Tag Archive of: cx blogs

You might think, this is weird; what does speed have to do with CX? Let me explain and start by sharing my personal story of last month in Italy. Most of you know that I am walking a pilgrimage. The Via Francigena is my path for the next year. 1,000 kilometres by foot. A challenge that I have to take bit by bit, day by day. It will take time, but as I continue walking, putting one foot in front of the other, believing I can, dealing with all kinds of hurdles; I will get there. I call this my Slow and at this moment Strategic fundamental track. To think of life's choices, find energy, challenge the fundamentals and grow stronger.

Besides my pilgrimage, I also had the chance to join the MilleMiglia in June. The 1,000 mile race from Brescia to Rome and back. Classic cars travel this journey in 4 days. They need a fast pace, a dedicated crew that helps if the cars break down and, of course, some encouragement along the way (that was me ?). Roads are blocked off and a whole group of Italian carabinieri guides the group of 350 exclusive cars towards the finish. I call this the Result Driven Innovation track.

Both tracks require travel and are 1,000 kilometres or miles. But both have a different purpose. Just like we should approach customer experience management!

Tracks with different purpose and speed

Most Customer Experience Managers struggle to deliver results. Which might even result in losing CX ground in reorganization plans, or a decrease in budgets. I am not talking of proving your ROI, but in showing the organization that CX is making THAT impact, that it is lined up for. For really improving the situation of the customer in a direct way.

That is also why these two speeds are needed. Because what I see is that many CX professionals are focusing on the What and the How, the strategic fundamentals. The What: customer promises, brand promises, guiding behaviour, defining design principles. The How: the way design thinking is done, building an architecture of listening through insights, creating training and guiding the organization to a consistent customer centric way of working. Yes, these are both needed! But know that Walker sees also a disconnect when it comes to what organizations and the C-Suite expect of you and customer experience management.

CEOs want you to deliver competitive advantage and growth and profitability. Recognising what CEOs value and what ultimately drives competitive advantage, CX professionals must do three things:

  1. Align efforts with the business outcomes CEOs want. CX professionals must connect the dots and show how CX initiatives result in concrete outcomes.
  2. Build an engaged customer-focused workforce by helping employees identify with the customer and have a voice in the customer experience.
  3. Lead innovation, coupling customary break fix activities with breakthrough initiatives.

Strategic Fundamental track

When I am looking at my theory on two speeds of Customer Experience Management, I suggest you build your CX practice around these two tracks:

  1. The Strategic Fundamental track
  2. The Result Driven innovation track

In the Strategic fundamental track, you are focusing on the long term. You define the What and the How and guide the organisation towards the customer centric future. Guiding principles, storytelling, culture. Let me give you a couple of examples. In this track, you build your CX strategy (actually most of the elements out of the first discipline of the CX framework is in the strategic fundamental track). You define the future state of CX. You define the way you listen to customers and systematically engage the organization around the voice of the customer, also using metrics. You build business cases based on ROI and prove the value of CX. You define the principles of customer centric innovation, define how to prioritize best and build a customer centric culture program. You see? All elements in the What and the How, are guiding towards the customer centric transformation.

But this is not enough, you should also shift gear!

Result Driven innovation track

The Result Driven innovation track is where you show the organization that you really work on improving the lives of your customers and improve the customer experience. So, not just facilitating design thinking sprints, but also delivering prototypes, scaling up those experiments that have proven their worth. Working on closing the loops. Really calling back customers, fixing those customer issues that are broken and actually measuring the impact.

This my dear CX friend, is what most CX professionals are not doing (enough). We need to hammer on improving and delivering those results that are needed and once we do, we need to communicate our customer successes with the organisation.

As Bruce Temkin so eloquently said "While CX teams need ongoing support from their executives, senior leaders are prone to doubt. CX leaders need to keep communicating the progress and success of CX efforts and demonstrate that resources are being well used and any risks are effectively managed". What I love about this quote, is that he brings two elements together. Communicating the progress and demonstrate that resources are well used.

By only focusing on the Strategic Fundamental track, chances are you don't have enough results to show. So, consider adding that second Result Driven innovation track to your CX portfolio. By adding specific CX projects, getting your hands dirty on these customer issues that need to be fixed.

Project #99

A great example is "Project #99" where Clint Payne CCXP won the title International Customer Experience Professional of the year in 2018. In Multichoice, a South African Telecom and Television provider, he identified 99 common customer complaints. Together with his team he created a bottom-up approach, where employees and leaders in the company were encouraged and helped to solve these often long time known issues. Feel free to read more on his approach and the campaign. What were the results? Escalated customer complaints dropped from 733 in November 2015 to 476 in Feb 2017, client churn dropped by 1.8% and self-service went up from 55% to 65%.

