Nicholas Zeisler
Adding Support headcount is losing
Does adding headcount to Customer Support, Care, Success, or Service teams really demonstrate dedication to Customer Experience?
Getting CX Right: Discount Tire
This is part of a series of articles about brands that are getting it right. Often we see plenty of examples of brands dropping the ball and failing to live up to their promise, but here’s a chance to highlight those who seem to have…
I told the agent I was sorry
I was on the phone with an agent on a support line the other day and I told her that I was sorry. No, I didn’t apologize… I’d done nothing wrong… Yes, I was upset, I was disappointed, I was frustrated. But I’d treated the…
If you’re explaining, you’re losing
The late actor (who also did some other things) Ronald Reagan had a saying: “If you’re explaining, you’re losing.” Now, when it comes to popular politics, what he meant by that was that it’s important to keep your arguments simple: Th...
Walk in other shoes also
If you read much of what I write, you’re aware that one of the best sources of Customer insights and the one I most frequently recommend is Walking in the Customer’s Shoes. It’s one of the best—if not the best—way for you to understand what…
CX is not a test
As a math and stats professor, I assign a lot of homework (my cadets can attest to that), but that homework is distinct from the exams I administer. That’s because the purpose of each is different. When we give homework, the purpose is for practi...
When it’s okay to ask
At one point a while back in my career I spent most of my days teaching Lean Six Sigma around the company for which I was working at the time. From a (much more seasoned) colleague I learned a witty thing to say at the…
How CX is like HR
I’ll often describe CX in terms of an analogy to other operations within your company. If it’s to make an impact, it should have a charter that includes responsibility for and the moving parts needed to drive changes. Otherwise, there’s no point in having...
Two problems with your KPIs
Anybody who’s read much of what I have to say about Customer insights and Voice of the Customer (VoC) knows I’m quite critical of legacy KPIs like CSAT and NPS. Part of that, naturally, is my inherent wiseass contrarian nature, sure. That s...
A moment of truth for entrepreneurs
I recently wrote about how some brands don’t really listen to their Customers when they develop new functions, features, and even new products, and how frustrating that can be. That’s often because a brand feels so comfortable and strong that the...
Brand Alignment Score: Reduce the subjectivity
I participated recently in another one of these awesome forums where CXers gather to chat and share ideas about our profession. The main topic centered on VoC approaches, and at one point someone brought up the challenge of interpreting his compa...
Collecting data so you can use it
I once worked with a client who was having a somewhat complicated concern about survey data: Every time they interacted with a Customer they’d send out a survey invitation. That was well and good, but they never knew (does anybody?) when th...
When NPS makes sense
A friend of mine was ribbing me the other day about the Net Promoter System and how I’m a pretty ardent critic, or at least questioner of it…not least because I think there’s a better approach (hint: It has to do with the proper purpose of…
Getting CX Right: Schlage Locks
This is another in a series of articles I decided to start writing a while back calling out brands for doing the right thing when it comes to CX. There’s a lot of negativity out there, and I’m even a big fan of learning from…
Is it loyalty?
When brands think that Customers are loyal to them, I think they’re kind of kidding themselves…especially when they’re trying to do things like make ease-of-use or low-pricing their calling cards.
Success! Now what?
What should you do when you’ve met your Brand Promise goal? That’s a question that came up from a former client recently. We’d done some great work in the past and the CEO called just to check in and catch up. His was a pretty…
Is it an Agile thing?
I woke up the other day to find that my computer had restarted itself overnight. I knew it was coming, and frankly, it was my own fault; the desktop warning and request that I either pick a time or it’ll happen of its own accord…
You need that amplification
I wrote a while back about questions raised concerning wide ranges in top-level NPS or C-SAT scores, even for Customers who may have had the same experience. The point I called out there was mostly an indictment of the use of NPS or C-SAT in…
So why did you ask?
A while back, one of my service providers sent me an invitation to fill out a survey. As I’ve stated before, sometimes CX people can be the best or the worst when it comes to such things. I will usually only fill out a survey…
Don’t leave that seat empty
There’s an old anecdote that certain customer-centric companies are “so dedicated” to their customers that they leave an empty chair at the table in the meeting room. What a waste of a seat!