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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Congratulations & Thanks to These CX Leaders

By Mr. Greg Melia,CAE posted 16 hours ago
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Noted management thought leader Jim Collins asserted in Good to Great that the first step to achieving greatness is to “ get the right people on the bus ” – people committed and aligned to achieving excellence together.  We are thankful  and proud to share the most recent additions to CXPA workgroups.  These individuals, together with continuing workgroup members, are working collaboratively to unlock the power of independent, consensus-based thought leadership on key strategic issues.  If you are would like to support any of these initiatives, please use the sign-up links below to let us know of your interest. We’re also seeking CX leaders to lead ...

CXPA Need to Know for the Week of April 26th

By Joy Wedge posted 17 hours ago
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Connect and Collaborate in Virtual Communities Are you interested in networking with CXPA members who are practicing CX in your area? Would you like to learn which local companies are practicing the discipline of customer experience? Are you excited about exchanging CX successes with a local network of CX professionals? CXPA members can now join virtual, local professional communities through our enhanced website. “I’m excited to see how these new communities keep professionals connected to each other and immersed in discussions and learning opportunities,” says  Derik Iverson , CXPA’s Membership Community Manager. “Joining a community ...

The case for drawing customer crisis journey maps

By Mr. Shane Schick posted 2 days ago
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Last week, I was preparing to send out my weekly newsletter and tried to initiate a test. What I got instead was a weird error message full of symbols I didn’t recognize. I did what anyone now does in such situations: I went to Twitter to see what was going on. Almost immediately, I learned that the e-mail marketing service I use, Mailchimp, was going through an outage.  Annoyed at first, I wound up shrugging it off. It would soon be resolved, I thought, and in the meantime just think of all those people who would be spared the usual marketing spam! Mailchimp’s downtime turned out to be a blip compared to a massive wireless outage here in Canada ...

Reasons to read and share

By Nicholas Zeisler,CCXP posted 2 days ago
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LinkedIn, Medium, tons of CX blogs and websites, including the Customer Experience Professionals Association (CXPA), Customer Think , and others, are all great sources of information for those looking to expand their knowledge and understanding of Customer Experience.  There are insights into specific tactical issues, organizational concepts and approaches, strategic thought leadership, and much more.  Given the robust nature of topics within CX, it’s vital to be out there consuming as much information from as many different sources as possible in order to keep up. It’s also helpful for you to share what you find.  These forums are a great source ...

CXPA Announces 2021 Innovation Award Finalists

By Gabe Smith,CCXP posted 7 days ago
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Now in its 10 th year, the Customer Experience Professionals Association’s annual CX Innovation Award is presented to organizations/brands that do not sell customer experience products/services that have implemented innovative and successful customer experience initiatives. As the industry association for CX, this award showcases significant achievements and developments in the profession. We take great honor in recognizing outstanding achievements by organizations across the globe. CXPA received award submission videos from around the world, and a global panel of Certified Customer Experience Professionals evaluated each entry to determine the extent ...

How to prove the ROI of customer experience /Three ways to improve your CX pitch

By Ms. Ozge Koca posted 7 days ago
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How to prove the ROI of customer experience /Three ways to improve your CX pitch One of the biggest challenges for CX leaders is convincing other senior executives of the benefits of investing in developing a customer centric culture. We can all share anecdotes of companies who have built their success on keeping customers happy, but the key to getting executives on board with customer experience is to prove it helps the bottom line. Clearly communicating the financial value of your CX programmes is even more critical in the current economic climate with many companies looking at cost cutting measures. Here are three ways to use data to create a convincing ...

CXPA Need to Know for the Week of April 19th

By Joy Wedge posted 7 days ago
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Spring Brings New Volunteer Opportunities CXPA is full of opportunities to help advance the customer experience profession. There are several ways to help CXPA implement 2021 goals. Opportunities include activities to help fostering diversity and growth through inclusive interactions across the globe. As well as, c oordinating efforts to raise awareness and understanding of quality CX and more.  See new opportunities to help CX bloom here .  Coffee Chat: Diversity & Inclusion in Customer Experience Design Join this Coffee Chat with CXPA member Crystal D'Cunha to discuss strategies and best ...

