Hi Jade, tell us about yourself, your background?
I have a background in Marketing research and consulting, specializing in Consumer Behavior. I have always liked to understand customers’ needs and desires rather than working on the way to convince them of something they do not even need. I am passionate about client-centricity and understanding the customer journey, which leads me to analyze and implement strategies that help clients achieve their desired result with the most suitable experience. I had worked in BtoB SAAS companies in client-facing roles practically since the beginning of my career about 10 years ago— starting from Marketing and Event Management to Technical Support and finally finding my dream job in Customer Success Management & Operations. I started in CS at the beginning of it in France in 2014, and I have worked in the building and leading CS/CX teams since then. I am now in Montreal, Canada.
Online commerce was booming in 2020, and so did consumer reviews. – How can brands better utilize this data to improve their customers’ experience?
It makes me think of Advocacy/Loyalty programs, which in my opinion, are the best tools to bring new customers and new sales from existing customers. It is the ideal CX loop each company should be working hard to attain. When a customer’s journey has been smooth and free of frustration— that they got exactly what they needed—, customers will be more likely to leave positive reviews (especially if they are asked to) that could be leveraged in multiple ways. Feedback is useful to improve a product, process, and referrals since customers trust other customers, and reviews help them decide on purchase.
What is one element that must always be considered when working on a CXM (customer experience management) strategy?
Customer Journey Mapping and alignment around it across the company.
Do you think personalization and customer-centricity are going to become increasingly more relevant in the coming year? How so?
Well, at least it should, in my opinion. No company can afford not to be client-centric anymore. It is too easy for a customer to switch from one product to another. Everything is about the customer— if a product doesn’t exist anymore, there will always be another product from another company to meet the customer’s needs. Customers equal revenues. It is not just about acquiring clients, as it is to retain and grow them. We do so by ensuring the whole experience is smooth and continuously delivering value for their business. And when we speak about CX, personalizing or making every interaction feel like it is personally addressed to each customer surely makes a difference. Most importantly, it should feel genuine and authentic.
Ways to eliminate the CX gap
What are some of the ways companies can strive to eliminate the CX Gap?
The whole company must align on the ideal experience each one of their customers should go through. I believe each company’s leadership team should first make
sure it aligns its approach on what is needed in terms of CX and sticks to it. Ideally, a CX expert should sit in a C-Level chair to drive continuous cross-functional alignment on client-centricity. It is still rare to find a company’s chief customer officer; happily, it seems to have positively changed lately. It is still so easy to forget the importance of CX and CS in most BtoB SAAS companies nowadays. Continuous effort should be put into not losing the benefits gained through that effort.
What’s the most insightful book you read in 2020?
The Infinite Game by Simon Sinek. I think it has a lot to do with client-centricity. Nowadays, most companies apply a finite mindset in their business strategies — establishing finite goals because of sales-centricity, for example. I do not say goals should not be set. But applying an infinite mindset ties back to the customer’s journey that should have no end. It is customers staying with us forever because we made them feel so good and we made them so successful by using our product. All that because of the continuous efforts made to drive value… At the end of the day, it creates a win/win situation — customer success equals the company’s success and profits.
Last but not least, what is your favorite CX metric?
I do not have one favorite CX metric. In my opinion, metrics should be applied at each stage of the journey. By combining the analysis of each metric, companies will know which processes to tweak to ensure they deliver the appropriate experience and value from the company’s products.
