Your mission, customer experience warrior, if you choose to accept it, is this:
Be brave.
Be brave enough to do what you know is right, even if the data, your lawyers and sometimes your leaders tell you differently. Customers deserve it. You deserve it!
I am very lucky to have spoken at the Customer Experience World conference in London this week. As I listened and learned, there was a clear theme that arose from smart customer experience professionals from all over the globe. Be brave.
- From John Roberts, Founder and CEO of AO (AppliancesOnline), an amazing start-up, said bravery means never letting your Profit & Loss statement be your guide. Do what’s right. So simple, but such a profound statement to follow!
- From Michelle Preston, Head of Student Services at the City University of London, bravery is comparing your customer experience to the BEST in experience, not those in your industry. Don’t put up your own barriers to innovation. You know what a good experience is. Trust yourself.
- Ever consider the future? That’s what Anton Musgrave, the CEO of Futureworld International, wants you to do. Be brave enough to NOT wait for data. We’ve been trained to wait and wait for it. Don’t wait. Look to the future and consider what *might* be happening.
- Do you know your North Star? Whatever it is, you better know it. Understand the way your day-to-day tasks have an impact. Then make sure everyone else understands that, too. David Hicks, CEO of Mulberry Consulting, wants you to ask: What is your North Star? That requires bravery.
I love this theme.
It’s not about tactics, it’s about strategy.
Nobody was ever inspired by a spreadsheet. The only way you can inspire those in your organization to truly deliver a superior customer experience is to be brave. Sometimes that means ignoring what everyone else is doing and doing the right thing is what will really work. Bravery can mean facing the way your customer experience doesn’t deliver for your customers. It is brave to take a deep breath and realize those complaints piling up are about one person, and it’s time to make a change.
Customer experience is, at its core, a human and personal experience for everyone involved. Leaders especially need to emotionally invest in the experience. They need to lead with emotion. And they need to lead with bravery.
It’s time to be brave. You ready?
Image credits: JD Hancock, Steven Depolo via Creative Commons license
