I’m writing this post on the first Tuesday of October – also known in some circles as “Customer Experience (CX) Day.” CX Day is a global celebration of the companies and professionals that create great customer experiences.
It’s a day when organizations roll out the red carpet for their customer-facing employees and CX experts, highlighting their contributions and underscoring the company’s commitment to customer experience excellence. There are speeches by senior executives, recorded messages from customers, pats on the back for a job well done, and a general euphoria over all things CX.
And then Wednesday arrives, and with it a harsh reality: The senior executives disappear, having fulfilled their once-a-year commitment to mingle with the frontline. The purse strings for funding customer experience improvements remain as tight as ever. And leaders squabble over just how much should be spent on improving the customer experience when customer retention remains strong.
Indeed, it’s what happens on the first Wednesday in October (the day after CX Day) that’s really most telling – because in many organizations, that’s when customer-facing employees are reminded of something quite disheartening: They’re working for a company where customer experience is put front and center… one day a year.
As I explain in my new book FROM IMPRESSED TO OBSESSED: 12 Principles for Turning Customers and Employees into Lifelong Fans (McGraw-Hill, Nov. 3), companies are delusional when it comes to understanding the true quality of the customer experience they offer. Study after study has shown that there is a chasm of perception between company executives and their customers, with the former group possessing a much rosier assessment of CX quality as compared to the latter.
And for those executives who don’t delude themselves, who are clearheaded about the sub-par state of their customer experience, sometimes an even more warped sentiment prevails. They convince themselves that a better customer experience isn’t necessary or even financially prudent, given the competitive environment they operate in (e.g., the lack of substitute offerings, or their domination of the market). They convince themselves that whatever CX delivery gaps and customer annoyances may exist, people will be compelled to tolerate them because they won’t have any other choice. (Ask Blockbuster Video, Yahoo, and the entire taxi industry how that strategy pans out.)
Through it all, in the background, there are macro-level statistics that vividly illustrate the abysmal state of customer experience (the American Customer Satisfaction Index is lower today than it was a quarter century ago), as well as the financial rewards of CX excellence (Watermark Consulting’s Customer Experience ROI Study shows CX-leading companies outperform CX-lagging ones by a 3-to-1 margin in shareholder return).
Yet so many firms still do not see the forest through the trees, mistakenly viewing an annual day of CX celebration as strong evidence of an organization’s commitment to customer experience excellence. In truth, however, a genuine commitment to CX is best revealed not by what a company does on a single day of the year, but by what it does every day of the year. Great companies (and their leaders):
- Recognize the limitations of customer retention stats, and appreciate that a retained customer is not necessarily a loyal customer.
- Make the tough decisions that put long-term customer engagement ahead of short-term financial gain.
- Solve for a customer experience that will maximize loyalty, not just minimize defections.
- Forge a culture where everyone knows they have a customer to serve, even if it’s just a colleague a few steps away.
- Create a work environment where customer-facing roles are coveted, not viewed as dead-end jobs.
- Equip employees with the skills and tools they need to consistently deliver a great, differentiated customer experience.
These are among the hallmarks of businesses that are genuinely committed to customer experience. They are organizational characteristics that should be on the radar of any customer-centric professional. And if they’re evident in your organization on the day after CX Day (and beyond) – then by all means… celebrate!
[A version of this article originally appeared on Forbes.com.]
Jon Picoult is founder of Watermark Consulting, a customer experience advisory firm that helps companies impress customers and inspire employees, creating raving fans that drive business growth. Author of “FROM IMPRESSED TO OBSESSED: 12 Principles for Turning Customers and Employees into Lifelong Fans” (McGraw-Hill, November 2021), Picoult is an acclaimed speaker, and advisor to some of world’s foremost brands. Follow Jon on Twitter or Instagram, or subscribe to his monthly eNewsletter.