Effortless. Seamless. Easy. These are the customer experiences that brands of all types aspire to achieve. But as you know if you’ve ever tried something without preparation and practice, just because something looks effortless doesn’t mean it is.
A few years ago, I signed up for a 10K run before I realized it was the morning after my best friend’s 30th birthday party. After riding the party bus and imbibing in the free-flowing food and drinks the previous night, I was woefully unprepared to manage the unexpected hills and the endurance needed for the race. I finished next to last, just besting an octogenarian. I was unprepared and exhausted, with little outcome to show for it.
The winners of that race made it look easy as they crossed the finish line. Effortless. Simple. They trained, prepared, and probably skipped a casino trip the night before. For customer experiences, it’s the same thing.
A good experience is explicitly designed to reduce effort on the part of customers, but so much goes on under the surface within a CX organization to make it happen. Technology integration. Well-trained employees. Ongoing data analysis for actionable insight. Clear processes.
This issue celebrates the detail, hard work, and minutiae companies work with to craft “seamless” experiences for their customers and employees.
Explore how to tackle the uphills within CX efforts – siloed information and action, unreliable or unavailable data, and untrained employees, just to name a few. Check out how Avelo Airlines competes against the big guys with simplified experiences. And get tips on how to outsmart failure points within CX innovation projects.
Let’s get moving.
Sincerely,
Liz Glagowski
Editor-in-Chief
