There may be no other step in the CX journey that causes more angst among CX champions than having “the talk.” You know, the one where you go to your CEO and tell them about this great idea you have that’ll solve everything if you can just have a little seed money and a couple of co-conspirators.
So how exactly did that conversation go?
Well, if not as you planned – or “the talk” is still to come – here are a few tips from Chuck Feltz, a four-time CEO and current President of Global Products for Korn Ferry. Feltz was an early adapter of customer experience while leading a division of Deluxe Corporation so his perspective is grounded in an appreciation of what CX can achieve.
“I absolutely believe that the right customer experience can be a key accelerant to growth,” Feltz explained. “But as a business leader, I am always balancing a variety of internal initiatives – each of which has merit in someone’s mind -- with our commitment to stockholders. So I always ask five questions of the CX folks:
- Why do you want to do it and how does it drive competitive advantage?
- Do you know at what touch points in particular we can create distinction that will translate into more value?
- How will you measure the return on investment that you’re asking for?
- Why do you believe this is the right use of capital?
- How will we govern and scale the effort?
The corollary to those questions lay in tracking the metrics that matter to a CEO. On this score, Feltz has a list of five for consideration:
- Reduced employee attrition
- Increased customers or contract retention
- New market share attributable to the effort
- Share increases attributable to the effort
- Lower cost of customer acquisition
At Conga, we would add a 6th related to emotional alignment with customers. We invite you to watch our ‘10-minute Takeaway’ for the CXPA on the role of emotions in CX design. In it, we discuss new metrics emerging in the CX field that address customers’ emotional fulfillment.
No matter where your company lands on metrics, be sure to use to right measurement tool at the right time: leading indicators early on (including ad hoc comments from customers and associates), followed by lagging indicators (year-over-year and other performance trends) when the timing dictates further along the CX Journey.
As you prepare for “the talk”, you also may find our free CX Design Map of help as it details the process steps across the 5 key phases of design -- Planning, Customer Immersion, Ideation, Prototyping, and Launch -- just in case the CEO give you the thumbs up!
Our blog will return in January – Merry Christmas to all!
#CommunicatingROI #IndustryBestPractices #Prioritization #ROI #ChangeManagement #FinancialMetrics #BestPractices #AssociateEngagement #ProjectManagement #10MinuteTakeaway #ProcessManagement