Incredibly inspiring words from a unique man – Steve Jobs
When you grow up, you tend to get told that the world is the way it is and that your life is just to live inside the world. Try not to bash into the walls too much. Try to have a nice family life. Have fun, and save a little money. But life that, that’s a very limited life. Life can be much broader once you discover one simple fact, and that is everything around you that you call life.
Was made up by people that were no smarter than you. And you can change it, you can influence it, you can build your own things that other people can use. And the minute that you understand that you can poke life and actually something will, if you push in, something will pop out the other side that you can change it, you can mold it.
That’s maybe the most important thing is to shake off this erroneous notion that life is there and you’re just gonna live in it, versus embrace it, change it, improve it, make your mark upon it. I think that’s very important. And however, you learn that once you learn it you’ll want it to change your life and make it better.
Cuz it’s messed up in a lot of ways. Once you learn that, you’ll never be the same again.
Steve Towers, an expert in customer experience, enjoys spreading his enthusiasm for this field through coaching, keynote speeches, books, and social media content.
He helps companies win the triple crown – the simultaneous ability to increase revenues, decrease costs, and enhance service – through the CEMMethod, which is now in version 15.
With over three decades of experience working with large enterprises worldwide, Steve has distilled the successful strategies of top-performing organizations into a proprietary methodology that can be easily imparted to CX teams and executives.
His forte lies in envisioning the future of customer-centricity, customer experience, process management and realizing long-term benefits from business transformation. Steve’s approach combines customer-focused thinking, cutting-edge technologies, and a human touch.
Steve is also an entrepreneur and an early-stage investor in software companies like Parallel.
With the emphasis growing on Cost Reduction how can we do that in a constructive way that also delivers better Successful Customer Outcomes?
In today’s competitive business landscape, companies constantly seek ways to lower costs, increase revenues, and improve service to remain relevant and profitable. One proven approach to achieving these goals is by adopting the Customer Experience Management Method (CEMMethod), which includes the Triple Crown approach; this focuses on delivering Successful Customer Outcomes (SCOs) through North Star Alignment and Outside-In thinking.
This article will discuss how the CEMMethod, combined with innovative technologies such as AI, Digitization, and Machine Learning (ML), can lead to significant cost reductions and overall business improvement.
The Triple Crown Philosophy
The Triple Crown management philosophy focuses on achieving three key outcomes: lower costs, higher revenues, and improved service. This is accomplished by shifting from an Industrial Age mindset, which emphasizes internal processes and efficiency, to an Outside-In perspective that prioritizes customer needs and experiences.
The Outside-In approach, championed by thought leaders like Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos, Tony Hsieh, Richard Branson, and others, involves understanding the Key Customer Outcomes (KCOs) and aligning all aspects of the organization to deliver these outcomes. This North Star Alignment ensures that every decision and action contributes to customer success, ultimately leading to Triple Crown Benefits.
Successful Customer Outcome Canvas
A crucial tool in the Triple Crown methodology is the Successful Customer Outcome Canvas (SCOC). This framework helps organizations identify and prioritize the most critical KCOs, the foundation for all business activities. By focusing on these KCOs, companies can eliminate unnecessary work, streamline operations, and reduce costs.
Outside-In Strategic Matrix
The Outside-In Strategic Matrix (OISM) is another essential component of the Triple Crown approach. This OISM provides a comprehensive view of the organization’s current approach to CX improvement and the actual Customer’s real experience. It is often initially reported that organizations have an incorrect definition of Customer Experience in seeing things from their perspective rather than the customers.
Through the OISM, companies can create a roadmap for achieving SCOs and transforming their businesses.
Six-Step Innovation
The Six Step Innovation process (6Si) supports the Triple Crown approach, which guides organizations through adopting Outside-In thinking and delivering SCOs. These steps involve:
Defining the target area: Identify the process or area that needs improvement.
Identifying Customer Interactions: Determine the obstacles and challenges that hinder the delivery of SCOs.
