There are many philosophies out there. The thing about philosophy is that it doesn’t always have much real-world application behind it. Anyone can claim a philosophy but can they make it work in the real world?
I dedicate my career to helping organizations take their current Customer Experience to the next level, or Beyond the Philosophy of it and into the “real world.”
Philosophy drives my actions, of course, including the following five:
Philosophy #1: Experiences are not just about the “what” but also the “how.”
A Customer Experience is a blend of an organization’s rational performance, the senses stimulated and the emotions evoked and intuitively measured against Customer expectations across all moments of contact. It’s not just about the rational parts of the experience, like how many times the phone rings before it is answered or your hours of operation. It is how they feel at every moment of your experience from beginning to end.
Philosophy #2: Your Customer Experience drives value for your organization.
When an organization focuses on improving the Customer Experience, it drives the value for the organization, reduces the costs associated with customer service, and builds a competitive advantage in today’s global and commoditized marketplace. We know this because we took it “beyond the philosophy” and put it into practice in the real world—and saw the results.
Philosophy #3: Emotions are a huge part of any Customer Experience, in fact according to our research it accounts for over half of an experience.
Too many organizations don’t realize this, so they focus on the mechanics and processes of an experience but leave the emotional bits undefined and unplanned. In this way, most organizations leave the emotions of an experience up to chance, which is a dangerous way to operate a business desiring longevity and profitability.
Philosophy #4: Customer Experience is about how customers consciously and subconsciously perceive their experience.
What I mean is that sometimes the Customer knows exactly why they feel the way they do and other times they don’t. Because of this, it can be troubling to get to the real cause of an issue in your Customer Experience. When you are working to improve your experience, however, it is essential that you do look at the cues that your current experience is sending both consciously and subconsciously.
Philosophy #5: Getting employees on board is critical to your successful Customer Experience.
You do not deliver the Customer Experience you design; your team delivers the Customer Experience. Making sure that your employees believe in your brand promise, are trained properly on how to deliver it, and are invested in its success enough to do what it takes to achieve it is critical to having a Customer Experience that surprises and delights customers.
All five of these ideas are great philosophies, but as I mentioned before, what good is philosophy if not applied in the real world? One needs not look further than current headlines to see both good examples of these philosophies in actions as well as those that could use a little work.
My new eBook examines these philosophies as well as shows real world examples of these principles in action. If you want to hear me talk about the new book please join me on a webinar, which will also give a discount on the purchase. Likewise, it shows what happens when these principles are not in action, too. These true stories from recent headlines help us see the evolution of Customer Experience in philosophy and real-world application.
Philosophy is great—but it’s also useless if you don’t use it to take action to support the philosophy. It’s the practical application of principles outlined in the philosophy that make them useful. Fail to do that, and you have failed the intent that made the philosophy a good idea in the first place
Do you have a good example of one of these philosophies in practice? I’d love to hear your examples in the comments below.
“Unlocking the Hidden Customer Experience: Short Stories of Remarkable Practices that Ensure Success” is designed to help organizations take their Customer Experience to the next level. Celebrating the launch of this new eBook, I am hosting a LIVE webinar focusing on what it takes to evoke the best emotions from your Customer Experience and the vital role of the conscious and subconscious experience with real-world examples. Read more about the book and register for the webinar, here.
All attendees will receive a discount code for 50% off the eBook.
If you enjoyed this post, you might be interested in the following blogs:
Colin Shaw is the founder and CEO of Beyond Philosophy, one of the world’s first organizations devoted to customer experience. Colin is an international author offour best-selling books and an engaging keynote speaker.
Follow Colin Shaw on Twitter @ColinShaw_CX