In this blog post I want to share some of my personal insights working with companies from around the globe in the area of Customer Experience (CX). I must admit that the currently available technology for all needs around CX is very advanced and therefore quite complex. From holistic omni-channel eCommerce solution to a central golden customer record in a Customer Data Platform, capturing feedback and sentiments with Experience Management, and of course what we traditionally call “CRM”, all in all: wow. And this is just the tip of the iceberg and maybe you, as a reader of this blog, might not be familiar with all these terms and capabilities. And that is absolutely ok, because there is so much out there, and that brings me to the point and a personal kind of reset I must apply every now and then: Not everyone is on the same level. Rocket science technology sometimes meets stone age systems. I don’t mean this in a disrespectful way, I fully acknowledge the fact that companies are on different maturity levels and that sometimes means that a custom-built database must be sufficient for a “CRM” system. And we all started somewhere, so there is no need to be ashamed that a lot of processes are currently very manual or are in the custom-built, “not so capable” systems.
It is important to be aware of that fact and see the pain points and potential areas of improvement. This is a good place to start from, then it is important to not only have a “big picture” of what you want to achieve in mind, but identify smaller, quick wins. Based on my experience it is better to start with smaller improvements and not to tackle all areas at once. On the one hand the projects are shorter and show results earlier, that allows to correct and define next steps. Simple speaking more agility is better, especially as we are in a fast-paced world. On the other hand, and this is from my own experience working as a CRM consultant, users will expand their horizon when working with new tools. Things and requirements that they did not know about before will come up, but as well problems and specific needs will change when working with a specialized software, therefore mindsets will change and, e.g., some “must-have” automated processes turn out very different or become obsolete.
The motivation to write this blog was a recent experience with a customer that were desperately looking for a new tool to help automate some aged and manual processes. It is sometimes a challenge to adjust the own thinking and put yourself in the shoes of the customer. It is easy to “bombard” them with all the knowledge and experience, but difficult, but yet more rewarding to talk on eye-level. We were all beginners at some point, let us share the knowledge in a wise way.