Describing Actions: Develop strategies and solutions to eliminate Customer Interactions and achieve SCOs.
Conducting Cost and Benefits Assessments: Analyze the potential impact of each action on costs, revenues, and service quality.
Implementing the Innovation improvements
Migrating the Cutomer Experiences to the new way Prioritize the most effective actions based on their potential for achieving Triple Crown Benefits.
Customer Experience Management Method (CEMMethod)
The Customer Experience Management Method (CEMMethod) is a comprehensive framework developed by the BP Group and Steve Towers that combines the principles of Outside-In thinking, North Star Alignment, and Triple Crown Benefits. Initially identified in the ’90s by then SVP of Research at Gartner, Jim Sinur, the Triple Crown approach helps organizations adopt a customer-centric approach, leading to significant cost reductions and improved business performance.
Customer Performance Landscape
The customer performance landscape is a term used to describe the overall environment in which customers interact with businesses. It includes factors such as the customer’s needs, expectations, and preferences, as well as the business’s products, services, and overall customer experience.
The customer performance landscape constantly evolves as customers become more demanding and businesses strive to provide better experiences. As a result, it is essential for companies to continually monitor and adapt to the changing landscape to remain competitive.
There are several factors that businesses can consider when assessing the customer performance landscape. These include:
The customer’s needs and expectations: What are the customer’s needs and wants? What do they expect from the business?
The business’s products and services: How do the business’s products and services meet the customer’s needs and expectations?
The overall customer experience: What is the customer’s overall experience with the business? Is it positive, negative, or somewhere in between?
By understanding the customer performance landscape, businesses can make informed decisions about improving their products, services, and overall customer experience. This can lead to increased customer satisfaction, loyalty, and revenue.
Examples of Cost Reduction Through the CEMMethod
Here are three examples of how adopting the CEMMethod and Triple Crown philosophy can lead to significant cost reductions:
Insurance claims processing: An automotive insurance company significantly reduced costs by streamlining its processing system, focusing on delivering the Successful Customer Outcome of a quick and hassle-free claims experience. The company achieved cost savings and improved customer satisfaction by eliminating unnecessary work and adopting AI and ML technologies.
Global B2B supply chain: A global B2B company rationalized its supply chain and shifted its focus toward the Successful Customer Outcome for its clients, resulting in significant cost reductions. By aligning all aspects of the organization toward customer success, the company was able to eliminate inefficiencies and optimize resources.
Pharmaceutical technology: A pharmaceutical company reduced costs by 66% by updating its technology infrastructure and introducing AI to handle labor-intensive tasks. This shift allowed the company to focus on delivering the Successful Customer Outcome of providing high-quality medications to patients more efficiently and cost-effectively.
Global Utility company: In an extensive digitization program, a Customer Performance Landscape was built to demonstrate the connection between IT systems and the delivery of the Successful Customer Outcome. Within a month, it was identified that seventeen of the existing systems no longer contributed to the newly articulated SCO and, after analysis, could be removed. The resulting benefits included the Triple Crown with similar efficiency, effectiveness, and productivity improvements.
Embracing AI, Digitization, and Machine Learning (ML)
Adopting innovative technologies such as AI, Digitization, and ML is crucial for organizations looking to achieve Triple Crown Benefits. By automating repetitive tasks, optimizing resources, and uncovering valuable insights from data, these technologies can help companies reduce costs and improve customer experiences.
AI and ML in Customer Service
One effective way to reduce costs and enhance service quality is by implementing AI and ML technologies in customer service operations. Smart Chatbots, for example, can handle routine inquiries and resolve issues quickly, freeing up human agents to focus on more complex tasks. This approach reduces operational costs and improves customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Digitization in Supply Chain Management
Digitization can lead to significant cost reductions in supply chain management by streamlining operations and increasing visibility across the entire supply chain. Companies can optimize inventory levels, reduce lead times, and minimize waste by adopting digital solutions such as IoT devices, predictive analytics, and real-time data sharing.
