Cambridge Service Alliance’s Post

This year, I took on the challenge of updating my skills to stay relevant and impactful in my profession. I'm thrilled to share that I completed four key courses: Foundations: Data, Data, Everywhere (Google) Customer Success Specialist (CustomerSuccessU.org) C-Suite & Internal Stakeholder Management (Niche Institute of Customer Experience & Innovation (NICXI)) Determining the Right CX Metrics for Your Organization Niche Institute of Customer Experience & Innovation (NICXI) These experiences have reinforced the importance of self-improvement and continuous learning as a professional. The knowledge gained has equipped me to bring greater value to my work and strengthened my resolve to prioritize growth. As we approach a new year, I remain committed to learning, evolving, and contributing meaningfully in all I do. Here's to more opportunities to grow in 2025! #ProfessionalGrowth #ContinuousLearning #ProfessionalDevelopment #SkillBuilding #CustomerExperience #CustomerSuccess #DataDriven #CareerGrowth #LifelongLearning #CXMetrics #StakeholderManagement #Upskilling #ContinuousImprovement #LearningAndDevelopment

𝐎𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐂𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐚-𝐃𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬! 🚀 Join us from 26 - 28 June 2024 for the "Amplify Experience Management with Data & Insights" course. This 3-day Executive Education course is designed to equip practitioners with the skills to operationalise customer journeys and support Customer Experience (CX) initiatives. Expect to interact, contribute, and share experiences for peer-to-peer learning. 𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝐓𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬: ✅      Create and operationalise a cohesive customer journey. ✅      Integrate CX with organisational strategy and brand. ✅      Formulate end-to-end customer lifecycle strategies. ✅      Evaluate CX strategy effectiveness and identify gaps. ✅      Identify technology trends and customer demands impacting CX. ✅      Lead the integration of designed CX into the overall strategy. ✅      Hands-on training with Qualtrics and PowerBI. ✅      No prerequisites are required. ✨ 30% NUS-ISS subsidy for June participants!  𝐑𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐍𝐨𝐰: https://bit.ly/4dBlJIN #NUSISS #AcceleratingDigitalExcellence #ExecutiveEducation #CustomerExperience #CXM #ProfessionalDevelopment

🌟 Breakthrough Customer Experience (CX) Strategy 🌟 I’m thrilled to share that I’ve just completed an incredible course at MIT Sloan School of Management, led by the inspiring Renée Richardson Gosline, Senior Lecturer and Research Scientist, part of MIT’s Initiative on the Digital Economy. The course, Breakthrough Customer Experience (CX) Strategy, has truly redefined my perspective on customer experience. What made this journey exceptional wasn’t just the cutting-edge content delivered live by Renée but also the opportunity to engage with a diverse cohort of talented professionals. Together, we tackled real-world business challenges, exchanged insights, and shared innovative solutions. Renée’s game-changing approach to CX emphasized behavioral science, experimentation, and cognitive associations—offering a fresh perspective on how humans make decisions, adopt new ideas, and interact with products. Her research on how AI can ethically transform customer experiences was particularly impactful, providing actionable frameworks and inspiring real-world examples. Having delivered many digital products myself, I especially loved Sebastien Schwiening’s (BMW’s Digital Product Strategy lead) presentation on BMW's impressive digital journey. He showcased how concepts from the course—such as behavioral design, AI applications, and leadership fostering an innovation mindset—were integral to their success. This course has been an eye-opening exploration of how human behavior and advanced technology can combine to create extraordinary customer experiences. The insights I’ve gained will undoubtedly shape my approach in the future. 🎉 Thank you, Renée, and my amazing cohort, for this incredible learning experience! #MITCXStrategy #DigitalTransformation #CustomerExperience #AI #Leadership #BehavioralScience #BehavioralEconomics #Innovation #CXDesign #MIT #Strategy #AIInnovation #MITSloan

Learning to innovate with CX brings new perspectives on divergent and convergent thinking, as well as the importance of choosing the right methodologies to solve-problems based on objectives. Personally, I lean toward divergent thinking, which means I have to work a bit harder not to loose track of the convergent thinking. Understanding the difference between a data-informed experience and a data-fueled product is crucial in business innovation. Data-fueled products are digital products that identify patterns and anomalies in substantial data sets relevant to a user's objectives and adapt elements of their user interface accordingly. #Innovation #CX #DataDriven #BusinessInnovation

I really like this post by Howard Lax, PhD. Speaking with customers and prospects, I often hear a couple of themes: * CX is just fluff. We need to focus on the real business. * How difficult can it be? It's just a survey. ✨ First, the "real business" is delivering value to the customers. How do you know what's working well and what doesn't unless you ask. ✨ Second, "surveys are easy". Really? If they are that easy, how come companies don't do them well? It's not about randomly emailing people with "Would you recommend our company?". It's about having a holistic system in place that collects signals about customers behaviors and sentiment throughout the entire journey. If you do CX well, that can help you keep the customers you have, get more new customers, and increase the revenue from both. But, there's science and structure to it. #cx #customerexperience #success #growth #B2B

