{"id":23963,"date":"2019-10-11T06:00:47","date_gmt":"2019-10-11T10:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/beyondphilosophy.com\/?p=23963"},"modified":"2020-03-20T05:24:48","modified_gmt":"2020-03-20T09:24:48","slug":"7-things-to-remember-on-the-customer-experience-journey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beyondphilosophy.com\/7-things-to-remember-on-the-customer-experience-journey\/","title":{"rendered":"7 Things to Remember on the Customer Experience Journey"},"content":{"rendered":"

I complain a lot about companies that get Customer Experience<\/a> wrong. Today, I am going to take another angle and explore how one company has taken on the Customer Experience journey and gets it right.<\/p>\n

RICOH Canada has done some incredible work in improving Customer Experience. They increased their Net Promoter Score\u00ae\u00a0(NPS) by 34 points over 30 months and enjoyed a ten percent increase in sales. Since this initial 30-month period and increase in NPS, their score has climbed another 15 points\u2014and they are not done yet.<\/p>\n

Glenn Laverty, President, and CEO of\u00a0RICOH Canada<\/a>, and SVP Strategy RICOH North America was our guest on a recent podcast, and he explained why and how they did it. He also explains what new challenges they have today and how they are going to address them. Finally, he shares with companies that are just getting started what he learned in RICOH Canada\u2019s Customer Experience journey.<\/p>\n

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The RICOH Canada Backstory<\/strong><\/h2>\n

It all started because printer sales were declining as an industry about 12 or 13 years ago. A marketplace that was already competitive was becoming even more so.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, the industry as a whole had not done an excellent job with product differentiation between the different tiers of providers. Customers, as a result, had commoditized the product.<\/p>\n

Laverty, who then was EVP Direct Operations for RICOH Canada, saw that they needed to differentiate themselves from the competition. Since the hardware wasn\u2019t going to do it for them, they decided to distinguish themselves with Customer Experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe felt that we would be tapping into that emotional component of a decision that customers were involved in,\u201d Laverty explains.<\/p>\n

People always ask me whether emotions apply in business-to-business (B2B) customer experiences. They do. Laverty agrees, adding that when you reflect on the decisions you make in business, you can see how emotions influence your decision about whom to give your business. Moreover, realizing the power of emotions in the B2B experience renews your commitment to improving that relationship and your Customer Experience.<\/p>\n

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Changing The Prevailing Attitude Requires Persistence and Leadership<\/strong><\/h2>\n

When you implement a Customer Experience program, the common problem is that some of the team feel like this program has nothing to do with them. They feel like because they don’t work directly with customers, they don’t affect the Customer Experience. However, as my regular readers know, every part of the organization affects how the Customer Experience is.<\/p>\n

Laverty says that as an organization, RICOH Canada was focused inwardly on tangible and \u201cexecutable\u201d terms of establishing themselves in the marketplace. At times, Laverty felt like the lone voice encouraging the organization to turn the focus on the customers instead of on operations.<\/p>\n

Laverty persisted as he saw that Customer Experience would be the differentiator in the marketplace. He asked, \u201cHow is this going to impact our customers?\u201d about every decision made in the boardroom. It was part of his strategy to enforce the customer-centric mindset at the company and help the team get used to identifying as the customer and seeing it from their vantage point.<\/p>\n

They initially estimated there were around seven touchpoints for the customer across the organization that affect Customer Experience. However, they soon recognized that it was a mistake.\u00a0Every department within the entire organization had a direct or indirect impact on Customer Experience, from the technical service technicians that worked with customers to Accounts Receivable to Logistics.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor example, if somebody puts a product into a box and doesn’t put enough packing into it and it arrives damaged, or it arrives to the wrong address, then, quite frankly, that’s as big a deal for us as if we just never answered the call when the customer was contacting us,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Once they understood this concept, Customer Experience became the responsibility of the entire organization. All 2,200 employees within RICOH Canada had a duty to deliver an exceptional customer experience, whether directly or indirectly. Laverty says everyone recognized the need to raise their game and change customers\u2019 perception of the organization.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe needed to show we were better than the rest,\u201d Laverty says.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The prevailing attitude at the company before undertaking the new customer-centric philosophy wasn\u2019t all bad, however. Part of the reason that Laverty had such success with his program is RICOH Canada already had a sales mindset. Everyone sells at the company, and everyone is part of the sales organization. So, moving to a customer-centric culture was easier for them to adapt to and adopt, Laverty says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe other key element is that it’s human nature,\u201d Laverty explains. \u201cPeople want to belong to a cause.\u201d<\/p>\n

