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There is a revolution in the science of emotion taking place. It is creating a fundamental shift in thinking about how people make decisions. Today, we recognize that emotions constitute a powerful predictor of decision-making, judgement and choice. How one feels has a greater impact on decision-making than rationale thinking. Until 20 years ago, few researchers paid much attention to the role of emotions in decision-making. Today, many psychologists now assume that emotions are the dominant driver of our most meaningful decisions in life. Medical science has proven that 95% of our mental activity is subconscious. We feel before we…

Leaders who demonstrate a genuine interest in the lives and growth of their employees are already on the right track to earning their respect, boosting workplace morale, and inspiring employee engagement. When leaders go a step further and entrust their employees with the authority to act on their own—all while giving them the encouragement and support they need to reach their highest potential—it is easier to mobilize them to stretch themselves in ways they never thought possible. Empowered employees tend to feel a stronger sense of purpose and are willing to go the extra mile. They will feel listened to,…

One of the most sustainable competitive advantages today is a positive customer experience. Organizations that have mastered the ability to design and implement a consistent, intentional customer experience, one that delivers on a brand promise, will outperform competitors and strengthen customer trust. A branded customer experience® is a designed experience—one that is intentionally differentiated from other brands through consistent delivery of a well-articulated value proposition across all customer channels. The customer experience brings a brand to life. A customer experience is the result of interactions that occur through a series of steps, encounters and moments along a journey that influence…

Customer experience journey mapping is an effective tool for understanding how customers interact with a service or product, how guests experience a venue or event, and how people live, work and play within a city. By learning when and where they experience satisfaction, frustration, amazement, disappointment, appreciation, or judgment during their various interactions and touchpoints with a branded "thing" or "place," we can identify the strengths and gaps in their end-to-end customer journey. This method also analyzes what motivates customers to move from one stage of the journey to the next—i.e. whether they choose to "hang out" or "hang up."…

An increasing number of modern-day organizations recognize that investments in customer service improvements only address one aspect of the end-to-end customer experience. Customers are interacting, virtually or in person, with different employees on multiple and ongoing occasions.  One of the best ways to build stronger and more loyal customer relationships—and thus drive performance results—is to ensure all employees within an organization have a collaborative focus on, and long-term dedication to, completely rethinking how to support the entire customer journey. Unfortunately, sticking to comfort zones and resisting change are all too common. The reason: cultures and behaviours only change when people…

Customer experience professionals recognize the powerful impact emotions have on determining whether a customer has a positive or negative interaction with an organization.  Medical science has proven that 95 percent of our mental activity is subconscious. We feel before we think and we make decisions primarily based on our emotions. Given that emotions drive needs, wants and desires and are the primary triggers for most customer interactions, forward-thinking companies are embracing the value of integrating genuine empathy—the capacity to recognize and resonate with emotions that are being experienced by another person—in their customer experience strategies. Those who have the ability…

At a recent corporate event, a proud executive reported that his company achieves annual customer satisfaction rates of 96 percent. These results sound impressive, in principle. However, once examined through the lens of customer experience (CX) experts, they may in fact indicate a weakness in the survey design. Consistently high customer satisfaction results could be a red flag that the survey is not rigorous enough to differentiate between good and bad performance. How thorough were the questions? Were they probing all the interactions and touch points of the customer experience journey—from the website, directions and arrival, to the recommended vs.…

Many organizations today have fragmented customer experience management (CEM) programs. Successful companies understand that in order to design, implement, assess and improve customer experience on a consistent basis there must be a clearly defined CEM strategy and plan in place. Customer experience practitioners often focus attention on designing the ideal customer experience for clients, but neglect to design the experience of CEM within an organization. The lack of a clearly defined strategy and definition of the role of customer experience management within an organization is one of the reasons many companies stumble when implementing a CEM program. A well-defined CEM…

Gallup annually surveys nearly 150,000 employees across North America to measure how engaged they are with their jobs. Unfortunately, over half of those surveyed admit to being disengaged at work and almost twenty percent are actively working against what the organization is trying to achieve. These are alarming statistics for leaders who recognize that engaged employees play a critical role in delivering great customer experiences. Notwithstanding the many digital channels customers have to interact with an organization, every personal interaction customers have with employees can have a powerful impact on creating the emotional bond and connection companies need to build…

Just about everyone these days suffers from the information overload explosion from our computers, smartphones, media, colleagues, and customers. Information is essential to making intelligent decisions, but more often than not, it simply overwhelms us. It’s like trying to drink from a fire hose. How do you find the truly essential nuggets of information and use them with confidence? The amount of data and information we consume has grown exponentially. Big Data refers to the large datasets of information being amassed as a result of our social, mobile, and digital world. It is as McKinsey defines “datasets whose size is…