THE Frustration of the Customer Experience Leader

Lynn Hunsaker

Customer Experience as a Priority

Lior, I agree with your sentiments - there's not much logic in being a cheapskate about customer experience management. (Additionally, tons of free information (e.g. blogs, webcasts) has been generously provided by consultants - why not have compassion and common courtesy during this recession and be willing to pay them for adding value to your cause!) Paradox abounds when it comes to customer-centricity ... for example, Forrester's 2010 State of Customer Experience survey of 141 executives from large North American firms reports that 90% say customer experience is very important or critical to their firm's strategy in 2010, yet the number one obstacle in 2010 is lack of customer experience strategy; in 2009 it was lack of budget, which has dropped significantly as an issue (according to this study).

And Strativity's 2009 Customer Experience Management Benchmark Study of 869 corporate executives worldwide says that companies which increased their customer experience investment in the past 3 years, compared to those that have decreased their investment, report satisfaction scores that are 60% higher, and are 30% more likely to have attrition rates of 5% or less.

Customer lifetime value is not a new concept, but it's overlooked as a quantification tool for the customer experience funding business case, and as a guide for executives' strategic decisions and front-line employees' tactical decisions, on an ongoing basis. Customer value quotient is another calculation that helps strategically align the organization to customers.

Perhaps managers assume they can rely on their own perceptions as customers to guide them, but it seems more likely that selfish and/or short-term preoccupations preclude a systems viewpoint and holistic decision-making. For example, Peppers & Rogers Group's 2009 Customer Experience Maturity Monitor reports that only 42% of companies agree that they can do what is right despite the pressure to make current-period financial numbers. For managers, I ask, who really funds your company ... stockholders or customers?

Customer experience strategy should approach customer experience as a life-long journey:
- Defining customer relationship management as a two-way street that requires mutual respect and rewards (between company and customers);
- Replacing arrogance with a never-ending curiosity about customers' viewpoints, and
- Embracing customer experience competencies as a smarter way to make customer experience an enduring competitive advantage.

Lynn Hunsaker helps companies improve customer data ROI, customer-centricity and customer experience innovation. She is author of 3 handbooks. See ClearAction.biz, Twitter.com/ClearAction, Facebook.dj/customerexperience.