CXPA Member Blog

CXPA Member Blog

This Blog features thought leadership from CXPA members and staff. All contributions are welcome!  Authors and commenters are reminded to adhere to CXPA's community expectations. Solicitation and direct selling are strictly prohibited, and CXPA has the sole discretion to remove any post for any reason.  For assistance with the CXPA blog, contact gabe@cxpa.org.

By posting to the CXPA blog, you contribute to advancing CX knowledge.  CXPA may share your post with the CX community through our online newsletter, social media, and other content channels.

Create a New Blog Post

On the Move--Celebrating Your Career Successes in February 2021

By Gabe Smith,CCXP posted 17 hours ago
Be the first person to recommend this.
You may have heard that CXPA has a new mission and vision , and that we aim to be a professional association that supports and celebrates the professional growth of its members throughout their entire careers. In support of this mission, we’re introducing “On the Move,” a new initiative to shine the spotlight on CXPA members who are starting in new CX positions. This can include promotions, roles in new organizations, or other new career ventures as CX  practitioners, providers, or consultants. "Celebrating and supporting CX professionals at every career stage are two of our favorite things at CXPA,” says  Greg Melia, CAE  and CEO of the association.  “A ...

Introducing the CXPA Latin America Network

By Gabe Smith,CCXP posted 19 hours ago
Be the first person to recommend this.
CXPA is proud to announce the founding of the CXPA Latin America Network , an ambitious new multi-national approach to serving the growing interest in CX among 33 Latin American countries. CXPA member Enrique Saenz , Founder & CEO of Percepciones Centroamerica, S.A, a provider of CX technology tools and program development services, brought the idea forward to CXPA.  “Customer Experience Management Strategy Practice and Knowledge is fundamental for Latin American companies of all sizes to be able to compete in the global market and catch up with US and European companies that are leading in this area,” he says. “We are proud to be joining the best and ...

CXPA Need to Know for the Week of March 8th

By Joy Wedge posted 20 hours ago
Be the first person to recommend this.
CXPA Seeks Your Help Planning 2021 Virtual Events CXPA is prioritizing virtual programs this year to better allow participation by all and to focus on achieving our   2021 goals . Please use this survey to share your interests with CXPA Networks, partners, sponsors, Board and staff plan events. P lease complete the survey below to let us know the format and topics you would like to see. Here is a link to the survey: CXPA 2021 Virtual Program Preferences Survey .  Now Open: CX Innovation Awards  The annual CXPA Innovation Award is presented by CXPA to an organization that ...

Your KPIs aren't as important as your Customers' actual experiences

By Nicholas Zeisler,CCXP posted 22 hours ago
Be the first person to recommend this.
Let me be scandalous for a second here (okay, it’s not nearly as scandalous as I sometimes get in real life, but bear with me): Stop looking at your scores.  Just stop. I can hear old bosses (who hired me for my analytical acumen) and even former professors (who instilled that acumen in me in the first place) cringing.  I have former students and cadets who may think me a hypocrite.  This may seem to run counter to all the articles I’ve written and videos I’ve produced about the importance of quantifying your CX initiatives.  How, after all, are we supposed to communicate to our organizations how important Customer Experience is if we can’t (as you’ve ...

My CCXP Journey

By Chaman Maharaj,CCXP posted 2 days ago
1 person recommends this.
(image credit : CXPA approved) Customer Experience is an exciting and disruptive profession that is bashing down the very same barriers that the corporate world has self-embedded into its fabric for decades. Demolishing siloes, creating a customer-centric culture, and managing that transformation from old to new - with renewed, microscopic focus on the customer and employee attitudes and behaviors necessary to drive bottom-line results, there is just so much to learn!   Track and trace priority improvements using a delicate balance of flawless metrics and measurements, plug-in live and up-to-date dashboarding mechanisms and you are only just getting ...

Don't let your most valuable resource go

By Nicholas Zeisler,CCXP posted 3 days ago
Be the first person to recommend this.
I’m blessed to have been recruited to work in the field of Customer Experience.  I came to the practice of CX via Process Engineering (Lean Six Sigma, or LSS).  Using PE to better our CX is an incredibly fulfilling use of a legacy approach to improving what we do.  Years ago, before I was involved in CX, I saw how, sadly, PE was often used to ‘find efficiencies’, which usually meant looking for redundancies and people to fire.  Back in the day, I mortified my then-boss when I posted the following article to my professional network about why that’s a bad idea.  Somehow it didn’t get me in trouble (too much).  I recently re-read it, gave it some buffing, and present ...