So, the three most important questions you have to ask yourself:

  1. Be honest to yourself, are you delivering enough direct customer results? (If no, or in doubt, continue with question number 2)
  2. What percentage of your activities is in the Strategic and what percentage is in the Result Driven track? (Are you happy with these numbers?)
  3. What can you do to improve your CX results that customers are facing and shift gear to the Result Driven track?

Enough food for the mind. In August 2021 I will continue my pilgrimage and the Strategic Fundamental track I am on. The MilleMiglia was this great adrenaline kick, and I will definitely be back in 2022 to support these fab cars and their drivers.

But for now: I am curious for your thoughts on my theory on the Two Speeds of Customer Experience Managent that are needed. Do you recognize the disconnect and the need for both speeds? Please let me know in the comments!

 

In my childhood Bassie and Adriaan were my heroes on Dutch television. With of course the clown and acrobat as protagonists, but also with brilliant roles for the baron, B2 and Vlugge Japie. B2 was the half-deaf rascal, who was either East Indian deaf, or had a hearing problem. His winged pronunciation was: "Watzeggie?", if again he didn't understand something. And I've been thinking about him a lot the past few weeks. Because several times I desperately said "What's to say?" to customer service people.

If I had them on the line, they'd either mumble or talk too fast. Or I had someone from Limburg or Twente on the phone. I love those accents. But if the accent prevails and I don't understand the technical information I need, the fun of the accent is gone.

Let me get straight to the point. Understandability is the basis, the foundation, the principle of a good telephone conversation. You have to be able to understand and understand what that person is saying. That I as a client at the other end of the line - and in my case with a well-functioning hearing aid - understand what someone is saying. And I'm not talking about complicated language, jargon or content. No, just speaking Dutch intelligibly. Or English.

Because let's be very honest. Have you ever called an English-style call centre where you were put through to someone in India? I don't know how you experience such a conversation, but I often have a hard time making chocolate out of what's said. It sounds lilting and delicious.

But what if that doesn't make me understand?! Then, in my opinion, you've failed. I'll call again, hoping this time I can get someone else on the line. Someone who does articulate and speaks better general civilized English (if that exists). So that's two phone calls instead of one and you're wasting more time unnecessarily. Not good for the KPI's and certainly not for me as a client.

It's a tricky subject. Because do I reject people with an accent or a dialect? Definitely not. But it's important that you're understandable and understandable. Especially when you're on the phone and it's your profession. Customer service is a profession. Surely the basis of it is a voice I can follow. So... Ask customers whether they understand your employees well. Listen back to conversations and look closely at signals from customer feedback. Poor intelligibility is more common than you think and you don't want customers expressing themselves as the Baron. Who went crazy from B2 and kept shouting: "Drums, drums, drums!"

 

This blog was written for CustomerFirst and published on 7 October 2020

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We're on a campsite, in a cottage. And that's not just any campsite, but one that's hip and therefore quickly sold out. The booking already took place last November, bearing in mind that I would be abroad the whole month of June for wonderful speaking assignments and CX master classes. But yes... Suddenly there was corona. And like everyone else, I have been permanently in our beautiful Netherlands since mid-March.

The good news was that we had found a great holiday address. This campground was recommended by many: maybe a bit big, but great. Close to the beach, against the dunes. Lots of opportunities for children to play with sand and water. The reviews were almost too laudatory. I have to be honest: it makes me sceptical. I first want to see with my own eyes if the promises are kept. And what about the customer experience? I also want to experience that for myself.

So... There we went. The first week of construction. The busiest week of the high season in 2020. First I had to see how this campsite was going to live up to that great customer experience.

We were received perfectly. Quick, friendly and clear. We arrived at the cottage, so beautiful that it exceeded our expectations. With good beds and a perfect location: between the dunes, with its own verandah and such a beautiful tent canvas as a roof. We were perplexed.

The first bottle of wine opened, the little one left for the play area with lots of sand and we were regally in the relax mode. First we went through the booklet, with a map and tips, including activity planning.

The following days we had the best conversations with staff members of the campsite. They regularly drove by in electric carts. We were greeted cheerfully, we knew their names were Luuk, Gerard or Daan and little wishes were granted. So I forgot my yoga mat and within half a day I had one in our house. Every morning we received a newspaper, accompanied by a cheerful 'Good morning!'. In such a case I don't manage to be just a 'guest' anymore. Immediately my professional bias pop up as well. How is this arranged? What processes and agreements are made with the staff? I could not control my curiosity and asked Daan. He immediately explained their concept. How they, together with all the staff, colour the last page of the brochure. The page you can't describe, but you have to experience.

How wow is that? Not just thinking about it, but realizing it in the middle of the high season. With processes, agreements and above all: in concrete behaviour. They have me wrapped up as a customer. Spoiled with a very nice holiday customer experience. Chapeau camping. Chapeau staff. We have already booked for 2021.