Conclusion
The CEMMethod hooked to the Triple Crown philosophy, focusing on delivering Successful Customer Outcomes through North Star Alignment and Outside-In thinking, offers a proven approach to reducing costs, increasing revenues, and improving the service quality. Organizations can transform their businesses, achieve Triple Crown Benefits, and thrive in today’s competitive market by adopting this methodology, along with innovative technologies like AI, Digitization, and ML.
Steve Towers, an expert in customer experience, enjoys spreading his enthusiasm for this field through coaching, keynote speeches, books, and social media content.
He helps companies win the triple crown – the simultaneous ability to increase revenues, decrease costs, and enhance service – through the CEMMethod, which is now in version 15.
With over three decades of experience working with large enterprises worldwide, Steve has distilled the successful strategies of top-performing organizations into a proprietary methodology that can be easily imparted to CX teams and executives.
His forte lies in envisioning the future of customer-centricity, customer experience, process management and realizing long-term benefits from business transformation. Steve’s approach combines customer-focused thinking, cutting-edge technologies, and a human touch.
Steve is also an entrepreneur and an early-stage investor in software companies like Parallel.
This is a collection of Jeff Bezos’ letters to shareholders over the years. It provides insights into how Amazon became one of the most successful companies in the world by focusing on customer experience.
The shareholder letters cover topics such as innovation, risk-taking, and long-term thinking. It also includes Bezos’ thoughts on artificial intelligence, space exploration, and climate change.
This book explores the business models of four of the most successful companies in the world: Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google. It argues that these companies have become so dominant because they have mastered the art of customer experience.
Scott provides us with insights into how these companies operate and what makes them so successful. It also explores these companies’ impact on society and what the future might hold for them.
This is a memoir by Tony Hsieh, the former CEO of Zappos. It provides insights into how he built one of the world’s most successful online shoe retailers by focusing on customer experience.
The memoir covers topics such as company culture, employee happiness, and customer service. It also includes Hsieh’s thoughts on entrepreneurship and what it takes to build a successful business.
This is a guide to modern marketing. It argues that marketing is not about advertising or selling products but about creating valuable connections with customers.
Seth provides insights into building a brand that people love and creating products that people need to buy. ‘This is Marketing’ explores technology’s impact on marketing and marketers’ future.
Morgan Blake provides insights into how companies can create a customer-centric culture that will help them succeed in the future.
It covers topics such as customer experience design, data analytics, and employee engagement. The book also includes case studies from companies such as Starbucks, Airbnb, and Uber successfully implementing customer-centric strategies.
This is the dawning of the golden age of Customer Experience. Join Steve Towers on FIVE key trends born of AI.
🌎 ChatGPT has the potential to significantly enhance your CX. This can be seen in five key trends. Smart chatbots, Augmented Intelligence, Enhanced communication, Innovation, and application programming.
Steve Towers, an expert in customer experience, enjoys spreading his enthusiasm for this field through coaching, keynote speeches, books, and social media content.
He helps companies win the triple crown – the simultaneous ability to increase revenues, decrease costs, and enhance service – through the CEMMethod, which is now in version 15.
With over three decades of experience working with large enterprises worldwide, Steve has distilled the successful strategies of top-performing organizations into a proprietary methodology that can be easily imparted to CX teams and executives.
His forte lies in envisioning the future of customer-centricity, customer experience, process management and realizing long-term benefits from business transformation. Steve’s approach combines customer-focused thinking, cutting-edge technologies, and a human touch.
Steve is also an entrepreneur and an early-stage investor in software companies like Parallel.
Now, let’s talk about the benefits of ChatGPT in customer experience. How can ChatGPT improve customer experience? I see five emerging trends.
If you prefer to consume your information via video, here it is (approx 4 minutes). https://youtu.be/aetJ_nAhrZo
Smart Chatbots
There is a new generation of chat Bots. The old chat Bots were scripted. The new ones are more conversational, and the old ones feel inhuman and frustrate customers.
