Lior Arussy

A recent Forrester Research report discusses a customer journey mapping phenomena that Strativity Group has also experienced in recent years. Many companies show interest, jump on the bandwagon and create a map detailing the complexities of their customers’ journey. Then what? According the Forrester report, in most cases, little to nothing happens next.

How is it that great intentions of customer experience professionals oftentimes dwindle to little action or impact? Is there something wrong with the customer journey mapping methodology? Was the final map not detailed enough? Did we miss something? These factors might have made a small impact, but the real reason for the little impact has to do with the intention.

When working with clients the most common reaction to a customer journey mapping workshop is “I knew it was bad, but I did not know it was that bad!” After completing over 150 customer experience transformation projects worldwide, we now tell new clients...

Watching the IMF former leader scandal unfold followed by other public figures succumbing to undispicable behavior, I was amazed. What were they thinking? Many leadership gurus have responded to this question. Pages were filled with theories about the stress and loneliness of the leader at the top of the pyramid and their need to escape. The truth however lies in a simple truth: ego.

Reaching a position and power transform ambitious leaders into proud and sometimes over confident people. They start believing their own success and assume that they are invincible. The regular rules do not apply to them. Their success and power granted them a free pass to be above the law. They trust their success to a point where they ignore simple truths.
So why am I writing about it in a section dedicated to customer experience and customer centric organizations? Because this is the same root cause that transform companies who started on a path to delight customers and ends...

Here is a quick question to ponder: “What percentage of claims from sales people do you trust?”

Is it 100% (just kidding)? 80%? 70%? 50%?

Hopefully your comfort zone is somewhere between 0% and 100%. Did I mention this was a tricky question?
Trust, like pregnancy is not subject to percentage. You’re either pregnant or not. You either trust someone 100% or you don’t trust that person at all. Similarly with sales people, you either trust their claims fully or you do not trust them at all.

If customers do not trust your sales people then it is time to reconsider their role. If the role of your sales force is to engender trust and confidence in prospects so that they are willing to purchase products and services, then why send untrustworthy individuals to sell? When we consider the fact that customers trust faceless and often anonymous individuals on Yelp and Amazon for recommendations, it’s high time to seriously reconsider who it is that we trust to serve...

So here is how the story goes. The client is asking to conduct a benchmark of their customer experience and compare it to their top 5 competitors. Alternatively we will be asked “so how does our NPS compare to others?”. “What is the First call resolution of telecommunication companies of our size located in the southern part of Vermont with customers over 50 years old?”.

Customer experience practitioners as many of their customer service or marketing counterparts are obsessed with benchmarking. And certain market research companies actually feed this obsession with expensive studies that graph your performance just few inches below your competitors from Florida and somewhat above your competition from Idaho. Now what?

Let’s be honest, when was the last time benchmarking actually mobilized your organization to act, let alone act faster? Over time I realize the truth. The request for benchmarking is not stemming from a sincere interest in creating greater value...