Gene Lee, CCXP, Drives CX Alignment as Mailchimp’s CXO

By Gabe Smith,CCXP posted 7 days ago
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Atlanta native Gene Lee, CCXP , is a designer at heart. “CX professionals take interesting paths,” he says. “If you look at my career trajectory, it started in classical gra phic design and medical illustration. Over the years, my work has ranged from leading corporate branding to designing entire digital ecosystems with a number of fascinating brands, both in agencies as well as in-house.” Gene’s CX journey began in earnest at Scholastic, where, as Creative Director, he helped the organization begin to navigate the waters of digital transformation. “Scholastic was my first in-house job after working in agencies,” he recalls. “I started to see the ...

Stickers, Switchers and Shoppers: Lessons from the Auto Insurance Industry

By Howard Lax posted 7 days ago
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Some people display a propensity to be “stickers,” that is to “stick” with companies they use, while others are prone to be “shoppers” and others yet tend to be “switchers.” To the extent marketers understand this predisposition, they can use such insights in targeting prospects, managing the customer experience and trying to influence consumer behavior to minimize churn.   A Thorn is a Thorn is a Thorn Churn. Defection. Lost Customers. Non-renewals. Lapsers. Turn-over. Call it what you will. The terms may vary (life insurance companies refer to “persistency rates”), but all companies face the problem, and the outcome is the same: breaks in the customer ...

These CX ones to watch deserve a second look (and listen)

By Mr. Shane Schick posted 8 days ago
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They’re young. They’re good looking. They represent a diverse mixture of genders and ethnicities. And, according to UserTesting, they offer the kind of hope we all need right now that the future of CX will be a bright one.  Earlier this week the San Francisco-based provider of customer experience software released what it described as its first annual CX Watchlist , which it said recognizes “the top 100 rising stars in customer experience-focused roles in organizations around the world.” Reviewing the CX Watchlist, however, was a somewhat odd experience. Though the first names, headshots and company each honouree works for were clearly displayed, they ...

Shouldn't we know better?

By Nicholas Zeisler,CCXP posted 9 days ago
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Let’s start today with a couple of anecdotal experiences: Anecdote 1:  It seems every time I pay in cash (who does that?), this happens:  The cashier, when returning my change lays the bills down in my palm, and then pours the coins over top of them.  This means that, to put the change away, I have to slide the bills out from under the coins (a la a magician with the table cloth out from under the glasses and place settings), put the change in my pocket, fold the bills with one hand, then fumble them into my wallet, all while trying to manage the bag of items I just bought.  Every time this happens, I'm reminded that a much more convenient way to receive ...

Customer Experience Balanced Scorecard for Employee Engagement in Driving CX Performance

By Lynn Hunsaker,CCXP posted 11 days ago
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Key performance indicators are important gauges of progress in customer experience management or any other endeavor. Employee engagement in balanced scorecards encourage 360-degree views of progress for a corporation or initiative. The scorecard typically covers several categories, for example: customer, financial, productivity, and competitive metrics. By linking these categories in a single view, managers may see linkages between these areas and make all-encompassing, better informed decisions. Of course, the selection of these metrics is quite important, to ensure a truly holistic view with meaningful linkages and subsequent high-quality decision-making. ...

April Online Learning Opportunities

By Gabe Smith,CCXP posted 14 days ago
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Spring has sprung! We hope that, as the calendar turns another page into April, your efforts to advance CX within your organization, deliver more value for your customers and clients, and turbocharge your career are in full bloom.  CXPA's event calendar is rapidly filling up as well. Each week, on the CXPA homepage , you'll find a weekly "Need to Know" post that provides details for webinars, live stream events, and local network virtual gatherings are taking place that week. These events offer insights into topics that are relevant to CX professionals today and are a great way to meet and network with others. But perhaps you want to dive even deeper ...