 

This blog was written for CustomerFirst and published on 22 September 2020

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It is a famous and beautiful book: Love in times of cholera, by Gabriel García Márquez. Now I could also write an intriguing book: Love in times of corona. Just a bit different, but with an exciting plot, some misery and a happy ending.

Now there's limited space for this column, so I'll keep it short and sweet. We were getting married. May 15, 2020 was our plan. And then this pandemic broke out. Everything changed. Do you have to get married? I couldn't throw a big party. But why did we want to get married again? Right, the essence came out. Love, our moms and kids and everything was taken care of. So we wanted to get married. Not with a flash wedding at a desk. Otherwise, we'd have opted for it. No, with a ceremony and preferably in the city hall of Utrecht. Of course, in a small company with all the other rules that go with it. We wanted a bright spot, especially in times of corona. Unfortunately we were unlucky that the municipality of Utrecht had thought that all marriages had to be either a flash wedding or a wedding with a maximum of six people. The courage dropped in my shoes. The steam came out of my ears, I even shouted 'policy snorker' somewhere. I'm sorry! (This story's really going well, wait and see.)

I wouldn't let them get rid of me. Not by policy, not by self-imposed rules. Calling, tweeting and waiting... Not my strong suit. Maybe good news came at the press conference. I'm sorry. Our fate was in the hands of the city council. And that's where we found Anita and Kitty (and probably other colleagues I don't know about). They went looking for what could be done, showed that they wanted to help. Didn't leave us out in the cold, got on with it. And arranged it! We could get married in the town hall, after it had been closed for more than two months. The old council chamber was made suitable for the 'new normal'. With a plexiglass plate for the witnesses at the signing and chairs at a distance of one and a half meters. They even arranged a live stream. So that everyone who couldn't be there could still experience it. Our ceremony was intimate, much more magical than we had hoped. The sun was shining: I suspect the city of Utrecht arranged this too. The carillonneur of the Dom played Dancing Queen for us. I still can't believe it. So it was possible. Thank you ladies from the municipality of Utrecht. You are my heroes when it comes to love in times of corona.

 

This blog was written for CustomerFirst and published on 1 July 2020

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On his head, that's pretty much the theme of the next CustomerFirst,' the new editor in chief, Nina van Klaveren, mailed me. How cool that a young woman with such talent has gotten this position. I warmly congratulate Nina on her new job! But that's not 'upside down' at all. That must be normal. You're a young woman, you have talent, a position comes up and you get it. Of course I will.

In my career, that didn't make any sense at all. I have to tell you honestly that positions passed my nose, because I was too young a woman. Didn't have enough experience. Didn't bring the right background with me.

And if I was competent. But the fact that I had an opinion and expressed it was less convenient. I didn't understand that for a long time and was even angry about it. In the end it was only good. Because I used that anger and powerlessness to develop myself. To give the activist in me a slightly more useful voice and to learn how to play the game in organisations. I am glad that there is attention for diversity. For equal opportunities. Corona or no corona, positions will be freed up and they will go to the colleague with the best papers, with the most relevant experience or the one who is going to learn a lot from it. You yourself have a role in this. I still plead for expressing your ambition. For guts and daring.

When I was team manager I once said to a colleague: "Without a bluff, life is dull". I had just learned that when someone asks about your ambition, it's useful to mention the position that is two steps (echelons) higher. That will stick. I wouldn't be Nienke Bloem if I hadn't made three steps of that. The Board of Directors seemed a good place for me. So some bluff and ambition is not strange to me. Even though I had to learn to pronounce them. Now that I have been an entrepreneur for five years, I am CEO, CCO, CFO and therefore CVA: Chief of Everything. I go forward, even in times of corona. Because being an entrepreneur is the verb entrepreneurship. Seeing opportunities, being visible, sharing value and going with that banana. Perhaps more than ever, I give you and everyone else opportunities and a dose of entrepreneurship. If, on your career ladder, you ever find yourself in a situation where you are going to be modest, remember the quote of this old rot: without a bluff, life is dull.

 

This blog was written for CustomerFirst and published on 17 June 2020

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

It started with the online reconnaissance. You can get married for free on Monday morning. By the way, did you know there's quite a queue for that? Nine months at least. When I see this waiting time I think more about the duration of an average pregnancy, but maybe these two are related. This is what they call "easy marriage. This can be on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays. On Thursdays, I think someone is free. Haha. Sorry, I'm freaking out. And this is only possible in the morning. Apparently, cheap, free and easy marriage is also something you do in the morning.