CXPA Need to Know for the Week of March 1st

By Joy Wedge posted 7 days ago
Be the first person to recommend this.
Are you passionate about CX in Higher Ed? The CXPA launched a community initiative to develop a list of all institutions of higher learning that offer Customer Experience programs, courses, certificates, or degrees. The first phase in this project relies on the knowledge of the community, so please take a few minutes to complete a survey entry for each college, university or higher education institution that has a "Customer Experience" offering of which you are aware.  Complete Survey Here Now Open: CX Innovation Awards  The annual CXPA Innovation Award is presented by CXPA ...

Don't tell me you love me

By Nicholas Zeisler,CCXP posted 7 days ago
Be the first person to recommend this.
A few years back I was at lunch with a mentor and there was something we needed or wanted that we had to ask for.  The waiter replied somewhat along the lines of:  “Well, we’re not supposed to do that, but I’ll go ahead and do that for you.” We thanked him, but after he walked away, my mentor turned to me and surprisingly said, “what poor form for him to say that.”  When I asked what he meant—after all, I was glad he’d singled us out for special attention—he explained, “so what, now we’re in his debt?  Like he’s done us a favor?” Over the years since, I often go back to that exchange and consider how that situation demonstrated a Customer ...

Bem-vindo à CXPA: Growing CX in Brazil with Amigos do CX

By Gabe Smith,CCXP posted 7 days ago
Be the first person to recommend this.
Building on previously announced partnerships to grow the CX discipline in Asia-Pacific, CXPA is proud to announce a 2021 collaboration with Amigos do CX. Based in Sao Paolo, Brazil and led by Bruno Guimarães , a CXPA member and CX practitioner, Amigos do CX is a non-profit aimed at advancing sound CX practices in Brazil. Guimarães will lead CXPA’s Brazil Network, which will serve as a community for the growing field of CX practitioners in the region. “I'm very proud and excited to lead the CXPA Brazil network . Brazil is a CX hotspot with great growth potential and opportunities,” says Guimarães.  “Having CXPA officially in Brazil will be a game-changer. ...

Is Social Responsibility a Part of Your CX Strategy?

By Bob Azman,CCXP posted 8 days ago
Be the first person to recommend this.
I teach a global operations strategy graduate course at the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management.  Each semester I set aside one of our sessions to discuss corporate social responsibility within organizations especially as they pursue globalization of their products and services.  The lively discussion among students usually centers on which comes first, corporate profits or social responsibility?  This semester’s discussion prompted me to question if as professionals, we are advocating for social responsibility and incorporating it into our CX strategic design.  The definition of corporate social responsibility can vary depending on the organization, ...

Inclusive CX: Connect Direct Improves CX for Deaf Customers

By Gabe Smith,CCXP posted 8 days ago
Be the first person to recommend this.
For the more than two million deaf individuals living in the United States alone, a great customer experience is hard to come by. As VP of Strategy and Development for Communication Service for the Deaf (CSD) and its Connect Direct business line, Craig Radford aims to change that, one service interaction at a time. “Our vision is to create a world in which deaf people and hard of hearing people who use sign language have full and equivalent experiences as hearing people,” he says.  In the early 2000s, federal funding led to the creation of Video Relay Services (VRS), which allowed deaf individuals to utilize an interpreter to make phone calls to businesses. ...

Chesterton and his gate

By Nicholas Zeisler,CCXP posted 10 days ago
Be the first person to recommend this.
One of my favorite Process Engineering tools is the Five Whys.  The basic principle is to consider a problem or imperfection, ask why it’s the way it is, and then ask why that explanation is so.  We keep digging (as the title suggests, five times, but your mileage may vary) until we’ve uncovered the true root cause of an issue.  The idea here is to work toward better understanding what’s behind a problem rather than simply fixing the facial, obvious symptoms.  This aids in efficiency as we’re less prone to waste our time simply swatting at proverbial flies but rather identifying an underlying failure, fixing it, and thereby avoiding further deficiencies. ...

8 Customer Experience Metric Silos Mask Momentum

By Lynn Hunsaker,CCXP posted 12 days ago
1 person recommends this.
Metrics selection can be the most pivotal decision you make in your customer experience management strategy. That’s because what gets measured gets managed. There’s a science to it. The trick to successful metrics selection is to connect the dots between cause-and-effect. That’s why customer experience metric silos mask momentum as either an understatement or an overstatement of reality. Team Metrics:  Continuity of performance measurement from the organization level to the team level, and to individuals is vital to “moving the needle”. When you think about it, team performance is the summation and synergy of the team members’ achievements. The same is true ...

