The Customer Experience

I was having a conversation with one of my former peers the other day and they made an interesting statement. They’d had a new member join their team from a different industry. The comment was, “He has a strong background in customer service roles, and some experience in running projects but I think he’ll me able to adapt to this role”.

I paused.

I wasn’t sure if the can of worms should be opened, however I just couldn’t let that statement just sit there so I replied, “Isn’t every role serving a customer? Whether it’s internal, external, or part of the day in day out routine ultimately a customer’s experience is going to be impacted.”

Then there was that uncomfortable silence. I felt I needed to explain my position more broadly.

“If you really think about it the customer experience is the heart of the relationship between any business and its customers. Typically, we used to think this meant traditional sales and marketing touch points along the customer journey, but I think it’s evolved and I bet your new team member will be an asset”.

Whether it’s transactional or transformational, there is a “customer” ; a person, a group or an entity that will be impacted by your actions. I’ve had careers in retail as a buyer and a division manager, financial services, call centers and most recently marketing and communications. One “rule” I have tried to apply is that there are multiple customers that have different needs, expectations, and understandings and if you forget that you will ultimately miss the mark.

In my current role I am lucky enough to lead a group of talented mobilization specialists and analysts. There are many aspects to their roles but when someone asks what they do I usually try to illustrate it with:

My team partners with global Operational leadership and functional leaders in the implementation of strategic initiatives, provides assistance on strategic projects to ensure project tasks, and ensures implemented processes are aligned.

If I really want to sum it up briefly and get to the root of the root, I say -They work to ensure that the customer buying a Ford vehicle is happy, loyal to the brand and satisfied.

Do they speak to or interact with these customers daily? No. But their internal customers: project managers, operations, strategy, sales, etc. all in some way ultimately impact the customer driving behind the wheel.

I believe that impacts to the customer experience are embedded into every interaction.

Each of those interactions is an opportunity.

1)      To build a stronger bond between the company and the customer—or

2)      Potentially weaken that bond.

The choice is ours to make.