Whether you know it or not, a battle rages in the universe between companies with incredible customer experiences and everyone else. Furthermore, so many companies are paying lip service to great customer experience but not walking the walk. You are looking to hire one Avenger from the Marvel Cinematic Universe who will build the best CX program in all of the universe. Which Avenger would you hire and why? We posed this question to the CX Accelerator extended community and go

When I was 12 years old, I discovered basketball cards, I loved them so much I collected over 5,000 of them in one summer. I grew up watching Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Michael Jordan, and Kareem Abdul Jabbar. Once I started collecting, I had to have their rookie cards and then a card for every year after. I loved basketball and memorized all the statistics of every player in the league. In a weird geekish way, I ran fictitious leagues simulating all potential outcomes of eve

There aren’t many professional career paths more rewarding than Customer Experience (CX). Life as a CX professional is never dull, always changing, incredibly challenging, and so fulfilling. It takes blood, sweat, tears, and heck of a lot of time and dedication to drive meaningful CX improvements and to energize a team to keep the progress going. It’s one of the many reasons why CX Accelerator exists. We’re here to help you, by empowering you with the network and the educatio

More and more companies are realizing the importance of formalizing and strategizing the customer experience. However, many are unsure where to start, which leads to a common question, “How do you build a customer experience strategy?” This article will help you understand what a CX strategy is and how to build one by adapting the philosopher Vanilla Ice’s famous words, “... Stop, Collaborate, and Listen.” Step One: Stop & Understand Current State Be it a new or seasoned comp

We’ve all been there. It’s your first day on a new job and you’re trying to figure out how things work. There’s lots to be done – relationships to be built, goals to be set and plans to be drafted. You’re learning how to work in a new environment, and trying to battle the exhaustion that comes with that while remembering everyone’s names and figuring out what your priorities should be. Nearly every type of job contains a similar pathway through your first days and weeks, whil

Originally posted on the Rustici Software Blog Last month, I presented to the Nashville Network of Customer Experience Professionals Association (CXPA) and shared how we’ve built a remarkable place to work at Rustici Software and how that leads to providing exceptional service to our customers. While what we have built here has taken years to build and might not be totally replicated at your company, I hope it gives you inspiration or an idea to share with others in your orga

In 2007, I moved to the United Kingdom. This amazing life adventure opened my eyes to cultures, languages, and opportunities I had never experienced in America. Upon arrival, it was clear my American English was not going to cut it in the UK. I immediately started hearing words I didn’t understand, and I’m sure my word choices created some confusion. I tried to understand these differences and why they existed, and I committed to speaking to my co-workers and neighbors in a l

When it comes to Customer Experience (CX) work, it takes a very special type of person to be successful. Consider all the skills required to thrive in the role...data crunching, storytelling, journey mapping, process improvement, change management, strategic thinking, influencing behaviors, project management....the list goes on. It's essentially impossible for any one person to be strong in all of these areas. Could this be part of the reason that a huge percentage of CX

Originally posted on ICMI.com November 5th, 2018 People love to talk about Employee Experience (EX), especially in the context of Customer Experience (CX). Sadly, it's often just talk. Establishing a meaningful connection between your employee experience and the Customer Experience is very difficult. Does this make it any less important? Not at all. Attempting to "fix" the Customer Experience without developing a favorable employee journey is like building a glass cathedr

I’m not known for being quick on the uptake by those closest to me. A couple prime examples include long division and driving a stick-shift. When my only option was a manual transmission, my parents just sort of cut me loose on the streets of Rancho Cucamonga, California to learn to drive (Yes, I already had my driver’s license but on an automatic transmission). What followed was a couple solid weeks of stalling that red 1987 Toyota Corolla at every intersection with my two l

💥 What fires you up about customer experience?? 💥 Could it be CX’s huge potential to impact the bottom line, using proven strategies to help retain customers, encourage them to stay loyal and ultimately, ensure continued business success? Or is it the opportunity to help people, make the world a little better, and step into the shoes of others to see the world through their eyes that really gets you going? Whatever drew you to CX, it’s undeniable that it sits in a unique

My favorite story coming out of the FIFA World Cup thus far is how Japan, fresh off defeat to Belgium, left a wonderfully clean locker room and a "thank you" note. Full story here. How amazing is that? This picture of them bowing to their fans may give you goosebumps. Having recently visited Japan CX for myself, these wonderful moments come as no surprise at all. While my trip was short, I was able to experience four different cities and absorb a full range of cultural ex

Customer Experience (CX) is all about creating positive perceptions. Doing this is especially hard when your customers are going through a tough time. Few would know this better than the team at Vanderbilt Children's Hospital in Nashville, Tennessee. People with unimaginable pain enter these doors every day, and yet most will exit with new hope and authentic smiles. How does Vanderbilt design a patient experience capable of so much? Many answers were revealed for our fam

Empathy is defined as the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. For example, we show empathy when we put ourselves in the shoes of an elderly person and give them our seat on a crowded bus. Or when we share genuine excitement with a friend who received a job promotion. Showing this type of empathy often comes naturally to us, and is ingrained in how we act in our everyday lives. But what happens when we are sitting behind a computer screen looking at call c

Some chase the dollar; others value co-worker relationships above all.  While these things are important, the pursuit of new knowledge is wh

Let’s imagine, for one moment, that you’re casting your agents and customers in a movie. What roles would they play? Would your agents make their screen debut as wise sages, imparting knowledge and truth to help spur your customers to a glorious conclusion in their customer service journey? Or would your agents be more like sword-wielding fighters, battling to defeat angry customer ogres before they burn your contact center to the ground? Fantastical tales aside, stories abou

Do you ever feel like you're in "survival mode," running from one crisis to another, just trying to get through the day? The moment you stomp out one fire, the sparks start flying in five other directions. Or, you look at your to-do list at the end of the day, and realize that it's not just that you didn't spend your time coaching your team or any of your other big priorities; your list for tomorrow is also filled with distractions that won't do anything to help your team acc

We now live in the age of the customer, where customers expect consistent, high-value experiences. If customers don’t get immediate value, they will likely leave and go to a company who will deliver an experience that meets their expectations. To be able to know and understand what customers want, companies must listen to their customers. That’s why companies are implementing some type of voice of the customer (VoC) program. They want to get customers’ feedback on preferences

Using DiSC in a customer service context to enhance both the customer and the agent experience. There is a plethora of training options available to service leaders who are looking to enhance the communication skills of their agents. Having had exposure to many of these, DiSC is my top choice with the most significant impact. Having now studied DiSC and received my credentials as a certified facilitator, there is no mystery why the tool is so great for a customer service en

How Carvana is leveraging customer experience principles to revolutionize the process of buying a car. Last night began in standard fashion…I consumed a spicy chicken sandwich from Chick-fil-A and wandered around the kitchen for a bit. Things took a turn for the crazy, however, when we headed out to buy a new car out of a giant vending machine. Yes, I’m speaking of Carvana, “The New Way to Buy a Car” as their tagline says. For those of you who are not yet in the know, Carv