I had the opportunity to be a judge at this year’s UK Customer Experience Awards 2024 organised by Awards International. The awards, now in its 15th year, is a distinctive platform that recognises the innovative efforts of the UK’s CX professionals, navigating the dynamic currents of consumer expectations.
The category I was judging was CX Team of the Year – SME. There were a total of 8 written submissions followed by virtual presentations, across a wide range of industries showcasing the best of the best.
I feel humbled to witness the mighty work that small CX teams can achieve when they put the customer at the heart of what they do.
While every business does things a little differently, I picked up on a few common themes among the potential winners.
From data digging to curating culture, these are the strengths that will put you on the CX map.
- Hiring for the right people from the start: these companies have chosen organic growth, hiring to meet the demands of the needs of the customer rather than an aggressive scale-up. This puts them in a position to be able to think carefully about the type of people they hire and ensure they add value to the organisation where it’s most needed. Whether it be in subject matter expertise, emotional intelligence, innate empathy/compassion or out-of-the box thinking.
- Breaking down silos without even trying: a good experience starts with curating culture. These brands focus on employee wellbeing, intentionally placing the CX team in the middle of the office plan to indicate their importance to all departments. Imposing a “flat” organisational structure that empowers employees from all levels of the hierarchy to share ideas and speak up. And time outside of the office matters too. Frequent get togethers and socials improve relationships between teams and smooth the path to conversations that drive action.
- Prioritising closing the loop with a phone call: as one organisation said, “lead with empathy” and doing what’s right by the customer will naturally follow. The magic here is providing the human touch wherever possible by investing in 1:1 conversation with customers.
- Customer & Brand are one team: one key differentiator is a focus on building a true relationship with a customer and partnering with them through their journey for example, an organisation tracked recurring customer milestones and sent them reminders about the upcoming date, another organisation offered wellbeing counselling after insurance claim events. It’s not purely transactional, these brands view the experience as a relationship and think of innovative ways to show the customer they are on their side.
- Data driven, as much as they can be: these brands are not boiling the ocean, they work with the data that they have and extract as much as they can from it for instance, social and review data, CSAT surveys, call transcripts to understand the why behind their customer’s behaviour. They ensure that the metrics they use to monitor success directly link to the customer outcomes they want to provide.
Reaching for the CX win isn’t a solo game. The tech and partners you work with also make a massive difference to the quality and efficiency of your program. You should seek out a partner that can help you to extract meaningful and actionable insights from a range of data sources.