5 Rules of CX to hold on to in Volatile Situations

The business world is trailing a horrifying landscape of managing shifting customer demands at a pace like never before. The dynamics of markets are such that it makes almost no sense to have a plan. The leaders are exhausted and find themselves caught up running around and looking for some sanity in never-ending chaos.

The pressure of delivering on business outcomes is an uphill task considering the declining top-line because of low customer acquisition. The focus for leaders transcends automatically to the bottom line that has a ripple effect on operational costs reduction.  The Customer Experience (Cx) program is one low-lying baby that is first to face the banter, and this needs to change.

Anyone witnessing this panic caused by volatile customer demands or market dynamics and on the verge of withdrawing funding or pulling resources from Cx must press the STOP button NOW!

To begin with, this is the time to remind oneself of the benefits expected from Cx. The whole premise of Cx is based on understanding the consumer expectations and defining your strategy around them. It would help draw focus on key metrics like customer retention, loyalty, and advocacy and lends you an opportunity to stand out in your competitive landscape.

In conflicting situations like shunting the project completely vs. bearing the budgetary constraints or financials to keep the effort moving, these five rules will help progress on the Cx path:

1.       Stay glued to the customer

Never lose sight of the customer! Irrespective of the challenges, one cannot compromise on this aspect. It is even more important to listen to the voice of consumers in volatile conditions. The Clients are part of the same world, and they might be equally uncertain and unclear about their demands. Hearing their concerns and being empathetic goes a long way in building customer loyalty and advocacy. This would allow organizations to know better about the delivery of experience and the demand from the real world rather than hearsay.

2.      Stick to your vision BUT be open to adjusting your plans

It sounds cliched but still holds so much relevance in our decision-making on transformation programs. This particular rule is more of a mindset game than anything else. The Decision-makers often succumb to the change by activating their victim mode. The feeling of losing control, being trapped, and being directionless are a few drawbacks in this situation. An important point to recall in these moments is that no change has any power to impact a vision. A firm belief in Cx-Vision and making progress towards it, with few minor bumps or adjustments in the plan, may provide immense strength to an effort of driving results.

3.  Check your employee pulse

Like we can’t lose touch with our customers, staying connected to our workforce is equally important to work through uncertain times. The term VUCA (volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous) stands true for all, be it the business market, consumers, or employees. The stress and panic emerging from harsh situations hit the entire business ecosystem, including the employees. An employee stands at a risk of losing focus and disengagement and hence directly impacting productivity or quality of work. An enterprise must keep its workforce motivated by feeling valued and empowered in the system. Cx philosophy lays a lot of importance on how employee experience strengthens the overall customer experience.

4.       Take calculated decisions

There is enough said about data and its importance in the decision-making process. Cx program and its governance are no different. At the time of program review, decisions are better driven when they are more fact-based and do not result from feelings. Cx metrics and measures carry a lot of importance at this critical point. The leaders must have key performance indicators at their fingertips to make better decisions. Do, Defer or Die, whatever the decision may be on ongoing Cx initiatives, it better be based on quantifiable factors. An impulsive decision that is “one for all” stalling all running programs is a NO GO!

5.       Communicate Effectively

Ability to translate one’s thoughts into the right words at the right time to the right audience! Especially in the business environment, panic or stress could easily take the form of fear or rain insecurities of all kinds to the ones involved. Effective communication is an established tool for seamless operations and goes unnoticed in decision-making strategies. Effective leadership in current times is an ability to accept the change, understand the impact, and communicate relevant and timely information to all stakeholders. A genuine and transparent communication helps keep all the unnecessary noise at bay and allows the trust to flourish amongst resources, directly or indirectly, associated with the Cx program.

Building futuristic leaders is the biggest challenge that organizations face today. A big part of new-age leadership is staying resilient, empathetic, and innovative in a volatile world. Staying grounded and sticking to our basics always comes as an aid to effective decision-making and helping businesses thrive in the most challenging situations.

What’s the right way to keeping your Customers First!

 Keeping the customer first and foremost in the decision-making for organizational endeavors is an effective strategy for business success. Organizations across the globe have been able to build and grow with a “Customer First" approach; for example, Amazon, Apple, and the list can go on and on. This is simply because a business's prime function is to serve the customers through its products and services and the "Customer First" approach supports keeping customer’s interests at the heart of all decisions. It is the best way for a business to retain, engage and focus on customers when there are multiple options available to customers for every product and service. 

