What motivates your customer experience team?

It’s our responsibility as leaders to ensure we’re engaging our team on a personal and professional level. Part of our core experience design principles is ‘Know Me’. Just as we strive to know our customers, so too should we aim to know our team. What motivates them? What challenges them? What’s their ‘Why’? Engage with them, build genuine relationships, and gain insights that can guide your leadership decisions. Remember, people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.

In my experience it's about finding joy in seeing other people happy and successful. I remember a company who couldn't attract the right talent for CX roles because the company didn't have a hot brand so they thought out of the box and started hiring bartenders instead of tech people. It worked a charm as bartenders naturally love seeing people succeed and knows how to connect on a human level. Great hack.

What do CX professionals need to be successful? This question more than anything else will help uncover the collection of needs that will help them feel valued, empowered and capable of delivering a better customer experience for the organization. I think ChatGPT is confusing customer experience with customer service here (again) and we must resist the urge to consider the two as synonymous - they're not. Customer service is a component of customer experience, but is not the whole enchilada. Each of these professionals have different needs.

That's exactly falls under VoE aka Voice of Employees. Good information, but If I would add, to put a focus on "CX ROI", "Executives buy-in", and to get everyone top-down bottom-up in this field engaged and involved.

a customer experience team based on common practices and principles. Motivations can vary from one team to another and may evolve over time. Here are some factors that often motivate customer experience teams. Customer Satisfaction and Impact: Many individuals working in customer experience are motivated by the opportunity to directly impact customer satisfaction and enhance the overall customer journey. Seeing positive feedback and knowing they've made a difference can be highly rewarding

This one’s all about ‘Make It Easy For Me’. As leaders, it’s our duty to clear the path for our team, help them see the vision, and align their personal goals with our overall mission. Let's create an environment where it’s easy for our team to see how their work contributes to the big picture. Transparency is vital here. Make the connections visible, and the journey becomes a shared adventure.

In my experience, the challenge lies in the fact that companies are usually structured vertically by function or capability, while CX operates horizontally across these functions. Bridging this gap within the organization is critical. Team members who may only be involved in specific parts of the customer journey need to understand the macro-level journey to see the bigger picture and influence the overall customer experience. It’s about breaking down silos and promoting a holistic view of CX across the organization.

En mi opinión, para motivar a tu equipo es muy importante alinear los objetivos con la visión y las metas de tu organización. Es clave que el equipo entienda cómo su trabajo contribuye al éxito del negocio, sin perder de vista el viaje del cliente. Utilizar herramientas como SMART y OKR para establecer objetivos específicos y medibles asegura que todos estén en sintonía con la estrategia de experiencia del cliente. Todo este trabajo previo alinea y motiva al equipo con el objetivo de mejorar la efectividad a la hora de ofrecer un servicio excepcional, que fortalezca la satisfacción y la lealtad del cliente.

A goal alignment within a company is always key. Focussing on the CX Team, the whole team needs to understand the vision, value, and strategy of the company before creating their own. If the can get involved in the creation of the CX strategy they can additionally prepare suggestions for their goals. The idea is to co-create goals with the team so that they feel involved from the beginning.

Before delving into the specifics of organizational goals and vision, it's crucial to establish a positive and transparent environment. Consider involving top management in discussions, fostering transparency, and promoting a collaborative atmosphere. Given that CX often involves cross-functional collaboration, bridging the gap between teams is critical. Instead of relying solely on presentations, the process of making the team understand their role in achieving goals should be approached smoothly. Continuous communication, feedback loops, and open dialogue can play a pivotal role in ensuring that the team not only comprehends but also embraces the overarching vision and purpose

This isn’t just about granting authority, it's about cultivating a sense of ownership and pride in what they do. Give your team the tools and the trust they need to make decisions. Recognize their expertise and encourage them to take the lead. That's where integrity comes into play. When you trust them, they trust you. It's a beautiful cycle of empowerment.

if you hire somebody it means that you trust him/her, therefore why are companies defining rules and policies for everything in a very detailed way? It is clear that so rules are required, important is to find a good balance between "rules" and "freedom".

In my experience, I’ve seen great results from my team when I ‘close the feedback loop’ with them. If my support agents have made direct impact on product decisions or outcomes with the customer insights they’ve brought forward, that has huge impact on their morale. It also motivates them to continue to provide meaningful impact!

Bajo mi experiencia, para motivar a tu equipo debes empoderar sus acciones y decisiones. La autonomía y flexibilidad en su trabajo, junto con el apoyo y la confianza de sus líderes y compañeros, son fundamentales. El fomentar una cultura de responsabilidad e innovación comienza con el hecho de otorgar al equipo la libertad de tomar decisiones. Utilizar herramientas puede ayudar a definir roles, responsabilidades y autoridad, facilitando una mayor autonomía. Asimismo, proporcionar retroalimentación constante y, por supuesto también, reconocimiento es básico para que se produzca la motivación dentro de unos parámetros que persigan como objetivo último mejorar la experiencia de cliente.

Trusting that your teammates will do what’s right in any situation can be a very difficult mindset to achieve as a leader. But it is one that will differentiate our company from all other ones in the industry. It’s not just about granting powers to our team, it’s about creating trust and sense of ownership and pride in what they do. This does not happen overnight, it takes time, patience, practice and most of all a culture of ‘US’.

In our company, we take various actions to train and get a better understanding of CX: •Immersions in large innovation ecosystems and exchanges of best practices • Immersions in CX excellence locations and exchanges with leaders who work in these locations • Internal events bringing global CX leaders to speak • Developing communication skills by having the team represent us at events, give presentations, and participate in committees with senior leadership • Experiencing the operation and learning best practices from other leaders

Invest in them. Develop training programs, provide learning resources, and create opportunities for growth. Show them that you believe in their potential and want to see them succeed. Loyalty is born from this mutual investment and trust.

