In my last blog post, I spoke about the amazing experience that is called XDay North America. The event brought to you by the marketing team from QuestionPro was an exciting day and has continued to improve every year it has been held since the first year in 2019 – which I was fortunate enough to attend.
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October has been quite a month, in addition to XDay, we also had some very positive reviews about our product from independent industry analysts. Our QuestionPro CX tools allow a personalized approach to journey management and customer experience measurement following in our philosophy of Understanding Journeys and Taking Actions.
As I like to emphasize, it is important to go beyond individual touchpoints. Our Customer Journey Management tool allows brands to create nested journey management maps and integration of live survey data into map metrics. It is the reason that QuestionPro is the only customer experience software company that was rated as a leader in both Voice-of-the-Customer and Customer Journey Mapping SPARK Matrix reports from industry analysts Quadrant Knowledge Solutions. At QuestionPro CX, we are proud that we have received these esteemed honors (You can read more about it here).
October also brought me to what should be my last conference and speaking engagement of the year. I was invited to speak at the EXCO Caribbean Customer Experience Summit. My topic surrounded the idea of understanding the Total Experience. We spend so much time working in silos and focused on our own initiatives, then we fail to incorporate Systems Thinking into our roles, which can have an adverse impact on the way our customers – and our employees – view us as brands.
As I think about the different speakers that were on the agenda, that consistent message emerged as the overall theme of the conference. From Andrew Davis speaking of the Loyalty Loop to Eric Stone applying lessons from Customer Experience into Employee Engagement, we heard stories about the ways all our research into customer understanding is connected.
While I will always see Customer Experience and CX Strategy as my strongest practice area, I recognized early on in my career that practitioners needed to keep their sights on every element of the “experience”, regardless of the stakeholder. When I wrote my first publication about the analytical connection between customer experience and employee experience, despite winning an award for best paper of the year by that publisher, I felt it was largely ignored.
It is quite refreshing to see so many researchers, practitioners and speakers presenting the same concept – that “experience” does not start and end with Customer Experience, rather it ecompasses all the “X’s” – MRX (Marketing and Market Research), CX (Customer Experience), EX (Employee Experience), UX (User Experience) and so much more.
There was also discussion about the correct measurement. So often that conversation starts and ends with NPS (Net Promoter Score), but it was great to see the speakers and participants recognize that it goes beyond that “one score”. Experience is also measured with CSAT (customer satisfaction) scores and – for specific circumstances – with the CES (Customer Effort Score). When you consider the Total Experience, there are also operational metrics and internal KPI (Key Performance Indicators) to consider. Total Experience seems simple – “consider everything” – at the same time it requires Systems Thinking and being able to look beyond one score.
Thinking back to the “total” experience at Caribbean Customer Experience Summit, it was another amazing October conference experience. One day, great speakers, excellent networking along with a great venue (who can argue the Caribbean in October). I experienced it as an attendee, speaker and a sponsor seeing it as a beautifully executed event. However, when I asked our host about it, she identified many areas where the target was missed and there could have been improvements. It truly exemplifies and organization that is intent on bringing Customer Experience Strategy to life in the region.
Even “beyond the walls” of the conference, we were able to be a “part of the family”. Not seeing us as a transaction, my team and the other speakers that traveled far to be here were invited to join a trip to an island and spend time with friends and family that were getting together for a celebration. It reminded me of the idea when an employer says “we are family”, but instead of saying it, they lived it. Spending time with colleagues, our hosts, their friends and their family enjoying lively conversations, hearing about history and enjoying each other was the perfect way to wrap up a conference. As I head home later today, I am grateful to Sacha Thompson and the EXCO team for such a wonderful “total” experience.
