Cultural intervention for Customer Experience is inevitable

Introduction

We've come a long way in the last ten years. We've seen significant advances in technology and innovation. Technologies like AI, blockchain, and biometrics are making it possible to do things that were once considered science fiction. Yet despite all this progress, there is still one area where we have not seen much forward momentum: customer experience (CX) culture.

We've come a long way in the last ten years.

We’re in an age of unprecedented change. There have been countless technological advances that have changed the way we live our lives and do business. In the last ten years, we’ve seen massive developments in artificial intelligence and robotics, artificial life and virtual reality, quantum computing and blockchain—all of which will play an increasing role in our daily lives over the next decade or two. We’ve also seen an evolution in customer expectations: increasingly sophisticated products coupled with a heightened awareness about how companies make their products has given rise to increased demand for transparency from businesses when it comes to making ethical decisions about their use of technology.

And yet despite these changes, one thing remains constant: people are still human beings who want to be treated as such by brands they interact with every day via digital channels such as email marketing campaigns or social media platforms like Facebook Messenger. It may seem counterintuitive but businesses must take into account how people feel about being treated like “just another number” or another anonymous follower when designing their CX strategies; if not done properly then cultural interventions can backfire on companies big time!

Will all innovation be tech related? Nope.

Innovation doesn't always have to come from technology. It can also come from new business models, different ways of doing things and innovative use of existing technologies.

Cultural intervention for CX is inevitable, but it's not going to happen overnight. In the meantime, companies need to embrace innovation wherever it comes from: within their organization or outside of it; internally or externally generated; customer-centric or supplier-driven—the list goes on.

We need to work harder at working together.

In the world of customer experience, we're all working toward the same goal: improving our customers' experiences. But in order to do this effectively, we need to be willing and able to collaborate across functions. In other words, if you're at a company that has more than one department working on customer experience issues—like marketing and sales or product development and support—you'll need to work together to share information so you can build better solutions for your customers.

You might think that it's easier said than done but there are several things you can do as an individual employee or manager that will help facilitate this type of collaboration: be willing and open-minded when discussing new ideas with others in your organization. When someone comes up with a new idea on how they'd like their team or group (or even the entire company) to do things differently, don't shoot them down right away just because it isn't something that's been tried before or because it might take some effort on everyone's part. Encourage everyone who has ideas about improving customer experience within your organization by acting upon them; if someone else offers an idea but doesn't actually go through with executing it themselves (e g bringing up their concerns when meeting), encourage them! The best way I've found is by asking questions like "how would this help?" Or "what should we try first?".

The rise of the conscious consumer is just getting started.

The conscious consumer is not a new phenomenon, but it has become increasingly visible in recent years. Consumers have grown more aware of the impact their purchases have on people and the planet. They are more likely to buy from companies that have a positive impact on the world, and they are more likely to share their experiences with others. They are also more likely to post negative reviews about companies that have a negative impact on the world.

Consumers expect brands that they purchase from or work with to be transparent about what they do for their customers and how they treat their employees. The rise of social media has made it easier for consumers to spread information quickly; this means that bad news travels fast as well as good news—which means that brands must be careful when interacting with customers online if they don’t want an angry mob forming outside their headquarters! And this also needs to be reflected in the culture.

A good product isn't enough anymore.

If you're not already making a concerted effort to improve customer experience (CX), you need to start thinking about it. The good news is that there are many companies and businesses working hard to create CX-focused products and services—and your competitors may already be well ahead of you.

The bad news is that the current business climate means that if you don't make an effort now, your competitors will soon overtake your product or service in terms of quality and value delivered. No longer can we rely solely on a good product or service; instead, we must create experiences tailored specifically to each individual customer's needs.

Viewed through the Customer Experience lens, any company must be considered a culture unto itself.

What you see through the customer experience lens is a company's culture. This is not just about the customer; it's also about your own organization.

Customer experience (CX) affects every facet of what you do as an organization, from how your employees approach their work and interact with each other to how they interact with customers and potential clients. Your company's culture is shaped by its leaders and employees, but it can be changed to improve CX.

For example, at my own company we've adopted "customer-centric" as our mantra—which means that everyone from my CEO down has made it clear that our main priority should be listening to customer needs and providing them with products and services designed around those needs rather than around our own internal processes or ideas about what customers want. As part of this effort we've conducted surveys asking for feedback on things like product development priorities; we've held roundtable discussions where people could talk openly about what they liked or didn't like working here; we've even redesigned office space so that teams are no longer separated by function but instead work together in open spaces where team members can easily collaborate on projects related directly to improving customer satisfaction scores (our primary measure of CX).

The culture of a company shapes the way it behaves and how it delivers customer experiences.