Investing in your customer experience team's skills and competencies is crucial for motivation and success. Assess their abilities and identify areas for improvement using tools like SWOT analysis or skill gap analysis. Tailor training and development programs to cater to their learning styles and preferences, leveraging tools like the 70-20-10 model. Empower them with the knowledge and tools to adapt to changing customer needs and market trends. By enhancing their skills and offering growth opportunities, you demonstrate your commitment to their professional development, fostering a motivated and engaged team that delivers exceptional customer experiences.

Continuous learning and development of the teams is a key success factor. It is crucial not only for employees' motivation but also for a transformation toward getting a bit better every day. Without a development opportunity, employees leave companies.

Skillsets taught today must include not only the tangible task-related skills (this should be a given), but also those related to proper communication, emotional intelligence, how to understand and communicate to different personality types we all encounter, and broader growth skills as a person. Today's employees want to know their whole-self is being enhanced.

We're all human beings, wired for connection and emotional engagement. Recognize their efforts, listen to their concerns, celebrate their successes, and empathize with their challenges. This is how we ‘Surprise Me’. Cultivate an environment that not only nurtures professional growth but also fosters emotional well-being.

giving employees time to be with the customers, and to understand them is a key success factor. It's always extremely interesting to discuss with employees after they have an interaction with customers. Some stories are really engaging and interesting. one tip: give enough space to employees to share the positive and negative stories.

Any person working in CX should spend the majority of their time with customers and analysing buyers. Interviews, surveys, roundtable discussions, interviews, focus groups, and meetings are valuable learning nd enagement opportunities - and if done right, they can be good promotional opportunities for all involved.

Best practise from my time working in a big B2B company: Visit your customers! Tag along a sales person or a service manager for a day. Experience the real customer interactions - observe the interactions; what happens in them, what kind of interactions take place, what is customer expressing and feeling, how are customers concerns and needs understood and handled. Real-life experience is a much more powerful tool to emphatise with the customer than relying on ppts and journey maps only.

A great way to engage your CX teams emotionally is with a triple bottom line. Make it easy for your teams to be part of something greater than themselves.

Celebrations aren't just for big wins. Every step in the right direction deserves recognition. Make it a point to highlight these moments, both big and small. This not only motivates your team but also creates a culture of appreciation and gratitude.

Celebrating your team's wins is crucial for keeping them motivated. It's not just about saying 'well done', but making them feel valued and part of a winning team. Regular celebrations, rewards, and sharing their success stories help build a positive atmosphere where everyone aims to do their best. Tools like KPI dashboards or balanced scorecards can help keep track of achievements, while employee appreciation letters or 'employee of the month' awards are great ways to recognize and reward hard work and good results. This way, you're not just telling your team they're doing well, you're showing them.

The rewards should be human-centric, not robotic. Dashboards are great - but they can easily turn into numbers on a spreadsheet. People want to be bigger than numbers on a spreadsheet. They want their rewards to have personal meaning.

Celebrating and motivating your customer experience team is crucial for fostering a productive and engaged workforce. Luckily there are lots of ways you can do that, including: 👉 Personalised or peer recognition through awards or commendations. 👉 Team-building activities or even extra days off, away from the workplace if that works. 👉 Professional development- letting them have a say in what that is. 👉 Flexible rewards - letting the team decide how they want to be rewarded. Does anyone else have anything to add to this list?

Agreed. Acknowledgement of desirable behaviours makes them scalable. Employees that feel heard and valued will do the same for your customers!!

Anticipatory Customer Service is a leap towards proactively addressing customer needs before they voice them. Utilizing predictive analytics and AI, you can forecast and address issues before they surface, shifting from a reactive to a proactive service model. This proactive approach not only prevents problems but enhances the customer journey, making interactions with your brand smooth and enjoyable. It also empowers the CX team, reducing the stress of constant firefighting and enabling them to focus on enhancing service quality. This forward-thinking strategy could redefine customer satisfaction and set a new benchmark in the CX domain.

Widen their role. It isn't just "deliver the CX" but "improve the CX" as well. Engage them in learning and improvement efforts across product, marketing and operations teams. You can also create an improvement 'suggestion box' where each suggestion is assigned an owner and the owner has to answer the suggestion publicly with either how it is being done or why it isn't being done. Break down the barriers between people that design the product and experience and those that deliver it. Get the designers into the field as well. Each group becomes accountable to the other and, in doing so, feel like one team, not two.

Make then feel part The CX role is often called someone who presents failures in other areas and does not provide a solution. The role of the CX leader is to make use of their time in most business decisions. The ideal is not to make the experience responsible only for this area, but for the entire organization. One opportunity is to obtain the success of experience indicators (such as NPS) for the entire company. Acting in this collaborative way will prevent a company from building silos within itself, making communication difficult and hindering the achievement of goals as a whole.

Our customer experience team is fueled by the desire to make a meaningful difference in the lives of our customers. Each interaction is an opportunity to not only meet their needs but to exceed their expectations and leave a lasting impression. The satisfaction of knowing that we've helped someone, solved a problem, or brightened their day is what drives us forward. Additionally, the collaborative spirit within our team and the support we provide to one another fosters a sense of unity and purpose. Ultimately, it's the joy of delivering exceptional service and building genuine connections that motivates us to strive for excellence each and every day.

I have found that it’s important to remind them how crucial their roles truly are in the organization. They are the face of the organization and truly make a difference for our customers. Additionally, their work contributes to the strategic direction and success.