Shownotes… Transformational Leadership for Customer Experience Success
Truly understanding and embracing the CX and EX is essential for long-lasting business success.
Recent studies show many companies are stalling in their CX efforts. Partially, this is due to a lack of rigor. Business leaders aren’t doing the things that have been proven effective consistently and reliably.
The CX and the EX are essentially the same mindsets, strategy, and focus.
To be a leader you need followers. Subsequently, your followers are your employees and customers.
The thinking you used to get where you are today is not the same thinking to use to get you to the next step in customer experience and employee experience levels.
Transformational Leaders…
- Are willing to step out of their office and into the shoes of their teams. Blake Morgan referenced this in my recent podcast interview. Leadership went on 2 am delivery drives to fully understand what those delivery drivers experience, encounter, and have to work with. Those drivers have an entirely different experience than afternoon delivery drivers.
2. Want to hear the honest truth and different perspectives. Use this to explore other perspectives. There is never any ONE right answer or perspective unless it’s the customers.
3. Are Customer Obsessed. As cliche as this may sound, it’s great advice. Everything and anything you do and think needs to be focused on the customer. How will they feel about it? What will they think? Will it frustrate them or make them happy? Will they feel schnookered or helped? Would YOU want to do business with your company if you did this, offered this, discontinued this, made this change?
4. Are relentless in getting the data AND the stories surrounding customer priorities and goals. The data explains the customer behavior in practice. The next step is to understand the story behind the data. WHY are customers doing what they do? WHY are sales increasing or decreasing? Don’t just enjoy the increase, find out why. There may be something in the stories that will tell you how to further those benefits.
5. Ask the right questions. Use conversations, surveys, pulse surveys, focus groups, etc. Go beyond the typical questions – Are you satisfied with your job? Take it further – Does your manager display the qualities we focus on as cornerstones as an organization?
6. Build success metrics around the priorities and goals of the employee and customer – internal link to that podcast
7. Build in accountability to the desired EX and CX. If customers want to hear from their account manager every 6 months, build that into performance reviews.
8. Train, educate and empower teams and individuals within your organization to work in the best interest of the customer.
9. Have emotional intelligence, humility, and empathy. Since the beginning of time, these characteristics are found in every strong and successful leader.