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.

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CXPA Need to Know for the Week of November 29th

By Joy Wedge posted 5 days ago
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Community Review Requested   Review period closing soon!  Our recent "Facilitating CX in Large Organizations" project seeks to provide independent insight and advice to help CEOs, CX leaders, and teams throughout the organization work better together by understanding the level of collaboration needed to deliver the desired customer experience. To ensure that this project reflects community consensus advice, each monograph in the series will be written by a content team. In addition, the Task Force will work as a whole to advise the team and help strengthen the monograph. A pre-publication draft is posted for further review and comment ...

Project Launch: Mapping the Journey of a CX Leader's First Year

By Gabe Smith CCXP posted 13 days ago
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A CX leader’s first twelve months in a new CX assignment are critical to success.  While there is much anecdotal guidance available to these leaders as they take on new roles, CXPA believes that a research-based approach is necessary to ensure independent, consensus advice that can be trusted during such a critical time. To address this need, CXPA is pleased to announce a new research initiative in conjunction with industry leaders Quadient and Heart of the Customer.   CXPA’s CEO Greg Melia, CAE spoke of the collaboration, noting, “While there’s a lot of independent advice for new CX leaders, there isn’t yet research-based consensus insight. By leveraging ...

CXPA Need to Know for the week of November 22nd

By Joy Wedge posted 13 days ago
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SAGE is Now Accepting CX Case Studies Submissions   CXPA is proud of member Stephanie Thum, CCXP for her work as series editor of a new university student-oriented customer experience business case studies. SAGE, the global academic publisher of books and journals, has issued a call for university student-oriented customer experience business case studies! You don't have to have a Ph.D. to contribute. You just need a good story and a willingness to write it down. Find the call for papers and contributor guidelines here: http://t.ly/uXKL Now Available: CCXP Exam in French We are proud to announce that ...

Excuses versus solutions

By Nicholas Zeisler CCXP posted 14 days ago
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You’ve heard this before, right?  “Due to current circumstances, we’re experiencing longer-than-usual wait times.”  Those “circumstances” can vary.  Over the past twenty months, of course, it has been Covid-19.  Sometimes it’s the holidays.  Sometimes brands stiff-arm you without even giving you the courtesy of telling you why.  There’s even a brand that I call rarely ...maybe once or twice a year...and they’ve been using the longer-than-usual wait times idiom as long as I can remember.  Whenever was it ‘usual’? Here’s the thing:  Things are tough all over. These past couple years have been hard on all of us.  No brand didn’t have ...

How Your CX Program Can Survive the Holiday Season Supply Chain Crunch

By Mark Ratekin CCXP posted 15 days ago
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The ripple effects of pandemic-driven supply disruptions have created a series of new challenges for U.S. retailers ahead of the holiday shopping season, a business period that accounted for  $755 billion in sales  in 2020. As global shipping delays and raw material shortages  have led  to bare store shelves and, in turn, consumer anxieties, the margin for error for exceeding customer expectations is tighter than ever before. A  recent Oracle consumer research study  found that 1/3rd of shoppers are worried about an inability to purchase everything on their wish lists. However, holiday retail sales are  still projected to rise  by as much as 9% and reach $1.3 ...

CXPA Member Helps Launch CX Business Case Series--And You Can Help

By Gabe Smith CCXP posted 20 days ago
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After more than 20 years as a discrete profession, Customer Experience has not achieved sufficient representation within institutions of higher learning as undergraduate or Masters's degree programs. To ensure the longevity of the profession and the business acumen of its practitioners, CXPA appointed a volunteer group in late 2020 that sought to raise awareness and engagement for CX curriculum offerings among institutions of Higher Learning. CXPA began the project to build an understanding of how CX is offered by colleges, universities, and other institutions of Higher Education. Significant information was gathered, and more than 70 institutions that are ...

