For years I have been listening to this phrase: the best in Customer Experience starts from “outside-in,” meaning listening to the customer’s inputs and making decisions according to them.
But I would like to challenge this way of thinking based on my years of experience in leading teams, implementing products, and working as a customer experience expert.
The best in Customer Experience starts from INSIDE-OUT and is the only way to achieve sustainable results.
Starting with “inside-out” means with Company Culture, not with Customer Experience.
Customer Experience is vital! It is like fertilizer to help a business grow! But working from the “outside-in” will not impact without the right culture in place.
Even with the best fertilizer (customer feedback), the tree will remain sick if its root (culture) is sick.
We need to focus on the ROOT (culture) to get the FRUIT (Results).
That is why customer experience loses its credibility even with valuable customer inputs. If people are the center of any business and the culture is not in the right place, employees won’t be engaged, and sustainable changes won’t happen.
Everything starts with CULTURAL TRANSFORMATION. But who is responsible for culture and how it evolves?
There is no doubt that company culture starts with leaders and comes to life through its employees. Often, the root is sick because the soil (leaders) needs to be renewed. This renewal comes from new leaders and even new employees if the current ones are not aligned with the company’s vision.
Cultural transformation is nurtured by purpose, mission, vision, and values.
The purpose is the reason your company exists; the mission is what you do and whom you serve; the vision is the North Star, what you aspire to impact, followed by the values, meaning the behaviors that will bring culture to life.
Employee experience is the way employees will internalize and respond to the culture ignited by leaders. It is a shared responsibility among HR, leaders, and individual contributors. If employees don’t understand and embrace the company’s vision, the inside-out process won’t work. CX will be negatively impacted as well as the results.
A big mistake companies make is that they believe that purpose is something abstract, something that isn’t tangible, and therefore not quantifiable ($$$).
Leaders, please understand results aren’t your goal. They are the consequence of the way you do business.
Companies rooted in purpose are more profitable; the secret is to implement ways to measure success. How do you measure success? Is it aligned with the company’s purpose and vision?
Once you create your vision, you need to identify with your team the objectives and metrics to measure success. Measurements are your GPS, your compass, to guarantee you and your team are moving in the right direction.
Objectives must be aligned and guided by the vision. Business outcomes will only come if there is a behavioral change. If your product and/or company is able to change human behaviors, you have achieved your ultimate goal, and results will follow.
Be ambitious!! Your company and your job can impact far more than financial results. It can impact communities and future generations!
YOU decide.
Click here to learn more about the Ignite Business Model and how to create a purpose-centered company that generates results.
