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CX Day Panel Preview: Building a Customer-Centric Culture

By Gabe Smith, CCXP posted 09-26-2019 12:02 PM

  

Stacy Sherman is currently Head of Customer Experience & Employee Engagement at
Schindler Elevator Corporation, where she's contributing to record-breaking NPS results,
year-over-year revenue growth, and portfolio protection.

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What is company culture? Why is it important? Who owns culture, and how does customer experience play a role? You can hear valuable answers to these questions in an upcoming panel discussion hosted by
 CXPA. I had the privilege of listening to the recording before it launches on October 1st, otherwise known as CX Day. Impressive speakers including Annette Franz, Jeannie Walters, Nienke Bloem, Scott Draeger, and my personal friend and moderator, Liliana Petrova, talk about building a customer-centric culture and ways to sustain it. The CX professionals have unique perspectives, and collectively create an inspiring recording that will appeal to mass audiences. 

A SAMPLE OF MY FAVORITE CX QUOTES FROM THE PANEL DISCUSSION & FEW COMMENTS: 

  • “EVERYONE OWNS CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE. DON’T GIVE ANYONE A PASS OR A WAY OUT.”  

    I say this all the time. The Executives to the front line and everyone in-between need to be accountable and contribute to the CX mission.

  • “START MEETINGS WITH CUSTOMER STORIES, NOT METRICS.” 

    Yes indeed! I encourage sales teams to read customer survey responses and solve customer pain points together. Also, celebrate successes too. What an excellent time for business leaders to thank individuals, especially when customers reference employees by name. Consider giving a gift card or other tokens of appreciation. The more good behaviors are recognized, the higher the likelihood that employees will do right by customers, even when their boss is not watching.

  • “CREATE AMBASSADORS IN THE ORGANIZATION.” 

    I agree wholeheartedly and am witnessing first-hand how effective it is to cultivate a customer-first culture. Placing field champions across company locations make it easier to communicate CX messages and drive employee engagement. Of course, that also requires having champions at Executive levels to drive the company direction and employee buy-in.

  • “INCLUDE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE IN THE HIRING PROCESS AND ALL JOB DESCRIPTIONS.”

    The idea is brilliant and logical, yet not standard practice at many companies.

I don’t want to give too much away about the panel discussion, so I’ll pause here. I hope by listening to the speakers and reading DoingCXRight articles that you will understand that customer excellence does NOT happen automatically. It takes a lot of focus and commitment from the top-down and bottom-up, which is why I am an advocate of Customer Experience (CXDay). I have been influencing and helping people across many countries to celebrate this year, as CX Day is a vehicle to bring people together and break down organizational silos that often exist. 

If you want creative ideas on how to improve your company culture, check out my article called, “14 Ways To Celebrate CX Day.” Even if you’re reading this after October 1st, the concepts and ideas are still applicable. In fact, I highly recommend recognizing employees who deliver customer excellence often, not just one day a year. If you need more convincing, check out Shep Hyken’s video about Zappos. He explains “the focus on culture is about people. It’s a metaphorical bus.” I like his description and stories.

Before concluding, I want to publicly thank CXPA for choosing me as an Impact Award Finalist, and for my employer who published a press release about customer experience success. Regardless of whoever gets the award on 10/1, everyone is a winner, including the incredible people I work with at Schindler. Together, we are making an impact and cultural shift, contributing to a record high NPS score in the USA and other countriesI appreciate my CX team, Marketing, HR, Sales, Executives and everyone who has made CX Day and a customer-obsessed culture a reality with me. It Takes A Village!

I’m interested in hearing your thoughts. What works at your company?


#2019
#CXDay
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