The new ones are like you’re having a conversation with another human. The quality of the feedback you get is much higher. You can continue a conversation, so it’s like you’re talking to a live person.
Once we have the quality of ChatGPT in customer service Bots, it will be a whole new world of automation of customer experiences.
Augmented Intelligence
It’s finally happening. The AI system can help humans speed up their work and reactions towards customers. They can ask the chatbot to give a first idea of a reaction towards an email.
Then they can fine-tune it a little bit, or if you have to send an email to, like, let’s say, thousands of customers, and you have to tell them that maybe a shipment is going to be late or that you’re out of stock of specific products you can ask the chatbot to write an email for you and then you can fine-tune it.
The productivity of the humans working in and around the customer experiences will increase dramatically because of AI.
Conversation Management On social media today, many organisations have people just reacting to people on Twitter or Facebook. When they write a review on TripAdvisor or open table now, you can ask ChatGPT to write a first reaction towards a customer’s post.
Again you get a first reaction. You reach a specific style; you can fine-tune it. Now you can react to reviews on TripAdvisor, for instance, at five times the speed compared to when you have to type in everything, so it speeds up conversation management.
Again, it’s an increase in efficiency and effectiveness.
Rapid Innovation
Sometimes we’re like stuck. We always repeatedly think about the same concepts to make our customers happy.
Now you can ask your AI assistant to come up with some ideas and say how can I wow my customers when something like this happens? When something goes wrong?
You can ask AI about your company’s style and culture. Ask which Innovations and customer experience would bring value to our customers. Instead of getting together ten people for half a day, you now type in a question!
Some have tried it with some surprising results and generated new good ideas.
After that first session of ideas, you can build on that as a human team, inspiring the team to develop innovation in CX.
Application coding
Code interfaces for customers may not be up to speed, or they’re not convenient enough, and then the CX team wants the IT team to work on that.
However, there’s often a long queue of technology priorities, and you have to wait three months to change a simple thing for the customer.
If you could outsource this now to a machine, what if you could ask chatgpt to improve the code or change the code to improve your user interfaces much faster than in the past, which creates a new benefit for customers they give feedback then you can react more quickly.
If you prefer to consume your information via video, here it is (approx 4 minutes). https://youtu.be/aetJ_nAhrZo
Let’s summarize: The use of chat GPT can significantly improve customer experience in various ways.
The emergence of smart chatbots allows for more conversational interactions with customers, increasing the quality of feedback received.
Augmented intelligence also speeds up work processes and help humans react faster to customer inquiries.
Additionally, conversation management is made more efficient through ChatGPT in reacting to customer reviews and posts on social media platforms.
Rapid innovation is also possible through AI assistants who can assist in coming up with new ideas for customer experience improvements.
Finally, application coding can be outsourced to machines, allowing for faster improvements to user interfaces, resulting in better customer feedback and quicker reactions to their needs. Overall, the benefits of ChatGPT in customer experience are numerous and can greatly enhance the quality of customer interactions and satisfaction.
As these interesting developments evolve I will bring additional developments to your attention. Thanks for reading!
Please subscribe to the channel, and like this article.
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“This course provided a terrific holistic framework for how I can more richly think about how MOTs connect to Customer Experience and Customer Journey Management. It’s a terrific program that I’d recommend and encourage Professionals to strongly consider.”
Jim Lecinski, Professor, Kellogg School of Management
(Jim is the creator of ZMOTs and Micro MOTs as a VP at Google 2006-2018)
L.G. Lavengood Outstanding Professor of the Year Award (2022)
The latest research into Customer Experience makes stark reading. Get the inside track and data to support your business case and upskilling for CX.
🌎 Customer experience is a billion-dollar global opportunity – but almost every single experience is broken 🤔 How to make money while solving for it is where Customer Journey Management+ comes in.
But what exactly is Customer Journey Management? It’s the process of optimizing the interactions that consumers have in an experience across all touchpoints and channels.
This involves connecting the dots between customer interactions and the supporting systems and people that operate the internal processes.