🎓 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱'𝘀 𝗧𝗼𝗽 𝗨𝗻𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘆: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿'𝘀 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗔𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 🎓 In the dynamic world of business, if there's one place to learn the most valuable lessons, it's not within the ivy-covered walls of prestigious universities, but at the customer’s place of action. 𝗬𝗲𝘀, 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁—𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹-𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗼𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿 𝘂𝗻𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗻𝗼 𝗰𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗿𝗼𝗼𝗺 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗲. 🔍 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿'𝘀 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗞𝗲𝘆: - 𝗟𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴: Every interaction with a customer provides real-time feedback and a chance to immediately apply new strategies or correct course. - 𝗔𝗱𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗜𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Staying close to customer action drives quicker adaptations and fosters innovation to meet their evolving needs effectively. - 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝗥𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽𝘀: Engaging directly with customers builds trust and loyalty, which are crucial for long-term business success. 📊 According to Forrester, companies that excel in customer experience outperform laggards on the S&P 500 index by nearly 80%. This underscores the immense value of learning and evolving based on customer interactions. How has being close to customer action helped you or your business? What lessons have you learned from this "university" that you couldn't have gained elsewhere? Share your stories and insights below. If you find this perspective on learning from customers valuable, please feel free to reshare! #CustomerExperience #BusinessStrategy #RealTimeLearning #CustomerEngagement

Great post by Howard Lax, PhD on the science of CX. Customer Experience is still regarded by many as a soft-and-fluffy activity. There is a tendency to reduce it to simplistic statements: make customers happy; be nice; smile; apply the Golden Rule. Some managers merely glance at their NPS score, cheering when it moves north, shrugging when it slumps south, yawning when it flatlines. In reality, however, Customer Experience is a science. Drawing upon learnings from various fields – consumer behavior, sociology, behavioral economics, psychology and economics, among others – CX entails the systematic study of customer perceptions, intentions and behaviors to explain or predict their future attitudes and behaviors. https://lnkd.in/etz3K-te #customerexperience #cx #experiencemanagement #system #behavior Alexey Gerasimov Erik Vogel Paul Barr Nilesh Savkoor Todd Densley Scott Tietjen Michelle Brudner

What's the role of cause and effect or fact-based decisions in CX? How to start? Howard Lax, PhD does a great job answering that in his latest article. BONUS; The real world example of how Tuft & Needle achieved a 181% increase in email revenue, boosted CSAT and repeat purchase rates; Personalized Customer Journeys: Tuft & Needle's use of data-driven personalization increased engagement and conversion rates. By understanding customer preferences and behaviors, they could deliver targeted content and offers, which directly correlated with higher revenue per email campaign. Automation of Customer Service: They began by implementation a robust customer experience program with a focus on expanding automated workflows by 40% leveraging personalization information from their CX program. Automation allowed Tuft & Needle to handle repetitive inquiries efficiently, freeing up staff to focus on more complex customer interactions. This not only improved response times but also reduced operational costs, contributing positively to profitability. Feedback Loop Integration: Incorporating real-time customer feedback into product development and service offerings ensured that the company continuously met evolving customer needs, fostering loyalty and reducing churn, which in turn supported revenue stability and growth.

Cognitive Biases: I felt inspired to do some digging into The Curse of Knowledge. We (incorrectly) believe that everyone knows as much as we do on a topic. I see this bias in the healthcare sector more often than not. As soon as you are at a health-tech or health-focused company, your knowledge of the space quickly outpaces that of the typical user. If you work in healthcare, you probably know all about (or at least are familiar with) prior authorization. Ask a friend outside the industry if they know about it. It's likely they have no idea or if they do have a very different view and knowledge of the subject. What to do about The Curse of Knowledge? Consider the gap between your knowledge and that of the people using your products. > Is there an embedded assumption of what the user already knows? If so, how does that impact their experience? Go through the experience as the intended user > This is where archetypes and personas come in handy. Consider how the people who use the product: where would they need insider information to be successful? Test > Put the experience in front of someone else, who isn't involved in the product. #ux #uxresearch #cognitivebias #uxneedsceus Links to resources I used to refresh/update my knowledge: 1. Harvard Business Review by Chip Heath and Dan Heath: https://lnkd.in/gYpmyFhx 2. The Decision Lab: https://lnkd.in/giBMApwc 3. The Curse of Knowledge, Benjamin C. Pierce: https://lnkd.in/g9nu62an

🚀 Starting Out in CX: Skills I’m Focused On As I dive deeper into the world of Customer Experience, I’m realizing there is a never-ending loop of things to learn. Each customer brings a new approach, a new need, and something to try. Here are the top three skills I’m focusing on to build a strong foundation: 1. Empathy Customer experience is all about understanding people. Working on developing a deep understanding for our customers to truly see things from their perspective. Empathy allows us to anticipate needs and build real connections, see the customer's needs or pains, and fill the gap with what our business can provide. 2. Active Listening Listening to customers and colleagues with an open mind is crucial. Instead of jumping straight to solutions, practice listening carefully and fully understanding the issues—and opportunities—customers face. We build experiences not support problems. 3. Data Analysis In CX, data tells a powerful story. You can get comfortable with tools that allow you to dig into customer feedback and spot trends. Data-driven insights help us make smarter, more strategic decisions and have a seat at the “table”. 4. Product Fluency CX are the product experts. On the diversity of knowledge received from customers and workarounds to create a “Wow” experience and turn this into an impact within the business. Bring gains and gaps to improve the customer's experience. Are there any other skills you’d recommend for someone just starting out in CX? I'd love to hear from those with more experience! 🙏 #CustomerExperience #CXJourney #GrowthMindset #LearningCurve #CustomerCentric