Improving Customer Experience | CX Buzz of the Week (22nd September, 2016)

In this week’s #CX Buzz, Peter Fader for Adage asks why only the ‘right’ customers are right; Annette Franz tells you to use your employees voices to transform your CX; Chris Smith from Knowtechie wonders how IoT will challenge everyday CX; From Mashable no less a great piece on 5 ways to conquer customer satisfaction – a case study of Zappos; Nicolas Bordas’s brilliant piece on what if brand meant CX; And finally, our tweet of the week is an endorsement of Bordas’s piece from none other than the brilliant @Jaybaer. Enoy!

Subtitled, "Not Every Customer Is Worth Dropping Everything For. So Why Do Companies Do It? Peter Fader looks at what makes a customer 'right' and how far you need to go to please even the most difficult customers. He postulates that perhaps it's time to let go of that old moniker "the customer is always right," which has led - in his opinion - to the creation of monsters. Instead he suggests that it is time to identify and rewarding their best customers. It's an interesting, albeit somewhat controversial idea, don't you think?

Another great piece by CX Buzz regular, Annette Franz. In this piece Annette postulates that, 'without employees, you have no customer experience.' That's quite some statement to make, but we happen to agree with her wholeheartedly. The thing is, how to use your employees’ voices to transform your customer experience? It starts with making sure that they are happy, engaged and having a great experience.

We are pretty sure that when done right, the IoT will enhance the customer experience. It would appear Chris Smith agrees with us. Asking, "How is your daily life impacted by technology? If you’re like many, you probably rely on your smartphone to stay connected with friends, make your work life more efficient, and shop online. You might use a fitness tracker like a Fitbit to keep tabs on your steps, or wear a smart watch that controls your room temperature." Here’s his closer look at how your everyday life as a consumer could be impacted.

You won't be judged for being surprised that this article appeared in Mashable, they are afterall better known for startup and tech industry news. But they now have a new DBA series about running a business that features insights from leaders in entrepreneurship, venture capital and management. In this Edition Mitch Coopet looks at how Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos, conquers customer satisfaction. It's simple but brilliant advice.

You might have seen the image depicted in our Tweet of the Week below before, the picture is an old one, but the message is crystal clear. In fact, "Customer experience is your brand," states Brian Solis in the introduction of his new book, X : The Experience when Business meets Design. Yet, today, aside from Apple who set the example, very few brands have made experience their most important concern. And yet, customer experience is what makes or breaks a brand. Author of this piece Nicolas Bordas takes us on a journey to explain how ZMOT to UMOT proves that the CX is the brand. FYI: ZMOT = the Zero Moment of Truth, which corresponds to the search of information on the Internet before making a purchase, and UMOT = for the Ultimate Moment of Truth, which is when customers’ share their experience with a product or service on the Internet.

Our Tweet of the Week relates to the post above from @NicolasBordas and comes in the form of a high profile endorsement of the piece by none other than @Jaybaer. Doesn’t get better than that!

“What if "brand" meant "customer experience"? https://t.co/QzrjeKCLrL@nicolasbordas#cxpic.twitter.com/YSagqjPasf

— Jay Baer (@jaybaer) September 12, 2016