 However, "Customer First" doesn't mean that it has to be a “Yes Always” or the Customer is the “God or king” approach. Putting the customer in a commanding position or at a high pedestal can never build the much-needed value addition from organizations to engage and serve.

Some common questions which we usually encounter, when deploying and suggesting the "Customer First" approach is:

- Does keeping Customer First mean agreeing to the customer at all times OR simply not saying NO to the customer?

- Does it mean giving priority to Customers' interests over business or employee interests?

- Catering to all rational and irrational demand that harms the business?

- How much should we stretch to serve the customers when going out of the way to serve?

Well, there is no straightforward answer to all these questions! What one has to keep in mind is to consider customer’s interests and their impact on them, directly or indirectly, while we are working through business decisions. It has to be a Win-Win for both customers and the business. The business also needs to flourish and exist to continue while executing through a “Customer First” approach. Customers need to be treated as humans and understood well enough to model their needs and expectations and align them with business outcomes. 

 Let us try and understand through this blog, 6 ways to keep your “Customers First” strategy right:

 1. Align your company’s purpose with customers in mind

 Every business has a purpose through which it supports and serves its customers. The purpose becomes the guiding force for a company to build the Vision, Mission, and Strategy and charter the direction and approaches that the business will want to take. “Customer First” focus will mean that the purpose is built with customers in mind.

2. Communicate your Customer-centric approach to all stakeholders 

Clarity and communication of your company’s purpose, mission, and goals to your end-users, employees, and other stakeholders helps in infusing the customer centricity approach transparently and consistently. The initiatives and all activities need to be formalized around the “Purpose” and with a common end goal. For instance, Google Vision is built around its purpose to provide access to information in one click. So its activities, approaches, goals are all are built around it. Communicating a consistent message across the board, including your customers along with keeping messages transparent, relevant is a great way in avoiding any pitfalls.

3. Begin with an understanding that it's a Cultural Shift and mindset change

 Customer-Centric Culture by definition means that customer’s needs and expectations become the center of the business model, so much so that every employee or stakeholder makes it a habit to always pursue customers interest and perception in their daily work. Clear communication for context building in line with purpose goes a long way in building a customer-centric culture. 

Empathy, Customer Journey Mapping, and numerous approaches if practiced across different levels supports decision-making and enables understanding of customers ' views and pain points at crucial junctures., This also serves the employees with context for taking the right actions and decisions with no exceptions.

4. Empower your employees 

Empower your employees with processes, skills, knowledge, and accountability so they can support the customer with their needs. The “Customer First” approach can only be built in an organization when employees know “what is important” for the business and how their work impacts their customers or business results. This keeps them engaged and empowered to make the right decisions. For instance, take a hypothetical case in a B2B organization where a customer would want a massive discount. Now, here “Customer First” doesn’t mean giving the discount by making it a loss-making deal for the company. But it means the employees coach, inform and support the customer on how the cost structure is important and is build for the value it is bringing on.

Customers do not buy the product but buy the value it is bringing while using the product/service.

5. Know and understand your Customer well enough 

Understand your Customer Expectations and Perceptions to create those products/services that can fulfill their need for an easier and better life.

 To know “Your Customers” and to cater to their needs, an organization must work towards building an understanding of their target customer’s pain points, the problems they are looking to resolve, and solutions that can be provided. It is important to be in the customer’s shoes and know what are the customer’s attitudes, preferences, motivations, and needs. Providing your customers with personalized interactions and approaching them with empathy is an excellent way to ensure the “Customer First” approach is on right track.

6. Utilize the right tools for execution, governance, and feedback of Customer First Strategy

Last but not least is to utilize the right tools for execution, governance, improvement, and feedback for building the “Customer First” approach. It means defining and training everyone on: 

- What “Customer First” shall mean for your business

- “Defining” and creating structures, processes for enabling the ideology

- Feedback and insights from all stakeholders to be utilized to reflect, learn and improve on actions 

- Lean, simple, participative, and collaborative governance with transparency for effective value addition.

Numerous tools such as Net promoter score, Customer Churn, customer experience feedback, sales data, qualitative/quantitative research for different hypotheses can be utilized to measure, learn and improve the current deliverables and build newer approaches while keeping "Customer First" at the heart.

To conclude, “Customer First” is simply a strategy with a focus on the customer by treating them as humans and not Gods. Human beings have emotions, expectations, and needs to which business is adding value by understanding and aligning with their thoughts, needs, and expectation in the best possible way.

What are you doing to create your “Customer First” approach? Let us know by writing to us at contact@pinkguava.org