Effectively you can’t be successful if you do one without the other.
By understanding the customer journey, businesses can identify pain points and areas for improvement, ultimately leading to increased customer satisfaction, lower costs and growing revenue (the triple crown).
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“This course provided a terrific holistic framework for how I can more richly think about how MOTs connect to Customer Experience and Customer Journey Management. It’s a terrific program that I’d recommend and encourage Professionals to strongly consider.”
Jim Lecinski, Professor, Kellogg School of Management
(Jim is the creator of ZMOTs and Micro MOTs as a VP at Google 2006-2018)
L.G. Lavengood Outstanding Professor of the Year Award (2022)
Get yourself and your colleagues ‘upskilled’ with the Accredited Customer Experience Professional® to acquire the latest tools, techniques, and proven approaches to winning with Customer Experience.
RECOMMENDED QUALIFICATION: The Accredited Customer Experience Professional® (ACXP): https://bit.ly/UAECXMasters
If you want to check if your colleagues are already qualified do a search with #ACXP on Linkedin.
“(CEMMethod) provided a terrific holistic framework for how I can more richly think about how MOTs connect to Customer Experience and Customer Journey Management.”
Jim Lecinski, Professor, Kellogg School of Management (Jim is the creator of ZMOTs and Micro MOTs as an SVP at Google 2006-2018)
L.G. Lavengood Outstanding Professor of the Year Award (2022)
The latest research into Customer Experience Measurement makes stark reading. Get the inside track and data to support your business case for CX.
Customer experience (CX) is one of the most important factors influencing customer satisfaction, loyalty, retention and revenue. However, measuring CX can be challenging and complex, especially with existing systems that are often too subjective, retrospective and non-representative®.
If you are a senior business person or a customer experience professional who wants to gain organisational support for your efforts, produce actionable plans that improve customer experiences and build credibility for your CX efforts, then you need a new and innovative system to help you measure CX effectively and efficiently.
Some of the common challenges and limitations of existing CX measurement systems are:
They rely too much on subjective feedback from customers, such as surveys or ratings, which can be influenced by various factors such as mood, memory or social desirability
They are too retrospective, meaning they capture customer opinions after the experience has occurred, which can miss important moments or emotions during the experience
They are not representative, meaning they only capture a small sample of customers willing or able to provide feedback, which can skew the results or miss important segments or personas.
Some of the recent findings make for stark reading:
According to a McKinsey survey, the typical CX survey samples only 7 per cent of a company’s customers, providing an extremely limited view of what customers experience and value[1]
Another McKinsey report states that nearly two-thirds of respondents ranked the ability to act on CX issues in near real-time as among their top three priorities, but only 13 percent of leaders expressed certainty that their organizations could achieve this level of rapid insight through existing systems[2]
Too much subjective data often makes aligning customer goals with business outcomes difficult. Getting lost in the sheer mass of available data is far too easy.
These challenges can lead to inaccurate or incomplete data on customer experiences, resulting in poor decisions or actions that do not address customers’ real needs or expectations. This can ultimately affect customer satisfaction, loyalty and retention.
So how can you enhance your CX measurement with objective, fact-based and actionable approaches?
How can you connect a modern CXMS to business goals and outcomes?
One way is to adopt approaches that add to existing CXM systems by incorporating six elements that directly measure experiences: How Easy, How fast, How convenient, How trackable, How personalised and How predictive.
Combine those measures with a unifying model, such as the Customer Performance Landscape® and directly link the customer experiences with business goals.[3]
The CEMMethod® Customer Performance Landscape®
Over the last decade, we have codified these best CX measurement practices into the Customer Experience Management Method® (CEMMethod®). These approaches are based on leading global companies’ ‘next’ practices. Sometimes, the Customer Experience 6 (CX6) measurement approach has completely replaced previous systems like CSAT and NPS.
The CX6 includes easy-to-measure elements across all experiences and can produce results from a simple and quick analysis. The approach will ensure full support from the business leaders and put all your CX efforts on steroids. It also doesn’t mean you have to abandon those dated approaches to CX measurement – you can either implement CX6 as a complementary approach or as a complete standalone system.