CXPA Need to Know for the Week of April 12th

By Joy Wedge posted 14 days ago
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Need Guidance? Our Mentorship Program is Now Open The CXPA Mentor Match program is designed to connect CXPA members for a one-on-one CX-focused mentorship. Mentorship is a proven self-development method that can help both mentee and mentor develop perspective, build confidence, gain new skills and knowledge, and further personal development and career goals. Learn More Here Spring Brings New Volunteer Opportunities CXPA is full of opportunities to help advance the customer experience profession. There are several ways you can help CXPA implement 2021 goals. Opportunities include activities ...

CX for SaaS

By Nicholas Zeisler,CCXP posted 16 days ago
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I’ve done some work with some folks in the software as a service (SaaS) space and have lots of colleagues and friends who are also working there.  Whenever I talk with them about Customer Experience, I always chuckle when the conversation turns to the Voice of the Customer. Often when I think about SaaS organizations trying to get visibility into their VoC, I’m amazed by how overly complicated they make it out to be.  Surely survey results are valuable.  With a business model like SaaS, there are likely to be transactional opportunities for feedback when a Customer calls or reaches out for either service or support.  But there will also be relationship ...

Are you ready to help CX bloom?

By Mr. Greg Melia,CAE posted 21 days ago
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Happy April! As we welcome a new month and quarter, I am excited to share that CXPA is bursting with opportunities to truly advance the customer experience profession.  But, like great CX itself, a strong holistic team effort will be key to success. Here are a few current opportunities for you to help make CXPA's 2021 goals a reality:  Strengthening support for CX professionals at all career stages Together with CXPA Networks, we are seeking speakers to lead programs on the recently identified 16 top priority topics . Submit a proposal here .   CXPA members consistently cite mentoring as a top learning experience. Get involved here . ...

Who Made a Career Move in March 2021?

By Gabe Smith,CCXP posted 21 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 March: Top Row, L-R: Gary Batroff, CCXP : VP, North America Partnerships at Thunderhead Janelle Mansfield : VP, Customer Success and Experience at Gazelle.AI Catherine Jeppsen, Ph.D, CCXP : Sr. Data Scientist for CX at Github Bart Taylor : Chief Customer Officer at Protecta Insurance New Zealand Walter Andri: Chief Customer Officer at Highline Beta Bottom Row, L-R: Charlene Foley, CCXP : Chief Customer Officer at Hearful Morgan Meliski: Manager of Supporter Experience at Compassion International ...

Why is a Great Customer Experience So Elusive for Some Organizations?

By Bob Azman,CCXP posted 21 days ago
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It never ceases to amaze me how some organizations just don’t get “it” yet. The “it” is a better customer experience.  Here are a few recent examples that exemplify my point.  A top seller of home security cameras sends two cameras in separate packages both with missing parts.    When I called to request the missing parts I was given two options:  1) they would send me the parts and I could expect them to arrive in 5-7 days or 2) I could go to their website, BUY the missing parts, and get them in 3-5 days. No offer to expedite parts to insure an quick delivery.  Next, I asked for a small credit to compensate me for the inconvenience.  The agent had to repeatedly ...

CXPA Need to Know for the Week of April 5th

By Joy Wedge posted 21 days ago
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CXPA is Seeking Passionate Thought Leaders CXPA accomplishes its work thanks to the time and talent contributed by passionate CXPA Volunteers. A variety of opportunities are available, including many activities that can be completed independently without the challenges of time zones or travel.  NEW! CXPA is currently seeking proposals from volunteer speakers willing to lead virtual programs on CX during 2021. To learn more about this opportunity,  click here .   Need Guidance? Mentorship Program is Now Open The CXPA Mentor Match program is designed to connect CXPA members for a one-on-one CX-focused ...

For CX, Where is not as important as What and Why

By Nicholas Zeisler,CCXP posted 23 days ago
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Where a CX function is located within a company is a frequent discussion topic among CXers.  I’ve been thinking about this recently and, while obviously each company is unique and every situation different, it occurs to me that where a CX function resides isn’t nearly as important as is what it’s chartered to do. But if I could get all Simon Sinek-y here, naturally the greater question still, is the Why .  Let’s look at the charter of what your CX organization should be in the first place, then we can start to look at what difference it may make as to where it’s located.  The why should drive the what , and therefore, the where will really just ...