#61 - The Role of Research in CX Transformation with Kim Salazar of Nielsen Norman Group
Mar 9, 2021
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Learn about the importance of breaking down silos in CX transformation, refining, rebuilding, or remodeling strategies, making a 'casserole of data' for insights, and showing the business impact of poor experiences to stakeholders. Discover the significance of diverse metrics in measuring CX transformation, the value of including the SUS metric in evaluations, and blending qualitative and quantitative methods in research.
Break down silos to connect people and technology for CX transformation success.
Utilize diverse data sources when refining, rebuilding, or remodeling CX initiatives.
Begin with passive data collection to understand customer behavior and identify key improvement areas.
Show stakeholders the business impact of poor experiences to build buy-in for CX initiatives.
Empower CX teams with insights from user research and data analytics for proactive decision-making.
Deep dives
Understanding CX Transformation and Customer-Centricity
CX transformation involves a deliberate shift by companies to prioritize customers at the core of their decision-making process, moving beyond product-centered approaches. This includes connecting touchpoints along the entire customer journey and addressing fragmented experiences faced by customers across various interactions.
Initiating CX Transformation
CX transformation typically begins with decisive leadership at the C-level, advocating for customer-centric strategies. However, for individuals seeking to influence change at a smaller scale, starting with achievable scopes within specific departments or business units can serve as a stepping stone towards larger transformation initiatives.
Overcoming Silos and Data Disconnects
One of the primary challenges in achieving CX transformation is the presence of siloed teams and disconnected data systems within organizations. To address this, deliberate efforts are required to foster collaboration among teams and integrate disparate data systems to enable a seamless and personalized customer experience.
Navigating Resistance and Planning for Change
Resistance to change is a common hurdle in CX transformation efforts. It is crucial to have strong leadership sponsorship and a well-planned approach, including training, change management strategies, and aligning incentives to ensure a smooth transition. Strategic communication and addressing concerns of impacted teams are essential to mitigate resistance.
Measuring Success and Enhancing Customer Experience
The effectiveness of CX transformation is measured through diverse metrics such as NPS, CSAT, and customer effort score. Combining qualitative and quantitative data sources helps in gaining comprehensive insights to improve customer journeys effectively. Creating a holistic understanding of user interactions and aligning with business outcomes are key to driving continuous improvement in customer experience.
Integrating UX and CX for Unified Strategies
While UX mainly focuses on product interactions, CX encompasses broader experiences along customer journeys and relationships. The future trend indicates a merging of UX under the CX umbrella to align all design efforts towards a unified customer experience strategy. Empowering CX teams with insights from user research and data analytics aids in proactive decision-making and strategy formulation.
Establishing a CX Program and Research Framework
Launching a robust CX program involves a blend of ethnographic field research, behavioral data analysis, and qualitative feedback analysis to understand and measure customer experiences along key journeys. Building a research framework centered on customer journeys and touchpoints assists in uncovering pain points, enhancing service design, and refining overall customer interactions.
Organizational Structure and CX Team Evolution
The evolution of CX teams transitions from task-oriented approaches to strategic management of quality customer interactions across various business functions. Initially serving as task forces, CX teams evolve into CX strategy groups, focusing on managing journey priorities, promoting cross-functional collaboration, and ensuring overall quality of customer experiences.
Change Management and Establishing Customer-Centric Cultures
Driving cultural change towards customer-centricity requires establishing a customer-focused vision, aligning roles and responsibilities, and formalizing accountability structures within organizations. Effective change management strategies, executive sponsorship, and alignment of incentives play a vital role in sustaining a customer-centric cultural shift within organizations.
Navigating CX Transformation and Setting Realistic Timelines
The timeline for CX transformation varies based on organizational size and readiness for change. Smaller companies may witness transformation within a year with proactive stakeholder buy-in, while larger enterprises could take two to five years to fully embrace customer-centric operational models. Strategic planning, change readiness assessments, and gradual scalability are key components in achieving successful CX transformations.
Is your company truly customer-centric? Are your systems actually helping you create better experiences for your customers?
Last week, Kim Salazar, Senior User Experience Specialist at Nielsen Norman Group, joined us for a live podcast episode to share valuable insights from her own work with teams trying to create truly customer-centric companies through CX transformation. She highlighted the importance of drawing from multiple sources of data and communicating the business benefits of CX work.
Highlights
[4:51] To achieve CX transformation, we have to break down silos to connect people and technology.
[10:29] User-centered companies typically have better business outcomes, which is why so many organizations are focused on this now.
[18:57] Make yourself a casserole of data with lots of different sources and ways to measure data. This means if your NPS score goes down, you have things like click data to tell you why.
[25:36] Start with passive data collection, which can give you the clues you need to know where to dig a little deeper.
[33:09] Showing user frustration to build buy-in is okay, but it’s showing the business impact of poor experience that really brings stakeholders on board.
[45:40] Use metrics your company is already familiar with to build stakeholder buy-in.
About our guest
Kim Salazar is a Senior User Experience Specialist with Nielsen Norman Group. Kim combines her background as a developer and education in Computer Science and HCI with her user experience expertise, particularly around complex applications, to bring well-rounded insights to her work.
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