Empathy is the new Black
And yes, I do mean in business.
My last article on corporate mumbo jumbo was ironically, a little verbose, so I will get straight to the point on this one. It's about customer experience. Yes, CX, DX, and UX.
Before you embark on your next initiative for 2017, ask your team, and all of your employees, to walk in your customer’s shoes for one hour and answer these ten questions. This exercise is free and will give you immediate feedback on what you need to consider changing. You may wish to tailor these questions to sync with the reality of your organization, your brand and objectives.
How many clicks or seconds does it take to find your company online, without using your company name?
How long does it take to find and learn about your products?
How long does it take to sign up for your services?
If you are in ‘consulting’ how long does it take to learn what it is you actually do?
How easy is it to connect with your company via phone, text, messaging or email?
How long does it take to answer a customer question?
How long does it take to solve a customer problem?
How empowered are your teams to solve problems?
How easy is it for your employees to submit ideas to your executive team?
How often do good ideas get implemented in your organization?
Once you have answers to all of these questions, add up the number of minutes and clicks and the degree of difficulty in being served at every touch point. Subtract that number from your chances of success in 2018.
This equation is not scientific, but what you will gain is a good idea of what you need to consider, where to spend your budget, and how to measure your efforts.
The most interesting insight I heard among all of the Pepsi commentary in the last week was this statement about looking outward, rather than in, from Max Valiquette, “This (the Pepsi ad) was done from a position of a kind of arrogance and it’s an arrogance that comes from thinking you are smarter than your audience.”
Guess what? You’re not.
What’s your next best play?
Feel free to share with any company who may have lost sight of their customers.
Thanks for listening.And be human out there.
