With 2019 winding down, we decided to tally the views of our various information resources and see which ones garnered the most attention. Here, then, are our ten most popular posts of the year:
#10 — Why Did The Top-Rated Company In Customer Experience Go Bankrupt?
Back in 2011, just a few months after being rated as having the best customer experience of any company in any industry, bookstore chain Borders filed for bankruptcy. The story behind Borders’ demise carries important lessons for any company that seeks to derive strategic advantage from its customer experience.
#9 — The One Chart Every CEO Should Study
This article’s title clearly caught the attention of many in the C-Suite, among others. The goal of the piece was pretty straightforward: Highlight one simple chart that illustrates what companies stand to gain from a great customer experience, and what they stand to lose from a poor one.
#8 — The Problem With Professional Services
Professional services firms are made up of people who possess specialized knowledge and deep expertise in a particular discipline (e.g., lawyers, accountants, financial advisors, medical practitioners, etc.). These organizations face an unusual customer experience challenge: Their greatest strength can also be their greatest weakness.
#7 — Why Revenue Growth Is A Poor Measure Of Customer Experience ROI
When trying to advocate for customer experience investment within an organization, many people point to accelerated revenue growth — orienting their colleagues around the idea that with a better customer experience comes higher sales and retention. While that’s true, it misses an important piece of the ROI puzzle.
#6 — Where Executives Should Spend More Of Their Time, But Don’t
To help cultivate customer insight and drive customer experience innovation, business leaders often commission research reports, focus groups and consumer surveys (among other traditional data gathering techniques). Yet, just steps away from their corner offices lies a treasure trove of ideas for CX improvement and differentiation.
#5 — Two Words That Will Hurt Your Business’ Customer Experience
Business leaders pushing for a better customer experience may have the best intentions, but they don’t realize that the words they use in the workplace can send subtle signals which undermine the credibility of their CX initiatives. Here are two such words that should be stricken from every executive’s vocabulary.
#4 — Three Tips For Aligning Executives Around The Customer Experience
Aligning an executive team around the customer experience imperative can feel a lot like herding cats, given all the competing agendas and silo-oriented mentalities. But it can be done, and this article highlights three tactics for accomplishing precisely that.
#3 — The Worst Customer Service Telephone Greeting… Ever!
In this video clip from a recent keynote speech, Watermark founder Jon Picoult describes how something as simple as how you answer the phone can drive customer perceptions around how easy or difficult it will be to work with your business.
#2 — Choosing The Top Customer Experience Consulting Firm For Your Needs
Selecting the right CX consultancy can be a challenging exercise. We’ve been doing CX consulting and education for more than a decade, and we’ve learned a lot about facilitating the right match between clients and consultants. That led us to write this article highlighting five questions you should ask of any prospective consulting partner.
#1 — The Customer Experience ROI Study
No surprise, here… this Watermark study (updated for 2019) is one of the most widely cited pieces of CX research and it continues to attract a lot of attention. The studies (both our original cross-industry version, as well as more recent industry-specific versions) vividly illustrate how great customer experiences enhance business value, while poor ones sap it. Plus, each study highlights some of the techniques that CX-leading firms use to differentiate themselves.
Like these articles? View the WaterRemarks blog to see more like them. And, if you’re looking to create a customer experience that sets your business apart from the rest, be sure to explore Watermark’s services, or start a conversation by contacting us.