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

And you have to really feel that love for each other when you go into this process. It starts with registering your intended marriage. This is a new word for marriage. Personally, I'm very sorry about that. Marriage sounds a lot cozier, but yeah, all the fun is gone. Because you fill in everything online, it's a process. You enter your details and those of all the witnesses and hopsa: you press send. After a few days, the congregation came on the air. The two of us and all identifications had to come to the city office, to finalize our intended marriage.

Now I'm like, "Just give me a moment. So we planned a day off and together we went romantically towards the city office. There we got a number from a machine in the main hall. We were allowed to go to department C, up the escalator and turn right. We were summoned. All documents were checked again, we paid € 627 (you read it right, getting married isn't cheap) and after five minutes we were outside again. Nothing festive. No congratulations yet. Just a procedure. Is it just me, or is this a missed opportunity? May 15th, they can make it up to you.

 

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

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Emotions you really need to recognize when interacting with customers and employees. For all in 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.

 

Nienke Bloem CCXP CSP is an expert in Customer Experience, both as Keynote Speaker, teacher of the 2 day CX Masterclass to prepare you for the CCXP exam and she is co-founder of The Customer Experience Game. Do you want to read her blogs or learn more about her? Visit her website or subscribe to her monthly CX Greetz.

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"Improving the customer experience, that's what we're doing." I'm talking to a CX colleague at a government agency. At a big brown paper, she explains to me what I see on this. A beautiful customer journey, full of ups and downs in emotions and lots and lots of post-its. Unfortunately not of very good quality, because there are also many 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 with all your customer travel sessions, workshops, improvement sessions and whatnot more. But I've also sometimes wondered how others see me and my CX colleagues. Whether we have a customer journey manager, service designer or customer experience expert as a job title.

Let's step into the shoes of our colleagues. What will they see and what will they think? Could it be like, "Hey, there she goes again. Always busy with those brown papers and all kinds of coloured self-adhesive little papers. Where's that post-it ninja going now? And what happens to that brown paper? Does she take it off the wall and something happens to it? Or will this customer journey soon be hanging on the wall like beautiful office art and will it be a reminder of a wonderful session?

Yeah, that could just be the picture. And if it is, we caused it ourselves. It's up to us to show that something's really happening to 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 when the customer notices something. I really do know that we are sometimes seen as those post-it ninjas. Like those guys with the biggest plans and the best sessions, but with too little impact. And we are responsible for that ourselves. 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 seduce leaders to participate in the contact centre. That we sometimes bring the major customer issues to the attention with brute force. That we subtly let everyone realise that we can't do things like that by having a few conversations now and then. 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-it-yourself power. We as CX professionals are responsible for our own impact. Away with office art, hello customer success. From post-it ninja to customer hero; let that be our goal.

 

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

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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 FAQ's 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 telling 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 towards 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 agenda 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 you and share your story.

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

 

>>> Nienke Bloem CCXP is an expert in Customer Experience, both as Keynote Speaker, teacher of the 2 day CX Masterclass to prepare you for the CCXP exam and she is co-founder of the customer experience game. Do you want to read her blogs or learn more about her? Visit her website or subscribe to her monthly CX Greetz. **

 

>>> Feel free to comment on this blog and share it in your community! **

 

Okay, it's the end of January when you read this column. Only I'm writing it now that we've just started the year. And traditionally, we all think of our good intentions for this new year ahead.

I wouldn't be a CX expert if I didn't link those good intentions to customers. That's why I'm giving you a nice overview of 20 Good Customer Intentions. Hopefully, in your organization they are perfectly normal already. Let's check that out.

  1. We don't use small print for things we can't really explain.
  2. We don't do 'no-reply e-mail addresses'. Because it's strange that we as an organization are allowed to talk to a customer, but that the customer is not allowed to say anything in return.
  3. Our surveys are clear and concise and look great.
  4. If a customer fills out a survey, we actually do something with it. We improve our service and provide feedback on what we have done.
  5. We respond to reviews left by the customer.
  6. We like our customers and they experience this in all our customer contacts.
  7. If we promise to call a customer back, then 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 experiences digital problems, we offer an alternative.
  10. We thank the customer, because he has been a customer for many years. If our new customers get a nice offer, then our valued customers get that offer too, of course.
  11. We do not hide our phone number on our website.
  12. Our management regularly works at the 'front end', in order for them to enjoy our customers too.
  13. We might send our customers a card this year. For their birthday, or just because we like to do so.
  14. We will never put a client call on hold for long, not even if we are the tax authorities.
  15. We don't use any annoying waiting music.
  16. If something goes wrong, we apologize sincerely and solve it.
  17. We never blame another organization if something goes wrong, but take the lead ourselves.
  18. Our letters are written in clear understandable language.
  19. We never ask for nines and tens for our services, but we are sincerely 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 points in this list that you don't do for customers yet? Then decide to do it differently as of today. Let's get to work. Happy 2020!

 

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

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