Any company can improve portions of its customer experience, but only those that go beyond superficial changes will be able to create lasting differentiation and increase loyalty. An organization’s path to CX maturity passes through 5 phases: UNDERSTAND, FOCUS, DEPLOY, IMPACT AND EXCELLING.
- Stage 1: UNDERSTAND. The organization is not focused on CX as a strategic opportunity. Companies in this stage should work on identifying the “best” first steps and building buy-in with senior executives to acquire the resources needed for moving forward.
- Stage 2: FOCUS. As leaders see the potential value in CX, they investigate how CX can help their organization and kick off isolated pockets of CX activities. An ad-hoc or part-time team is usually formed, often drawing from existing employees in other roles. The team will lead the company’s efforts to take coordinated actions to educate executives, define the initial strategy, and formalize Voice of Customer efforts.
- Stage 3: DEPLOY. Once executives view CX as a strategic priority, the organization taps into full-time CX staff who distribute insights and drive experience improvements. This is a powerful stage where the organization begins to see results by finding and fixing pain points, sharing insights, involving employees in closing the loop, and defining what good CX looks like for the entire organization.
- Stage 4: IMPACT. With strong CX practices in place, the organization systematically uses insights to identify and improve experiences and invests in engaging the entire workforce in CX. Companies in this stage should work on consistently using CX metrics and insights to improve CX as well as track the impact of their CX efforts. They should also deeply integrate CX into HR processes to reinforce good CX behaviors in all employees.
- Stage 5: EXCELLING. In this stage, CX skills are learned and ingrained across the organization and it is able to rapidly adapt to shifts in the marketplace. Mature CX programs enable an organization to continuously learn, identify and measure insights, and rapidly adapt to the needs and expectations of all relevant stakeholders.