2008 was not a good year for financial services. From the subprime mortgage crisis to the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the US was in a sorry state financially, which in turn, precipitated a global economic downturn. Consumers used to viewing financial institutions as trusted advisors, now saw them as highly suspect organizations. To survive the downturn, these institutions had to become experts at customer retention, giving rise to a new discipline, Customer Experience (CX).
In the early days of the downturn, the individuals tasked with improving CX faced baptism by fire; became a period that called for accelerated learning and fast action. Focused on end-to-end customer experience initiatives, they used the prevailing sense of urgency to drive CX initiatives across departments, identifying the need for cross-channel communications and advanced journey mapping. The results of their efforts brought increasing respect to, and dependence on, CX as a discipline. Today, enterprise organizations see CX as a key business objective, not only for customer retention, but to attract customers, drive revenue, and create brand advocates.
Where did those intrepid individuals come from and how did they manage to persevere and prevail, in a loosely-defined, closely-scrutinized position? To find answers to those questions and more, we spoke to a panel of seven CX leaders from the Financial Services and Insurance industries around the world. We can’t share their names, but we can tell you a little about them and what we learned. They worked at insurance companies and banks. Their titles differed from Chief Marketing Officer to Chief Customer Officer. They had descriptors like Strategic Initiatives, Digital Marketing, and Consumer Products in their titles. Despite the variety in titles, they all agreed that the CX discipline is here to stay—and has a long way to go.
A first of its kind, this new eBook "The Future of Customer Experience: A Revealing Discussion with 7 CX Pioneers," features insightful answers to the following questions and more:
- What hurdles face customer experience executives today?
- How is the C-Suite talking about customer experience?
- What does the future hold for CX?
- What's different about customer experience today and where will it be 5-10 years from now?
Our panel were pioneers in CX. Many did not anticipate their move into the discipline, but were led there organically as they progressed in their careers. There were no job descriptions, no prescribed paths to follow. Those with backgrounds in customer service were called upon to develop ways to bridge the gaps between the front end and back end systems.
In addition, they needed to understand consumer behavior to get people to engage with their brand, product, and organization. They came to respect CX as both an art and a science.
When our executives started focusing on CX, there were few experienced professionals to turn to for help. Today, it is a more well-defined practice, with people assigned to roles that focus solely on CX.
Even while companies hire specifically for CX roles, our experts point out that the overall approach remains inconsistent across enterprises. The role may live in digital marketing with UX developers, or in an executional department such as a call center. If it has been elevated to the level of the CMO, it may still have a brand focus. CX is like social media management was ten years ago, companies know what it is, but don’t yet know what to do with it.
These trailblazers helped to define CX. Each person who takes on the responsibility for CX today will have a head start thanks to our panel.
Click here to grab a complimentary copy of the eBook.