CXPA Need to Know for the Week of November 15th

By Joy Wedge posted 20 days ago
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CXPA Survey: Pandemic Impact and 2022 Insight Exchange Conference   We would like to know your current and anticipated state of affairs as the world seeks to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic - particularly your recommendation in regard to the 2022 Insight Exchange Conference. Your response will help inform important planning decisions. Please complete the survey by November 12 at this link: November 2021 Pandemic Impact Survey . CXPA Impact Award Winner Spotlight: Hilal Kahraman   Hilal Kahraman, Passenger Experience Design Specialist at Istanbul Grand Airport was announced as the winner ...

CXPA Impact Award Winner Spotlight: Leandro Coelho

By Gabe Smith CCXP posted 20 days ago
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On  CX Day , CXPA celebrated the winners of its 2021 Impact Award as determined by a panel of global volunteer judges. Winners were announced in three categories--Impact on CX in an Organization, Impact on the CX Profession, and Impact on Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Outcomes related to CX. Leandro Coelho , Director, Customer Satisfaction at Telefonica Brasil is the winner of the award in the category of "Impact on CX in an Organization." You can read Leandro's thoughts on his work below--and watch his reaction to the winner announcement. Congratulations, Leandro! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ...

VoC begets VoC

By Nicholas Zeisler CCXP posted 21 days ago
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I’m always championing active use of your Voice of the Customer (VoC) insights.  After all, I say, if you’re just collecting your Customers’ insights but not doing anything with them, that’s a huge waste of resources.  Normally when I talk about that, I’m referring to the importance of having a robust and enterprise-wide Process Engineering (PE) function within your company:  A group of process experts whose job it is to take those insights and put them to use improving and updating your procedures, processes, and policies so as to better align your Customers’ experiences with your Brand Promise.  It’s the engine of your CX function; it’s what makes all that ...

CXPA Need to Know for the Week of November 8th

By Joy Wedge posted 27 days ago
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Survey: The Business Case for Empathy in CX Alida, Bodine & Co., and the CXPA would like to learn more about your perspectives and experience with customer empathy in this  survey . If you choose to take this survey you can opt in to be entered into a drawing to win a copy of  Outside In: The Power of Putting Customers at the Center of Your Business  signed by Kerry Bodine. Thank you for sharing your views about this important topic. Please take survey here . CXPA Impact Award Winner Spotlight: Steve Walker   Steve Walker, Chairman & CEO at Walker and host of the CX Leader Podcast was ...

CXPA Impact Award Winner Spotlight: Hilal Kahraman

By Gabe Smith CCXP posted 27 days ago
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On  CX Day , CXPA celebrated the winners of its 2021 Impact Award as determined by a panel of global volunteer judges. Winners were announced in three categories--Impact on CX in an Organization, Impact on the CX Profession, and Impact on Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Outcomes related to CX. Hilal Kahraman, Passenger Experience Design Specialist at Istanbul Grand Airport  was announced as the winner of the 2021 award for "Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Outcomes Related to CX." You can read Hilal's thoughts on her work below--and watch her reaction to the winner announcement. Congratulations, Hilal! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ...

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

By Jennifer Baker posted 27 days ago
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Want us to celebrate your career accomplishment? We want to hear from you--just fill out this  form . Here are some CX pros who were on the move in October: Kevin Babb, CCXP , Sr. Director, Call Center at Alzheimer’s Association Serena Riley, CCXP , VP, Experience Management at SkySpecs Lewis Taylor , VP, CX Services at Cisco Miles Thomas , Head of Customer Support at Pento Ann Gougeb as , CCXP , Customer Experience Research, CCXP at Heart of Customer

Are we challenging CX?

By Nicholas Zeisler CCXP posted 28 days ago
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One of the roles we, as CX professionals, play, is that of change agents.  I realize that’s a term people toss out there when they want to seem important or progressive in business, but when you think about it, one of the core jobs we have is to challenge people to take a different perspective; that of the Customer. In fact, a Process Engineer who used to work for me would say all the time that we need to ‘take off our corporate hat and put on our Customer hat.’  It was a great metaphor, and we even had hats made up for the entire CX team that read “Customer”, one of which I still have on my desk at home. Our role as advocates for the Customer ...

