Organizations typically hire a branding or advertising agency to lead Identity development efforts.  These agencies have proven successful at helping organizations define who they are and what they stand for and translating that into a visual mark (logo) and language (messaging).  Once the Identity is defined, it is quickly applied to marketing communications.

That is the easiest part.  A challenge to this practice is that marketing communications do not represent all of the touchpoints customers encounter.  What about invoicing, calls into accounting, installation, service, the product itself, sales personnel and on and on?

The strategy-to-touchpoint gap inhibits results
This is another example the strategy-to-touchpoint gap.  The Identity (strategy) often lives where it was developed, in the executive suite, and where it is easy to apply, marketing communications.  But the Identity most often fails to get introduced or gain traction across non marketing communication touchpoints – thus the gap.  

This gap has left many branding or Identity efforts to fall short of meeting expectations.  As a result, branding agencies have shrunk from their heyday and many leaders and organizations have become frustrated with “branding.” This frustration can be understandable, yet tragic.

Being able to clearly deliver who you are and what you stand across each touchpoint is foundational for customer-centric organizations.  This holistic view of the customer journey and closing the strategy-to-touchpoint gap is the responsibility of the new discipline of Customer Experience Management.

___________

Remember, to your customers, you are your touchpoints.

This post an excerpt from my book, TOUCHPOiNT POWER! Get & Keep More Customers, Touchpoint by Touchpoint (William Henry Publishing, 2013).  Now available!  For information and to order, visit TouchpointPower.com or view the TOUCHPOiNT POWER! listing on Amazon.

Please post a comment or question.

I welcome your questions and inquiries.  Please connect with me via
email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
phone: direct  904.466.1805904.466.1805, text   415.515.6391415.515.6391
 

Receive tips, tricks and secrets from the front lines of customer experience by signing up for my TOUCHPOiNTER eNewsletter:

So many organizations start out with the best of intentions when it comes to their Customer Experience Management (CEM) efforts. Many trip over unforeseen organizational challenges.

 

Maximizing CEM success involves five components:

 

• - Independence
• - Support
• - Resources
• - Expertise
• - Political acumen

 

Independence – a standalone department

First, CEM shouldn’t be in a department. Customer Journeys traverse departments and CEM needs to have line of sight to the entire Journey and deal on equal footing with all of the departments along Customer Journeys. If CEM resides within one of the departments, it hinders success and collaboration. CEM should reside as a stand-alone function.

 

Support – organization leader must lead

IBM in-depth interviews with hundreds of business executives around the world found:

 

• - “top-down, ongoing support of senior executives and clear links to overall corporate goals” was one of the most critical factors that differentiated successful initiatives
• - Nearly three out of four companies designate ownership of CEM initiative with sales, marketing, IT or some other department
• - Only a quarter of firms assign it to a corporate-level team
• - If CEM is owned at the corporate level it has a 25 percent to 50 percent greater chance of success

Source: Q&A with Don Peppers and Martha Rogers: Measuring Customer Value Can Be More Important than Measuring Revenue
(3/2/2006) CRM Project Volume 6
By Don Pepper, Martha Rogers, Peppers & Rogers Group

 

Independence and support is best represented by a direct reporting relationship to the chief executive.

 

Resources – budget helps positioning

Positioning is important. Your CEM team should be positioned as there to help. There will be problems if the team is viewed as adding work or requiring or expecting significant efforts from others. Their mantra needs to be about how they can help those working along the Customer Journey improve their customer touchpoints and infrastructure, making their work life better.

 

To aid its position as a helper, the CEM team needs a budget with which to work. The team will be embraced if can bring people and/or budget to bear to contribute to facilitating improvements.

 

Truth: Position CEM for success by positioning it as a standalone function that helps and has budget to fund customer experience (CX) improvements.

 

Expertise and Acumen – knowing what and how

Lastly, CEM success needs both CEM expertise and political acumen. CEM expertise is knowing what to do to succeed. Political acumen is knowing how best to get it done in your organization.

 

There are three options to combine expertise and acumen:

 

1. CEM expertise in-house with strong political mentors and advisors
2. Tenured in-house personnel in CEM positions with CEM expertise engaged on an ongoing basis as a coach and/or consultant/vendor
3. Mix of CEM expertise and tenured professionals on the in-house team plus some external expertise hired as needed

 

Each of the three options can work. The key is that you have large and ongoing doses of both CEM expertise and internal political acumen.

 

To maximize success, set CEM efforts up independent of other departments and provide solid leadership support, budget, expertise and acumen.

Remember, to your customers, you are your touchpoints.

This post an excerpt from my book, TOUCHPOiNT POWER! Get & Keep More Customers, Touchpoint by Touchpoint (William Henry Publishing, 2013).  Now available!  For information and to order, visit TouchpointPower.com or view the TOUCHPOiNT POWER! listing on Amazon.

Please post a comment or question.

I welcome your questions and inquiries.  Please connect with me via
email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
phone: direct  904.466.1805, text   415.515.6391
 

Receive tips, tricks and secrets from the front lines of customer experience by signing up for my TOUCHPOiNTER eNewsletter: