There is no such thing as the ideal blueprint for rolling out a solid Customer Experience (CX) strategy. If you really want to get all heads in the same direction, you have to ensure that the story also lands with the CTO and the rest of the management. However, the best way to do that varies per organization. The bottom line is that goals should be set from the entire organization that converge along a common thread. Not just unfolding a vision + plan because budget has become available somewhere, but precisely because it is in line with the overarching strategy.
Directing team for CX
In order for different departments within a large organization to work together, it is important that the activities per department are aligned to one common goal: the optimal customer experience. Not only to prevent duplication of work or departments getting in each other’s way, but also so that we can learn from each other and create mutually reinforcing effects. To realize this approach, organizations would do well to put together a management team for the CX, including people from all relevant departments. This way you combine an overview of the whole with specialist knowledge per discipline. Actually the multi-disciplinary and cyclical aspect of Agile, but then department-transcending at organizational level.
One integral ambition for service and customer experience is the only priority.
An advantage of a horizontal CX directing team is that this team does not have its own commercial targets. A relevant service with optimal customer experience is the only priority. Naturally, such a team reports to the management and in practice certain plans will also be adjusted from that angle, but in this way it is at least specified what is needed for a successful CX strategy and implementation. The desired outcome of such an approach is that the various disciplines within an organization all work towards a common goal in short sprints. That is Agile at CX level (Agile CX) as we now facilitate this at several clients.
Combine micro and macro journeys
Many of our clients have so-called ‘micro journeys’: think of a customer journey of one segment or of one separate service or channel. At Schiphol, for example, you can think of the experience around parking, security and the online run-up to your trip. If you combine these separate journeys into one overarching macro journey, which is controlled from a central dashboard, a common goal is created with a holistic overview and insight into the progress. Budgetary choices of the various departments can thus be better coordinated, and the overall experience forms one logical whole for the customer. And that is exactly what you want to achieve, because the customer experience is not determined by individual interactions, but is the sum of all interactions across the entire customer journey.