Member Benefit Spotlight: Content Creation and Distribution

By Gabe Smith,CCXP posted 14 days ago
Be the first person to recommend this.
Are you a CX professional who is interested in sharing your thought leadership with the global CX community? CXPA offers its members a variety of ways to elevate their insights on CXPA.org, through the CXPA Engine weekly newsletter or to its more than 70,000 social media followers: The CXPA Member Blog: Any member can create a blog post , so long as its content adheres to the Community Participation Guidelines . Blog posts on cxpa.org are distributed through the CXPA Engine weekly newsletter to more than 4,000 members and supporters. Insight Exchange Video Series: These 2-3 minute videos share your key insights related to a competency within the ...

CXPA Need to Know for the Week of February 22nd

By Joy Wedge posted 14 days ago
Be the first person to recommend this.
CXPA 2021 Update: Goals to Advance CX We are committed to achieving our objectives through engaging the full CXPA community in collaboration, learning, and networking.  To ensure that everyone can participate regardless of any governmental, workplace, personal health, or safety restrictions, CXPA will forgo in-person activities in 2021 and instead focus on online engagement.  Adopting a goal-focused, virtual engagement strategy allows us to involve the entire global CXPA community to achieve CXPA’s 2021 goals.  Hear a special message from 2021 CXPA Chair Barbie Fink, CCXP that shares an update about CXPA's goals for this year. Watch ...

The risk of executive escalations

By Nicholas Zeisler,CCXP posted 14 days ago
Be the first person to recommend this.
Executive escalations can be a real life-saver for an organization.  Whether it’s a high-profile Customer or just someone whose experience has gone completely off the rails, sometimes escalating dramatically can truly save the day for CX.  I recently had an experience that was saved by an executive escalation.  I happen to know a Senior Director at a service provider that had recently disrupted its service, potentially causing a serious problem for me.  He’s in CX too, and as a benefit of swimming in these waters, I was able to reach out to him directly and ask for help.  As you’d guess, my issue was handled with great effectiveness and speed. But that experience ...

Maybe you are already "​doing" CX

By Nicholas Zeisler,CCXP posted 16 days ago
Be the first person to recommend this.
“You’re soaking in it.”  Do you remember that commercial  for dishwashing soap that was supposed to be so incredibly good for your skin that the lady who’d gone in (to see Madge, remember?) for a manicure was unknowingly enjoying its benefits, thinking she was dipping her fingers into some wonderful skin tonic?  Or have you heard the concept of fish not realizing they’re wet because they’re surrounded by water? This occurred to me the other day when I was speaking with a potential client about his organization’s CX efforts.  Some folks simply don’t see the forest for the trees and others overcomplicated the idea of Customer Experience so much so ...

What culture do you envision for your organisation? Agility and Collaborative Culture is not enough.

By Jonathan Daniels,CCXP posted 20 days ago
Be the first person to recommend this.
This post originally appeared on the CX Centric Training Blog . Speaking to many business leaders especially in my part of the world, I am always keen to find out the overall culture that they set out to create. There are two specific themes that seem to be re-occurring today: 1.     Agility 2.     Collaborative Leadership In this article, I discuss both Agility and Collaborative Leadership, and argue that these two disciplines are not enough to ‘win’ in today’s competitive, fast-moving and complicated landscape. In late 2007 there was a study which said that 70 per cent of IT projects were over budget or delayed. Remember that? This ...

Nominations Open for CXPA's 2021 Innovation Award

By Gabe Smith,CCXP posted 21 days ago
Be the first person to recommend this.
CXPA is now accepting nominations for its 2021 Innovation Award! This annual award celebrates and recognizes the critical role that CX teams play in driving customer-focused innovation within their organizations. Learn more about last year's winning organization--Optus--and  nominate your organization today . ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Three years ago, Genevieve McLean was hired to provide a diagnostic for Australian telecommunications provider Optus. She was tasked to answer a key question: how could Optus improve its Net Promoter ...

CXPA Need to Know for the Week of February 15th

By Joy Wedge posted 21 days ago
Be the first person to recommend this.
CXPA 2021 Update: Goals to Advance CX We are committed to achieving our objectives through engaging the full CXPA community in collaboration, learning, and networking.  To ensure that everyone can participate regardless of any governmental, workplace, personal health, or safety restrictions, CXPA will forgo in-person activities in 2021 and instead focus on online engagement.  Adopting a goal-focused, virtual engagement strategy allows us to involve the entire global CXPA community to achieve CXPA’s 2021 goals.  Hear a special message from 2021 CXPA Chair Barbie Fink, CCXP that shares an update about CXPA's goals for this year. Watch ...