Hi Josephine, please tell us a bit about yourself.
I’m a fraction C-suite professional, former Franchise group CEO & COO, now working with organizations in the space around CX & Continuous Improvement as a holistic strategy and working on sustainability in business growth and developing strong culture in their people.
My work over the years has always taken a holistic approach as a leader onboarding with core values centered around best practice, agility and the ability to pivot, aligning systems for performance and governance, and truly asking the questions: What is the truth serum? And how do we know?
How did you start working in the customer experience space?
I have maintained a focus in this space as its core to my values in developing sustainable business strategy, monitoring performance and organizational success. Establishing and growing organizations over the years I have recruited support teams who have an ethos around the journey and the care factor.
Can you tell us a little bit about your current role?
I’m working as Fractional CXO/Project Advisory. Current projects are varied; I am currently designing a Learning Management & Mentoring Program for clients as an added value product to enable them to plan and measure their personal success around their journey.
In addition, I am finalizing two system installations one is a new HR solution-focused performance management & personal development in addition to the daily HR requirements and simultaneous completing an intranet rollout for a SME to improve communication silos, access to information and drive a culture of communication and positive internal client experience.
Lastly, my third project nearing completion is a client recognition program for property investment teams.
In addition to my business advisory clients where I work with leadership teams and executives.
How can companies better listen and understand their customer base?
Listening to customers isn’t just hearing about their problems. It’s not picking up the phone or answering the email. Its about connecting with them. Paying attention to their needs and understanding how you can help them achieve their goals. When it comes to churn, poor customer experience is one of the top 3 reasons why clients switch providers and includes your internal clients also. Over 80% of your clients will be happy to pay more for another provider if they’ll receive a better customer experience. Your team needs to be on its A-game to ensure clients receive that experience and remain loyal to your business. Listening to their feedback is the best practice approach to keep aligned with clients short- and long-term expectations. Listening to clients isn’t just a way to improve customer experience but a tool you can use to upsell and cross sell. Using the pareto rule 80% of your revenue typically comes from 20% of your clients. Improving growth is looking how else you can provide value to each client and move them into that space. You can always turn experiences that fall short of customer expectations to your advantage
What are some companies that you think are doing an excellent job at customer experience, and why?
Over the years we still see those companies who have focused from day one on the experience remaining at the top. There focus on continuous improvement and sustainability and being able to pivot in any market continues to see them being the top for a reason. That innovative spirit, the listening and being true to the positioning of their values and learning by mistakes.
Companies like Amazon, Netflix, Hubspot, Ikea, Delta Airlines, Disney & UBER. These companies are still roles models and case studies for organizations to learn from.
Many companies are currently undergoing digital transformation processes – what are your tips on a successful digital transformation?
Find a balance between humanity and automation. Automation is a great way to reduce costs associated with customer service as well as speed up resolution time for simple service requests. However, the human touch points are still a MUST for businesses. Consumers in 2021 are still reluctant to trust chatbots.
Experiences around transparency and security are also important to factor in. Stay close to customer experience, no matter how big your company grows
What are some CX solutions or tools that you’re keeping your eyes on right now?
AI is not going anywhere. Look at how tools integrate into CRM solutions. Efficiency and simple. Reporting & analytics.
Did you read any interesting books this past summer that you’d like to recommend?
She is Not Your Rehab by Matt Brown.
What is your favorite CX metric?
NPS.
