Last but not least, do you think working from home is good or bad for employee experience? How is should brands plan their “back to the office” strategy in Post covid19 days?
Katie: I think having the ability to work from home is great as long as the organization can still run effectively. Great CX starts with a great employee experience and a good work-life balance is essential to that.
An organization should open a dialogue with employees to understand what the best solution to ‘back to the office’ looks like for them. Collaborative decision making will make for a more harmonious transition and a change more likely to be supported by the workforce.
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Hi Katie, tell us about yourself and how you got to the customer experience space?
Katie: I’m currently the Founder and Director of CULTIVATE Customer Experience by Design. My journey into the profession of CX started like many, working in front line customer service roles from high street retailers like Woolworths and Boots to contact centers including Lloyds and British Telecoms. I then spent a decade in the not-for-profit world and although my roles didn’t have ‘CX’ in the title, you can’t get any more organically customer-centric than a charitable organization!
My first ‘official’ CX role came when I took a position leading the CX strategy for one of Europes largest credit management firms and from there, supporting organization lead with a customer-first strategy has been my professional world.
Online commerce was booming in 2020; how did it affect the shopper’s customer experience? – What should be the main focus for brands this year?
Katie: Without a doubt, organizations need to put more emphasis on their digital experience in 2021 and they need the logistical ability to keep up with increasing demands. When the impact of the pandemic starts to reduce there will be a spike in customers visiting physical retail stores, they will want that experience again but it will be somewhat short-lived and organizations need now more than ever to create a digital journey that meets consumer needs.
How much has the customer experience industry evolved in the last 2-3 years with the arrival of automation, UGC data, and data-driven insights?
Katie: Around the world, organizations are seeing more and more the benefits of a considered and well delivered CX strategy, but it is still a slow burn. Semantica recently shared insight that on average companies have a CX maturity of 40 out of 100, which demonstrates that there is still some way to go. In my opinion, automation is great but it’s still being used with the primary focus of efficiency, what it can do for the organization as opposed to what it can do for the customer. Equally, data-driven insights are giving businesses gold-dust and although many are great at collecting this data, few are great at actually using it to influence change.
Tell us about CX’s role in a pandemic crisis – what role digital transformation has in this crisis?
Katie: Digital transformation, for many organizations, has been a necessity of survival. It’s been truly amazing to see how creative organizations have been and how wonderfully reactive we have shown ourselves to be. Being honest, I don’t believe that CX has particularly been at the forefront of transformations, it’s been more of a question of ‘how do we reach customers?’ rather than ‘how do we continue to provide a great CX?’ but now that we are settling into the changes I see more companies starting to refine and reconsider their offering.
Katie’s building blocks of customer experience
In your point of view what are the main building blocks of a successful customer experience strategy
1. Organisational understanding a buy-in: It doesn’t have to happen right away but there needs to be senior support for a CX strategy and a willingness to invest time and resource into its implementation
2. Working collaboratively: CX is the responsibility of each person within the organization. A great CX leader will be an equally great relationship manager, cultivating close partnerships within all areas of the business.
3. Demonstratable change: Be it small or large, organizations should track the benefits of their CX initiatives. This will prove ROI and create a willingness to do more.