It’s Time to Country-Up CXM

0
36

Share on LinkedIn

meadowI recently moved from Los Angeles to Northwest Arkansas.  So, as you might imagine, I have undergone somewhat of a culture shock in recent weeks.  I have to admit, it hasn’t been all-bad.  One thing that immediately strikes you here is that people are very nice. The 20 years in LA made me forget what it was like to see the same check out lady in the grocery store who knew you by first name.   In particular, retailers go far out of their way to ensure you have a great experience.  Business people at all levels seem to genuinely appreciate your business.  Not that you don’t get that in Los Angeles, it’s not that all retail experiences are unpleasant there, but there exists this kind of milieu of retail emotional apathy;  a kind of take-it-or-leave-it attitude.  Not so, in my new Razorback infested environ.  To use the local vernacular, they seem to give a darn gum.

So this got me thinking; why is that?  We have seen in previous research that people in non-metro area are generally just happier when it comes to their retail experience.  Why is that?  Let’s set aside the Southern hospitality shtick and the fact the world’s largest retailer makes its home down the street and consider the social environment.

The Fayetteville,-Springdale-Rogers MSA is small and spread-out; less than half a million people are spread out across a number of small towns.  Also, most of its residents are decidedly not from there. Almost all of my neighbors are transplants from large metros. Taking these two factors into account capitalizes on the best of humanity.  Our desire to be generally kind to those who you know…or those who might know and depend on in the future.

Do you really want to flip off the guy on the highway who could be doing your root canal next month?  Are you going to try to swindle someone servicing their vehicle at your repair shop, when so much of business is dependent on word of mouth through uncertain new comers?   No, you are probably going to go out of your way to make sure Mr. Jones’ coffee is the right temperature, or Mr. Jones will stop buying your coffee and will not only tell his buddies – his buddies will tell their buddies and you won’t be selling coffee for much longer.  Social networks buzz with information when there is uncertainty in decision making and with so many newbies uncertain about where to get their hair cut or their oil changed here in Northwest Arkansas I can assure you that the social networks here sound like a 10’ chainsaw mowing down a grove of trees in the Ozarks.

For those of us who make their living getting opinions from customers what can we learn from this?  For years we have been lurking out there with a tin can begging for opinions with our boring staid surveys and giving nothing in return.  “Your opinion is important!” we write…really? Do we even write that with a straight face anymore? My favorite whipping boy is a survey I get from an airline I like and use quite often.  Every trip I take with them I get the same 30-question survey afterwards.  I used to fill them out to ensure good survey mojo for the industry, but I have given up.  It’s clear the survey is about them and their needs, not mine.

The airline doesn’t acknowledge their appreciation of me being a long standing customer, they don’t alter the content of the survey based on my past experiences, they give me nothing in return for my time, and they don’t seem to do anything with the information that I can tell.  It goes into a black hole.  I like this airline, but the survey experience actually detracts from my view of them.  It’s an apathetic and clinical approach to what you would hope is an emotionally charged experience.  The irony is that an instrument that is supposed to help with the customer experience actual destroys value for the airline.  If this was a rare example I could sleep at night, but in truth, it is commonplace.

We need to change this.  In a world of free music, movies, unlimited texts, and other free stuff, the customer will not provide their valuable opinion for nothing anymore.  We need to make the experience of measurement more engaging. It needs to be extension of the brand and reflect that brand promise.  It needs to be friendly or even, god forbid, fun.  It needs to give something in return; it doesn’t have to be money, it can be information, feedback, or even acknowledgement about how one’s opinions are being used.  It needs to acknowledge loyal customers and entice those who are newcomers.

As a trained social scientist, I can appreciate the purest research view that we may be influencing the measurement itself by doing these things.  To that I say: so what?  You think that airline survey has any useable integrity anyway from the 2% of oddballs who compel themselves to complete that masochistic task after each flight?  No, the future of customer experience measurement is not in viewing it as measurement at all.  We should try and influence the experience in a positive way through our interactions with customers.  Let’s focus on listening to them and help them out, one customer at a time if necessary.   Let’s provide the authentic experience of the waitress genuinely concerned about the service and food quality in our CXM programs.  We need to give something back.  We need to make it easier.  We need to make it…nicer.

Republished with author's permission from original post.

Dave Fish, Ph.D.

Dave is the founder of CuriosityCX, an insights and advisory consultancy for Customer Experience. Formerly he was CMO for MaritzCX, now an InMoment company. He has 25+ years of applied experience in understanding consumer behavior consulting with Global 50 companies. Dave has held several executive positions at the Mars Agency, Engine Group, J.D. Power and Associates, Toyota Motor North America, and American Savings Bank. He teaches at the Sam Walton School of Business at the University of Arkansas. He is the author of "The Customer Experience Field Guide" available on Amazon and BookLogix.com.

ADD YOUR COMMENT

Please use comments to add value to the discussion. Maximum one link to an educational blog post or article. We will NOT PUBLISH brief comments like "good post," comments that mainly promote links, or comments with links to companies, products, or services.

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here