Howard Lax
Howard Lax, Ph.D.
Supporting better informed decision making with technology, research and strategy. With a focus on CX/VoC/NPS, Employee Engagement and emotion analytics, Howard's domain is the application of marketing information and SaaS platforms to solve business problems and activating CX programs to drive business objectives.
You Have a Customer (& Employee) Bonding Problem: Fixing the Intangibles
Fix the product. Improve the process. Speed this up; slow this down; shorten that. We instinctively look to remedies in the performance of the products...
Measuring Emotions for CX and EE (and anything else)
Emotions, how people feel, are key to determining how we behave and respond to stimuli. Many, if not most, companies still are asleep at...
Employee Engagement is all about the Emotional Connection. Period.
Every company wants an engaged workforce – but what does that mean? It certainly means more than simply having employees who give solid scores...
Connecting the Dots: Marrying X(perience) and O(perational) Data
X + OMost companies have boatloads of “O” or Operational data on their customers. Depending on the nature of the firm, this data will...
R U Feelin’ It? Customers, Employees and Emotional Connections
Feelings about an experience, an emotional attachment to a brand/company/product are more important than rational assessments of performance in explaining customer experiences, customer loyalty...
Motivating Employees To Drive CX: Linkage to VoC Measures
Should you link employee goals, performance reviews and variable compensation to Customer Loyalty/CX measures? A simple question that lends itself to a complex “yes,...
The Ends Justify (Investing in) the Means: The Return on CX (RoCX)
At the end of the day (or fiscal year), investments in enhancing the customer experience and strengthening customer relationships must be justified by business...
Customers = Company Value
The value of a company – your company – is best measured in terms of the current and future value of cash flows from...
Battling for the Hearts and Minds of Customers
How do your customers feel about your brand . . . and why should you care? Most companies think about customer experience and loyalty in...
The Amnesiac Customer and the Importance of Emotions
Do your customers remember their recent experiences with your firm? Sometimes . . . but not necessarily accurately. Does it matter? Immensely. What makes...
CX Touchpoints as Stepping Stones: Understanding the Customer Mission
Many companies look upon the customer experience in terms of discrete touchpoints or channels. “We want to understand how customers experience the call...
New Customer Retention: A Fundamental in Retail Financial Services
New customer churn is endemic to banks. Here’s how to reduce the number of customers who churn within the first two years. Despite a...
Millennials and Generation Gaps: Loyalty in Financial Services across the Generations
The issue of generational differences is in the DNA of brand, media and advertising people. You can see it in...
The Final Word on the Pros and Cons of NPS
I can’t take seeing yet another article extolling the virtues/lambasting the shortcomings of NPS. So I want to lay it all on the table...
Voice of Customer Technology: Without the Science, It’s Just Sizzle Without the Steak
From paper feedback cards and interactive voice response tools to social media analysis and enterprise feedback management (EFM) systems, there are a number of...
A Behavioral Manifesto: Measuring and Managing Customer Experience and Loyalty
Marketers and voice-of-the-customer (VoC) champions of the world, unite! You have nothing to lose but your shackles of outdated theories and measurements. Despite the stir...
You Have to Accentuate the Negative
Too often, brands work hard creating positive, sophisticated customer experiences – but leave themselves open to failures on basic interactions. And, as Howard Lax...
The Oxymoron of the IVR Experience
I know why companies use IVR (Interactive Voice Response) systems: They're cheap. And there's a lot to be said for trimming costs and looking...
Segments of One: Measuring the Loyalty of Mega Customers in B2B Markets
Every company in the B2B space, regardless of industry, has its 800-pound gorilla customers. Whether they are called Managed or Key Accounts, Enterprise Clients,...
Customer Experiences and the Theory of Relativity
What does Einstein's theory of relativity have to do with customer experience? I don't have a fancy formula, but let's try this: Assessments of...