If you would like to see how the CX6 can help we invite you to join our upcoming webinar on measuring customer experience with CX6.
In this webinar, you will learn:
What are the main challenges and limitations of existing CXM systems
What are the six elements of CX6 and how they relate to customer expectations and preferences
How to measure each element of experience using different methods or tools
What are the main benefits of using CX6 for organizations and customers
How to use CX6 in practice with a live demonstration
By attending this webinar, you will discover how CX6 can help you overcome the challenges of existing CXM systems and deliver better outcomes for both customers and organizations. You will also get to ask questions or share feedback on our presentation.
Take advantage of this opportunity to learn how to measure customer experience with CX6: a new and innovative system. Register now by clicking this link https://cemnext.com/cxm_landing and reserve your spot today!
Get yourself and your colleagues ‘upskilled’ with the Accredited Customer Experience Professional® to acquire the latest tools, techniques, and proven approaches to winning with Customer Experience.
RECOMMENDED QUALIFICATION: The Accredited Customer Experience Professional® (ACXP): https://bit.ly/GCCACXP
If you want to check if your colleagues are already qualified do a search with #ACXP on Linkedin.
Are you looking for a way to enhance your customer experience? Do you want to become a qualified Accredited Customer Experience Master?
Look no further than our 4-day online live program! Our program introduces and coaches you with ‘state of the art’ tools and techniques from the CEMMethod, a proven, tried and tested approach to enhancing customer experiences.
You will complete offline exercises, ideally based on your work, and on successful completion of ten exercises, you will become a qualified Accredited Customer Experience Master®.
Through your work you will then immediately be able to deliver the Triple Crown of benefits – lowering costs, growing revenues, improving service and increasing customer loyalty.
Imagine having the ability to deliver exceptional customer experiences through your organization’s processes, people, and systems. Our program connects you with the means to do just that. You’ll have access to the latest insights and strategies to take your customer experiences to the next level.
Join over 140,000+ professionals who have already taken the first step towards becoming Accredited Customer Experience Masters. Sign up for our 4-day online live program today and start transforming your customer experience success!
Review the Twelve Frequently Asked Questions associated with Customer Experience Management are discussed with supporting videos and decks at www.bpgroup.org/cxfaq.html
Customer Experience Frequently Asked Questions – the first we look at is ‘What is Customer Experience Management?”
This and eleven other Frequently Asked Questions associated with Customer Experience Management are discussed with supporting videos and decks at www.bpgroup.org/cxfaq.html
So what exactly is Customer Experience Management (CEM)?
Customer Experience Management (CEM or CXM) is a strategic and operational approach commonly used as a competitive differentiator. It involves aligning every aspect of an organisation towards delivering customer needs and successful outcomes no matter how far removed the customer is perceived to be.
This includes:
Customer journey – what the customer does, expects and feels.
Customer Interactions.
Supporting internal process.
Associated team and hierarchy structures.
Performance metrics.
Digital capabilities.
Vision, mission & strategy.
Typically, companies who engage in Customer Experience Management activities outperform those who do not.
Customer Experience Management (CEM) is the practice of proactively managing customer interactions, perceptions, and emotions to create positive customer experiences throughout the customer journey.
It involves understanding customer needs, preferences, and expectations and then creating tailored experiences that meet these needs, that are memorable and leave a lasting impression.
CEM also requires connecting the customer experience to the means of delivery, such as the organisation’s people, processes, and systems. This means that CEM requires a comprehensive understanding of the customer journey and ensuring that the organisation’s people, processes, and systems can work together to provide a seamless experience that meets customer needs and expectations. Additionally, CEM requires a focus on developing customer relationships and fostering loyalty by providing ongoing support, feedback, and value
Review the Twelve Frequently Asked Questions associated with Customer Experience Management are discussed with supporting videos and decks at www.bpgroup.org/cxfaq.html
