At the heart of customer experience is building relationships with our customers.
But the business side also means tracking those relationships and not lying about them. We can’t expect to have a healthy and productive relationship with customers, employees, and investors if we aren’t honest about what it’s like for our customers.
Many brands rely on NPS to measure the progress of their relationships. But the danger occurs when companies start to game the system and become obsessed with showing they have promoters and satisfied customers that they lie about it. Using an unfair survey or pushing for positive results doesn’t paint the picture of your true CX strategy.
Progress can only happen when we’re not afraid to look at the truth. A classic example is Enron, which lied about its revenue and growth for years. It was named America’s Most Innovative Company for six years and a great place to work. But then people learned the truth, and everything fell apart.
If we lie about our progress and how we’re making customers’ lives easier and better, eventually, we will be found out. And that’s devastating for a customer relationship.
There’s power in being willing to look at feedback and data objectively. We must be willing to hear the feedback, even when it isn’t pretty or positive. It’s that willingness to look at the reality that makes us mighty. Customer experience is a treasure chest of opportunity, but we often don’t realize its potential. We work toward metrics and goals that don’t move us forward instead of paying attention to the insights and growth opportunities right in front of us.
It’s time to consider how you’re measuring the health of your customer relationships. That might mean moving away from NPS, especially if your agents are gaming the system and the results can’t be trusted. Take a look in the mirror and ask yourself what you’re afraid of and why you don’t want to know the truth.
Customer experience is about long-term relationships. If we want that treasure chest of customer experience, we need to be honest about measuring success. Great relationships are built on honesty. Take this opportunity to re-evaluate your customer relationships and how you measure them. It’s never too late to find the truth and be honest.
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Blake Morgan is a customer experience futurist and the bestselling author of The Customer of the Future. For regular updates on customer experience, sign up for her weekly newsletter here.