Laverty says that inside every single person in the organization today is a duty to deliver an exceptional Customer Experience.\u00a0They \u201cbelong\u201d to what RICOH Canada stands for in the marketplace. It has become the rallying cry for the organization and something they still talk about all the time.<\/p>\n

Later, as CEO, Laverty instituted an incentive that rewards at the individual level, the team’s success in Customer Experience. He tied everyone’s short-term incentives to their performance against the plan for the Customer Experience using the NPS score improvements to measure it.\u00a0Laverty says that this tactic simultaneously solidified the team’s commitment to the idea but also defined the values of the organization in a new way.<\/p>\n

Customer Experience is an On-Going Program with New Challenges<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Laverty says the company is still evolving in 2019. There have been several acquisitions over the previous years, and now, around 25 percent of the business is in services unrelated to print. As a result, RICOH Canada brought many people into the organization who \u201cdidn’t necessarily have the same zeal around delivering an excellent Customer Experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

Moreover, the industry is changing. RICOH Canada has adopted technology to create efficiencies within the organization. In other words, there are fewer people involved in the \u201cback-office\u201d areas than in the past.<\/p>\n

All the change has presented new challenges. One of the most significant is a decrease in employee engagement. For example, one concern raised in employee surveys is that with the company changes, employees don\u2019t feel \u201cup to speed\u201d with the company direction.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are concerned because we fundamentally believe that we cannot deliver an exceptional Customer Experience without a highly engaged employee base,\u201d Laverty says.\u00a0\u201cSo, our employee engagement levels have now become also part of our focus. We\u2019re taking a deeper look at the connection and renewing our commitment to how we approach that.\u201d<\/p>\n

RICOH Canada is responding in several ways to this new challenge to the Customer Experience. For example, Laverty says they are investing in a tool to improve communication within the team about the direction of the company, particularly between managers and direct reports.<\/p>\n

RICOH Canada also engages in Verbatim Zone Employee Engagement surveys. They break down the feedback they get back from employees by region and department to determine priorities for fixing problems in the Employee Experience. Then, the executive team engages in regular communication to address specific issues raised by the various departments.<\/p>\n

Another way they are addressing the change in employee engagement is to have a local management council, which is made up of a cross-section of departments. Laverty tasked a member of the Executive Management Team to improve employee engagement and has him liaise between the local management councils and corporate.<\/p>\n

Improving employee engagement is a crucial initiative for Laverty\u2019s entire executive team as well. By making it part of their KPI (key performance initiatives), he encourages them to act on what they can to improve employee engagement at a regional level.<\/p>\n

7 Things to Remember on the Customer Experience Journey<\/strong><\/h2>\n

I asked Laverty what he would say to organizations beginning the Customer Experience Improvement journey. He had some advice that could help:<\/p>\n