Peer Advice for Being a Better CX Catalyst

By Greg Melia CAE posted 10-28-2021
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CX professionals work as catalysts across their organization to drive better business results. But how exactly does that work? How do CX professionals build the level of collaboration needed to deliver the desired customer experience AND better business results?  A group of CXPA volunteers led by Michelle Spaul of Delta Swan Limited is working diligently to tackle this enormously large issue by developing a series of consensus-driven monographs. The series will conquer this task through separate deep dives into a variety of functional areas, investigating the structure, terminology, metrics, and typical business interests of each to develop and deepen ...

CXPA Impact Award Winner Spotlight: Steve Walker

By Gabe Smith CCXP posted 10-28-2021
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On CX Day , CXPA celebrated the winners of its 2021 Impact Award as determined by a panel of global volunteer judges. Winners were announced in three categories--Impact on CX in an Organization, Impact on the CX Profession, and Impact on Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Outcomes related to CX. Steve Walker, Chairman & CEO at Walker and host of the CX Leader Podcast was announced as the winner of the 2021 award for "Impact on the CX Profession." You can read Steve's thoughts on his work below--and watch his reaction to the winner announcement. Congratulations, Steve! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ...

CXPA Need to Know for the Week of November 1st

By Joy Wedge posted 10-28-2021
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Survey: The Business Case for Empathy in CX Alida, Bodine & Co., and the CXPA would like to learn more about your perspectives and experience with customer empathy in this  survey . If you choose to take this survey you can opt in to be entered into a drawing to win a copy of  Outside In: The Power of Putting Customers at the Center of Your Business  signed by Kerry Bodine. Thank you for sharing your views about this important topic. Please take survey here . 5 Ways to Horrify Your Customers on Halloween and Beyond   According to Gartner, When it comes to making a purchase, 64% of people find ...

Where's your deli?

By Nicholas Zeisler CCXP posted 10-28-2021
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Here’s a random thought that occurred to me the other day.  I promise I’m going somewhere with it, though: The deli should be at the front of a grocery store.  Now, I’m in way over my head here, because I’m sure that there’s a lot that goes into the planning of the layout of such places and I’m no expert—an expert may tell me why I’m totally wrong from some sort of architectural perspective or feng shui reasoning.  But I’m going to stick with this proposition, at least from a Customer’s perspective:  Folks who are just running in to pick something up are often looking for something quick to eat, or perhaps are in a panic that they’ve got sudden guests.  ...

What the press release announcing your new chief customer officer should say

By Shane Schick posted 10-27-2021
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This article will appear on 360 Magazine but is published here first to provide value to the CXPA community.  Congratulations on appointing (or becoming) your company’s first chief customer officer! You have joined the ranks of the many, many firms who are not only demonstrating their commitment to customer experience design by adding another member of the C-suite but — most likely — will issue a press release about it. That’s where I come in. As a journalist, I’m scanning the PR wires every day looking for breaking news from companies and announcements that might become the impetus for a story.  I don’t actually write press releases myself (even ...

CXPA Need to Know for the Week of October 25th

By Joy Wedge posted 10-21-2021
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Survey: The Business Case for Empathy in CX Alida, Bodine & Co., and the CXPA would like to learn more about your perspectives and experience with customer empathy in this  survey . If you choose to take this survey you can opt in to be entered into a drawing to win a copy of  Outside In: The Power of Putting Customers at the Center of Your Business  signed by Kerry Bodine. Thank you for sharing your views about this important topic. Please take survey here . Apply Now: Global Leadership Opportunities   The CXPA is seeking applicants to serve on CXPA's Board of Directors and Regional Leadership ...

What do you want on your tombstone?

By Nicholas Zeisler CCXP posted 10-20-2021
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Do you remember the old commercial for Tombstone Pizza?  The tagline was, “What do you want your tombstone?”  (By the way, if you clicked through and it’s driving you crazy, the character actor is a fellow by the name of Oliver Muirhead , and if you also share my obsession with Seinfeld , he played Lubeck the pastry appraiser in the episode “The Frogger” who told Peterman that he could get an Entenmann's—who do not have a castle in Windsor—in the display case at the end of the aisle.)  Dark humor aside, it made me wonder how we sometimes gear our VoC programs to hear what we want to hear, and as a result, back our Customers into a corner. Let’s take ...