You don’t need a CX team to get the benefits of CX. We got the details—both theory and a real-world example—from CX by Design’s Lis Hubert.
Ideas that seem good in theory don’t always work in real life. Fortunately, that’s not the case with lean and distributed CX. We talked with CX by Design co-founder Lis Hubert on both the theory behind this “CX without a CX team” approach and how CXbD was able to implement it for a client.
What are Lean CX and Distributed CX? Lean CX refers to getting maximum results quickly and with minimum effort. Distributed CX refers to implementing CX functions throughout an organization. For more info, read this article.
The Theory: How to Implement CX without a Team
First, let’s talk about generalities that can apply to any business. Let’s imagine we’re talking about a company that wants to do lean, distributed CX—i.e., they want CX results without the expense of a full time CX team. In this setting, how do you train teams or people to lead CX in an organization without a CX team?
Lis: We start by training the teams and/or people who have been assigned to “learn and use CX”. First, we show them how to use CX to make the work they have already been assigned more efficient and produce better results. From there, they embody CX methods, making them internalized. At this point, they almost can’t help but lead CX in an organization because it has become a big part of how they work.
How can companies assist leads in training others in CX?
They can make meeting CX metrics a part of how they reward and promote leads. Meaning, if leads are being rewarded at a position level, they will continue to train others in using CX because there is a clear benefit to them.
How do you create CX standards and repeatable processes for companies without a dedicated CX team?
We don’t define standards and processes for a dedicated CX Team. Instead, we define these principles at a more general level and allow teams to determine how best to apply them at a tactical level to better meet their goals.
Theory to Real Life: Implementing CX with Veterans First
Now let’s get specific and talk about your experience with Veterans First. What was the CX setup in this company before you came?
Lis: Simply due to the size of their company and the structure of their leadership team, their organization didn’t have a specific dedicated CX department. But they knew CX was important and they were ready to have someone in the organization take on that responsibility.
What improvements were they looking to make?
They wanted to better understand their customers’ journey, especially their marketing journey, so they could make the company’s communications and processes more efficient while also making them more impactful. They also wanted to better put customer feedback to use on a consistent basis.
Tell us about …
…training CX best practices across teams.
We started where they were, with the business goals and their specific team goals for the year. Then we framed the CX best practices work using these goals as the anchor point. So the teams brought goals and initiatives in our meeting and we helped them see how to use CX best practices to better meet their goals without slowing their progress down.
This process is always fulfilling because we are all customers. Showing teams CX best practices not only helps them see the impactful tweaks they can make in their day-to-day work to better the CX for their customers, but it also shows them how they could be having better experiences as customers themselves.
…how you helped the client develop a solid CX knowledge base.
By consistently reiterating the CX processes and consistently framing initiatives from a CX perspective, the team began to embody CX and create a solid knowledge base within themselves.
…how they strategically implemented CX across departments.
Once the team had a solid understanding of how they were implementing CX to improve their outputs and processes, we were able to look outward. We identified where else in the company we’d need support and influence, and worked to include those teams in our updated processes. This acted as an organic spread of CX throughout the related departments because they saw their processes and outputs begin to improve as well.
What was the key challenge in this project? How did you solve it?
The biggest challenge is always time/availability. The team’s #1 goal was not CX work. They needed instead to use CX principles to meet their already established goals (marketing, ops, etc). The challenge was in checking in with the team consistently to define what was realistic to do/not to, and prioritizing appropriately to ensure goals were met and the team stayed focused. This isn’t the type of long CX process of transformation that we so often see, it’s a creative and strategic injection of CX where and when needed.
What’s one thing you learned from working with Veterans First?
That they have really great people working there! But also, that CX is possible for any size company with any type of team.
What’s one thing you’d like other companies looking at distributed CX to understand? Same as above—CX can fit any company and any team. You don’t need a CX department to get the benefits!
Anything else you want to add?
Just to say thanks again to Veterans First for a great partnership!
