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the company’s offerings. These are not necessarily what the customers are telling
them. The true response may not be obvious at first. But however that response
is discerned, through data or direct contact, it will be extremely engaging for
employees to consider, because it will lead to more meaningful work.
The trajectory: Customer experience
About six months after the LX and EX initiatives began at our example
company, there was a change in customer attitudes. It showed up first in the
growing number of people who took the online surveys after their purchases
or other interactions with the company across mobile apps, call centers,
product demos, or trade shows — and it appeared in the enthusiasm of the
responses. This company had always had good products and services, but
now they were organized in a way that felt more natural. The enterprise was
more responsive than it used to be; it almost seemed as if its employees knew
what its customers were thinking. And customers, instead of seeing their
purchases as one-time transactions, began to feel that they had a relationship
with the company.
It hadn’t been easy for the company to figure out how to offer this high
ground relationship, because customers didn’t ask for it, and they didn’t articulate
it when asked what they wanted. But they knew it when they saw it. The
company didn’t force them to pay attention to complex features or requirements,
but it also didn’t oversimplify things or penalize them for not paying attention.
When customers used the company’s products, it was as if that experience, in
itself, made them feel better and more capable.
The employees had worked hard to produce this feeling. They had
prototyped many efforts, introduced them in the market, and learned from each
prototype. They had thought rigorously about what customers would think
about each one, and shared their thinking and knowledge with one another.
Formal leaders, at the top of the hierarchy, had not only offered encouragement
but provided insight, participating in workshops and sessions focused on what
customers wanted and how that might translate into the next round of customer
experience innovation.
Customer experience can be defined as the trajectory of connection points