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  1. Don\u2019t allow the shock of your initial scores demoralize you.\u00a0<\/strong>Laverty says when you get the truth from customers, it can be a lot lower than what you think it should be. He describes RICOH Canada\u2019s first NPS score as \u201cabsurdly low.\u201d (They have been in the mid-70s for many years now, an improvement of over 50 points from those original scores.)<\/li>\n
  2. Use the score as the drumbeat for your motivation.\u00a0<\/strong>Laverty says their low score was a beacon for their resolve to improve. He was continually communicating what the team was doing to improve it and celebrating successes along the way as the number began to climb.<\/li>\n
  3. Remember the needle moves slowly.\u00a0<\/strong>It takes time to change the direction of a medium to large-sized organization.\u00a0Be patient and celebrate the little wins along the way.<\/li>\n
  4. Recognize how actions affect your results.\u00a0<\/strong>This advice goes both ways. Laverty says you should see how your past actions harmed the Customer Experience and work to improve those moments. However, you should also take note of what works well. For example, one of the initiatives they employed called Field Activated Customer Experience resulted in a five-point bump in their NPS, which was extraordinary.<\/li>\n
  5. Don’t be surprised when you hear you are not doing a good enough job<\/strong>. Instead of getting frustrated that your actions aren\u2019t getting the results you expected, take the feedback as an opportunity to fix what isn\u2019t working.<\/li>\n
  6. Be consistent.\u00a0<\/strong>Customer Experience isn\u2019t a short-term project. It is not the sort of thing you can \u201cjump on the bandwagon\u201d for either. It\u2019s a long game. Laverty has been playing it for over 13 years, and he\u2019s still playing.<\/li>\n
  7. Make Customer Experience Improvement numbers a KPI.\u00a0<\/strong>If you don\u2019t measure and reward your performance, it\u2019s easy to lose momentum in Customer Experience enthusiasm. Tie hard numbers into your incentives to ensure you keep the team on board with your agenda.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    If you want to read more about RICOH Canada,\u00a0<\/strong>please download our White Paper Case Study<\/a>\u00a0on their performance.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    So, what\u2019s the remarkable secret to their success in CX? RICOH Canada is an excellent example of what is possible when senior leadership believes in and supports a Customer Experience program. They also demonstrate how it takes time and resources to make a program work. In addition, it shows that you must always adjust and refine your experience as things change.<\/p>\n

    Most of all, it shows that Customer Experience is not a destination. It is a process, and there is always something new that needs your attention.<\/p>\n

    Most of all, it shows that Customer Experience is not a destination. It is a process, and there is always something new that needs your attention.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    Improving the Customer Experience works, and it is worth it. Laverty says that RICOH Canada has fantastic retention rates of customers. It is far superior to the average for the industry. He and the team at RICOH Canada believe it is because of their commitment to producing highly-engaged employees who deliver an exceptional Customer Experience.<\/p>\n

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    Behavioral Journey Mapping<\/a> takes regular Journey Mapping to the next level. Learn how you can use our proprietary process to design an experience that meets the subconscious and emotional needs of customers in your experience at every moment along the way. Not only that, by using principles of psychology, we can uncover your customers\u2019 hidden desires. To learn more,\u00a0<\/em>click here<\/em><\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

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    To hear more about RICOH Canada\u2019s Case Study in more detail, listen to the\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>complete podcast here.\u00a0<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

    Hear the rest of the conversation on RICOH Canada\u2019s Case Study on The\u00a0<\/em>Intuitive Customer Podcast<\/em><\/a>. These informative podcasts are designed to expand on the psychological ideas behind understanding customer behavior. To listen in<\/em>,<\/em><\/a>\u00a0<\/em>please click here.<\/em><\/a><\/div>\n
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    Colin Shaw<\/em><\/a>\u00a0is the founder and CEO of<\/em>\u00a0Beyond Philosophy<\/em><\/a>, one of the world\u2019s leading Customer experience consultancy & training organizations. Colin is an international author of<\/em>\u00a0six bestselling books<\/em><\/a>\u00a0and an engaging keynote speaker.<\/em><\/p>\n

    Follow Colin Shaw on Twitter\u00a0<\/em>@ColinShaw_CX<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    I complain a lot about companies that get Customer Experience wrong. Today, I am going to take another angle and explore how one company has taken on the Customer Experience journey and gets it right. RICOH Canada has done some incredible work in improving Customer Experience. They increased their Net Promoter Score\u00ae\u00a0(NPS) by 34 points […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":23964,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[97],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23963","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blogs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/beyondphilosophy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23963","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/beyondphilosophy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/beyondphilosophy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beyondphilosophy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beyondphilosophy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23963"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/beyondphilosophy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23963\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beyondphilosophy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23964"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/beyondphilosophy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23963"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beyondphilosophy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23963"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beyondphilosophy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23963"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}