters on a custom basis, based on every customer thing that comes along. But why are these system letters not so contemporary? So distant? And why do they use references, which I can't access with my hat? Who came up with it? K-532-Zleven. Or 54352-trxxx. It probably has to do with my customer number, address or date of birth. Or is it a similarly complicated and ingenious system as the license plates of cars? Someone came up with a series, it ran out and so a new series was introduced. Kind of.

But I digress. I myself have been responsible for customer communication. I know how difficult it is to change these process letters. It's just a huge job. It's the kind of job that no one really wants to burn their fingers on. Because there's quite a lot involved. It starts with the question: do we use 'you' or 'you' and ends with 'which letter is sent when' and 'where does a possible answer go'? And what words should you use? Words that the customer must be able to understand. B1, Jip and Janneke. Ah, ah, choices, choices...

Really, no one is eager to do this job in terms of customer communication. And yet... If the tap leaks, you have to fix it (or have it made) and then mop. That is what I want to make my point about. About that mopping. This works best when the crane has been repaired. Otherwise, it's going to be such a mess. So that from today on, only letters and e-mails will go out that deliver the right message to the right recipient, in the right language and at the right time. And then? Then it's time to start mopping up: you're going to tackle process communication. That mega project. Just take two years to do that. Minimal, I would say.

The worst part is that you don't get many honorable mentions for this. Because as soon as you're done, the first letter is already outdated. Or does the company have a new name? Or a new tone-of-voice. Or a new logo. Or a new director. Because, well, all those letters have to have the right signature... It would make you despondent.

 

This blog was written for CustomerFirst and published on November 13, 2019.

Don't want to miss a blog? Sign up for my monthly CX Greetz!

 

*****

Nienke Bloem is often called the Customer Experience speaker in the blue dress. 

She's a global CX thought leader, educator and a global keynote speaker who inspires audiences with best practices and proven methodologies. She leads a speaking practice, a CX game company and a training business; she breathes Customer Experiences and is author of two CX books.

Her two-day Customer Experience Masterclass is known as the best program to prepare for your CCXP and she is the go-to person for CX leaders who want to advance their leadership and bring direct results from their Customer Experience transformation programs. Since 2020, she hosts a CX Leadership Masterminds program and helps leaders spice up their leadership and deliver an engaging CX Story including a solid CX Strategy. Besides, she is a modern-day pilgrim and found the parallel with leading customer centric transformations. 

With her over 20 years of corporate experience, she speaks the business language. Her keynotes and education programs in Customer Experience are inspiring and hands-on. She is one of the few Recognized Training Partners of the CXPA and it is her mission to Make Customer Experience Work and help you deliver business results. 

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Putting the customer first belongs to all of us

What do you think? A yes or a no? I'm curious. But before I spread my opinion, I'll take you through an experiment.

Set. You wake up and be happy. You jump out of bed fresh and fruity. Because you're looking forward to it. You get to work full of passion. You walk into the kitchen of the McDonalds, greet your colleagues and start (after washing your hands; of course!) with an order for a BigMac. What are you doing?

  1. You've done this so many times that you don't have to look at the picture of this hamburger anymore. But you know exactly what the build-up is like. Bun, sauce, lettuce, tomato, pickle, two burgers, a slice of cheese and more sauce (for the real connoisseurs, I hope I got it right). So you build the hamburger as it should be, put it in the box and hopsa; ready to be eaten.

Or

  1. Today you're going out of the box. You've heard something from your manager about autonomy and you're going to make this burger even tastier. A little more sauce, a little less meat. Because yes, that's not good for the environment. Maybe three slices of tomato is a good idea. Just put your passion into it and Klara is ready. Hamburger in the box and hopsa; ready to be eaten.

What do you do: 1 or 2? I hope scenario 1, because that's exactly what the customer expects. Hopefully, the hamburger will be handed over to the customer with a big smile and it will also be in order in terms of customer service.

Because that's what the customer is all about. About the customer expecting and receiving a product or service in a certain degree of consistency. That requires frameworks. What are the requirements for consistency for your company? Is this a certain speed, quality, tone-of-voice, or structure of the burger? Yes, of course you can give just that little bit more, in terms of service or a little extra. But the basis is that hamburger, that product.

So, no. Putting the customer first does not belong to all of us. The customer's foundation is the responsibility of those people who design the foundation. That could be the customer experience team. Or, for example, marketing, or the customer contact center. They set up frameworks that you can and want to adhere to. And if you know how to give that little bit extra as an employee... That smile. That service. That brilliant BigMac. That real customer contact. Then you've made it. And the customer is central. You can be very proud of that.

 

This blog was written for CustomerFirst and published on October 16, 2019

Don't want to miss a blog? Sign up for my monthly CX Greetz!

 

*****

Nienke Bloem is often called the Customer Experience speaker in the blue dress. 

She's a global CX thought leader, educator and a global keynote speaker who inspires audiences with best practices and proven methodologies. She leads a speaking practice, a CX game company and a training business; she breathes Customer Experiences and is author of two CX books.

Her two-day Customer Experience Masterclass is known as the best program to prepare for your CCXP and she is the go-to person for CX leaders who want to advance their leadership and bring direct results from their Customer Experience transformation programs. Since 2020, she hosts a CX Leadership Masterminds program and helps leaders spice up their leadership and deliver an engaging CX Story including a solid CX Strategy. Besides, she is a modern-day pilgrim and found the parallel with leading customer centric transformations. 

With her over 20 years of corporate experience, she speaks the business language. Her keynotes and education programs in Customer Experience are inspiring and hands-on. She is one of the few Recognized Training Partners of the CXPA and it is her mission to Make Customer Experience Work and help you deliver business results. 

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