Culture is the way a company behaves, and that behavior tends to affect every aspect of its existence. It’s not just about how people interact with each other, or with customers, or even with stakeholders—it’s everything.

Companies have long been aware of this fact; they know that a good culture can help them attract and retain good talent, but many of them don't understand how culture plays into delivering strong customer experiences (CX).

We all know that. So why is it still so hard to change? And what’s the path to change?

We all know that. So why is it still so hard to change? And what’s the path to change?

First, there are some fundamental aspects of our human nature that make cultural intervention challenging. We tend to focus on the negative and remember negative experiences more than positive ones. Second, we naturally seek consistency over time – but usually only when it supports our existing beliefs or behaviors. Third, while we can be very patient with incremental improvements in products and services (which are often designed by engineers), these improvements don’t move us toward an idealized future state fast enough for many people who want things done yesterday – or at least today!

These three factors are interrelated: they create a feedback loop reinforcing each other in a self-reinforcing cycle that makes change difficult if not impossible without deliberate effort.

Good leaders know this, and seek to influence their cultures. But seeking and achieving are two different things.

Good leaders know this, and seek to influence their cultures. But seeking and achieving are two different things.

You need a way to measure the change in your culture. And you need an effective mechanism for keeping your eyes on the prize so that you don't lose momentum or allow outside forces to shift your focus away from where it needs to be: the people in your company who can be influenced by what you do (and don't do).

If you look at all the things we've covered here so far - from having a vision statement written down, to creating a mission statement as well (if yours doesn't already exist), and developing strategies for moving forward with those goals in mind - all of these will help create more positive feelings among employees about their work environment.

Like nature herself, corporate cultures are resistant to quick change and often require active intervention, just as complex ecosystems have anthropogenic climate modifications made on their behalf.

Like nature herself, corporate cultures are resistant to quick change and often require active intervention, just as complex ecosystems have anthropogenic climate modifications made on their behalf.

For example, it may be necessary to alter the current culture of your company so that employees display greater empathy towards customers. Or perhaps even a shift in core values is needed: replacing an internal mantra of "profit over people" with something more inclusive like "people before profits."

Creating an environment in which a CX transformation can take place requires changing company culture in multiple ways—some of them obvious, some of them less so but no less important.

Culture is a powerful thing, and it's not just about the way people behave. Just as important is the way they think. Culture can be hard to change because it's so ingrained, but if you want to create an environment in which a CX transformation can take place, you need to change both the behavior and thinking of those who will be instrumental in bringing it about.

One of my favorite books on this subject is The Culture Code by Daniel Coyle, which discusses how successful sports teams have changed their culture over time by focusing on three core values: “be precise” (be precise with your actions), “no mistakes allowed” (make no mistakes), and “create positive pressure” (encourage each other).

At every level of the organization, people need to understand why CX matters to them personally, because it will be easier for management to motivate and mobilize staff if everyone in the organization understands how their day-to-day actions affect their customers.

Cultural interventions are not just for frontline staff. At every level of the organization, people need to understand why CX matters to them personally, because it will be easier for management to motivate and mobilize staff if everyone in the organization understands how their day-to-day actions affect their customers.

A different kind of organizational culture is needed for a company that wishes to create an environment where CX can flourish. As part of this cultural shift, managers need to actively promote a focus on CX across all internal functions—sales, marketing, operations and beyond—and encourage employees at every level of the organization to view themselves as customer advocates rather than simply as transactional service providers or enforcers of rules and regulations.

“Culture eats strategy for breakfast” has become so overused as a business aphorism that it risks losing its meaning.

The phrase “Culture eats strategy for breakfast” has become so overused as a business aphorism that it risks losing its meaning.

But culture is more important than strategy, because it's more fundamental to how well an organization does what it does. Culture represents the values, beliefs and practices of an organization. It's how people do things—from how they interact with each other to how they treat customers. And culture can be difficult to change because it tends to arise organically from shared experiences within a group over time.

A cultural shift is required to make customer experience a priority throughout the organization

The term "culture" is often tossed around in business circles as a buzzword, but it's actually one of the most critical components of great customer experience. Culture refers to the way people behave within an organization and how they communicate with each other. It also encompasses how they think about and respond to the world around them. In short: culture is everything your customers see and experience when they interact with your brand, so it's essential that you understand how it affects CX.

Culture can be hard to define because it encompasses so many different facets—but that doesn't mean you should ignore its impact on CX or wait for someone else's definition before assessing yours firsthand.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it’s clear that the biggest obstacle to a company’s CX transformation is not technology or even lack of investment—it’s culture. It will take time and active intervention on behalf of executives and managers at all levels in order to shift the way employees think about customer experience as a priority above all else.