Let’s face it – we all resist change to a certain degree.
In personal situations, while I struggle with change, I do feel that I am at least in control of my own decisions. In a business context, we often are not given the choice depending on whether it is a top-down mandate or a requirement to stay relevant in our industries. We often hear, “you must change for this reason”, right?
Being unwilling to change often boils down to two different things:
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We don’t know why we need to change.
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We don’t have the motivation to do it.
As we think about the next evolution of CX and how we optimize customer insights and metrics, let’s reflect on area number 1 – we don’t know why we need to change. So, what does this mean for us as practitioners? It means we have to educate our organizations, communicate direction, educate again, communicate direction, and continue this cycle until we feel confident we have been successful with the change management effort. That said, we can’t begin to push others into a new direction until we ourselves understand it. We need to spend time thinking through the roadmap of how the future of CX looks in our own companies before we begin to push others into a new way of thinking.
The second area is less in our control. Often times our organizations just do not have the motivation or culture to accept change. It’s can sometimes be easy to understand why the change is needed, but when it comes times to begin shifting to a new way of thinking, we stumble or hit roadblocks. People like “comfortable”. The problem with staying comfortable is that organizations will continue to increase the speed to market, speed of responsiveness, and speed at which change is occurring. The insights we gather must inform these decisions in a more proactive, relevant, and efficient manner to assist with the way organizations are evolving.
So what does this mean for the future and optimizing our CX insights? It means that we have to want to make this change, and I believe that it is going to be required for CX to stay relevant in our organizations. Below are a few tips to help create a more proactive CX culture in your organization:
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Own it. Don’t expect that others are going to tell you “what’s next for CX”. They will expect you to drive that vision.
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Understand that it will take time. Don’t underestimate the amount of time and effort it will take to shift your organizations into a more proactive and sometimes non-survey driven environment.
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Map out the hazards and distractions up front. Plan for any disruptions to your roadmap in your timing, and know how you will plan to address them.
“If the plan doesn’t work, change the plan. Not the goal.” – Unknown
Katie Kiernan
Vice President, Consulting Services
