{"id":999953,"date":"2021-10-08T23:13:22","date_gmt":"2021-10-09T06:13:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/zeislerconsulting.com\/?p=2261"},"modified":"2021-10-08T23:14:26","modified_gmt":"2021-10-09T06:14:26","slug":"cx-is-about-more-than-competence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/customerthink.com\/cx-is-about-more-than-competence\/","title":{"rendered":"CX is about more than competence"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n\t\t\t\t

If you manufacture widgets, you may have market dominance based on being super-duper great at making widgets.  Perhaps you\u2019ve got a niche in a particular type<\/em> of widget or a certain feature.  Likewise, if you\u2019re a service provider and you have perfected a certain sort<\/em> of experience in delivering that service to your market, you\u2019re likely in a very comfortable position because when people want not just the service you provide, but want it in the way you provide it<\/em> specifically, they know you\u2019re the one to deliver.  In either instance, however commoditized your product or service has become, you\u2019ve differentiated yourself (and so have become very competent in that differentiated experience) enough that within the world of what you sell, how<\/em> you deliver yours is what you\u2019re known for\u2026business comes to you from people who want it like you do it.  And to put a finer point on it, lots of business doesn\u2019t<\/em> come to you (because other players in your field offer these things with a different touch that you don\u2019t care to provide), and that\u2019s cool too.<\/p>\r\n

Wise players in certain lines of business own several different brands that can appeal to various tastes:  Nissan owns Infiniti, for example; and the InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) includes brands ranging from Kimpton and Crowne Plaza to Holiday Inn Express and Staybridge Suites.  Smart leaders in these organizations will maintain overarching corporate principles and values, but leave the branding (and fulfillment of the distinct Brand Promises) to each of their subsidiaries to best leverage their respective niches.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In any of these instances (and many others besides), great brands live out those Brand Promises and provide just the right sort of delivery of their primary product or service.  In fact, within the four walls of those organizations, even that<\/em> becomes commoditized.  Manufacturers of products who promise value will design and produce those items with low cost in mind.  Service providers whose Brand Promise is to offer luxury ensure their Customers feel special whenever they receive service.  Competence in coming through with that Brand Promise in the course of the main business of the organization becomes expected and routine.  Frankly, it becomes its own skill, routine, and it\u2019s expected whenever we, as Customers, deal with these brands.<\/p>\r\n

But here\u2019s the hitch:  That Brand Promise isn\u2019t totally fulfilled if it\u2019s only<\/em> delivered when dealing directly with the product or service that\u2019s the brand\u2019s main focus.<\/p>\r\n

If that widget-maker who\u2019s promising value in its brand keeps the costs of manufacturing down and margins narrow enough to pass along those savings to the Customer, that\u2019s awesome.  Great job.  But if the means by which they deliver their product to their Customers are expensive (especially compared to their competitors), they\u2019ve missed an opportunity for a huge win.  Your Brand Promise must run through the entire experience your Customers have with your brand.  If you squeeze out all the waste and excess resource use and cost in your manufacturing process, in this instance, but don\u2019t spend the time and effort needed to ensure that, once it\u2019s built, packaged, and ordered, that your product finds the most cost-efficient way into the hands of your Customers, the last impression your Customers will have is that you missed<\/em> in delivering that Brand Promise\u2026and that\u2019s regardless of whether it\u2019s your fault, or the fault of your shipper.<\/p>\r\n

On the other hand, for example, if the Brand Promise for your service business is luxury, as I mentioned above, you\u2019re likely to pull out all the stops when it comes to how you<\/em> interact with your Customers and deliver that experience.  But if your service includes providing goods to your Customers in the process of servicing them, you\u2019d better be using top-of-the-line third-party vendors and partners, too.<\/p>\r\n

If you\u2019ve ever had a Customer Experience ruined by a support<\/em> experience<\/a>, there\u2019s a lesson to be learned there too.  Your awesome, Brand-Promise-delivering product isn\u2019t the thing your Customers are going to remember if the support<\/em> side of your business doesn\u2019t also come through when it\u2019s needed.  And let\u2019s keep in mind that we live in an imperfect world and that that support experience is always<\/em> and inevitably<\/em> going to happen for some of your Customers.  Make sure it\u2019s also part of the larger CX dedication to your Brand Promise, whether it\u2019s a promise of luxury, ease-of-use, low-cost, or anything else.<\/p>\r\n

The bottom line to remember is that, while you think you\u2019ve got your Brand Promise nailed through either the product or service (or perhaps both) you\u2019re primarily delivering to your Customers as a matter of your own competence, don\u2019t forget that experiences with your brand are an entire world unto themselves, and every way<\/em> in which your Customers are impacted is going to drive that Brand Alignment impression\u2014for the good or the bad.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCX is about more than competence
\n\t\t\t\tIf you manufacture widgets, you may have market dominance based on being super-duper great at making widgets.  Perhaps you\u2019ve got a niche in a particular type of wi…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16767,"featured_media":117249,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[128,84,95],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/customerthink.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/999953"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/customerthink.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/customerthink.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/customerthink.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16767"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/customerthink.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=999953"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/customerthink.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/999953\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1000213,"href":"https:\/\/customerthink.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/999953\/revisions\/1000213"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/customerthink.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/117249"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/customerthink.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=999953"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/customerthink.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=999953"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/customerthink.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=999953"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}