Why flexibility is important in customer experience design

In his book entitled 'Moments of Truth', written in 1986, Jon Carlzon said "Anytime a customer comes into contact with any aspect of a business, however remote, is an opportunity to form an impression." I agree and would go a step farther: Everytime a customer interacts with any aspect of a business, however remote, the experience they have shapes how they feel and as a result the nature of the relationship they have with it.

The importance of customer experiences has been widely recognised for some time. Indeed, there's a thriving customer experience consulting industry focused on helping organisations to improve their customer experience. And yet, most organisations still fail to deliver experiences that deepen the relationship with their customers. Even organisations that claim to be customer focuseds are more often than not organised to maintain their existing ways of working (structures, policies, procedures), often at the expense of the customer experience. Few truly organise themselves around customers and work in a way that is best for them.

The problem is that they don't understand the experience customers are having. They don't understand how customers interact with them, or how customers feel about those interactions and they don't understand the 'moments of truth' which make or break the relationship.

Customer experience mapping can provide that understanding. It enables understanding of how customers interact, how they cross channels, how they feel as a result of their interactions and the moments of truth where a positive experience builds loyalty or where a negative one destroys it.

And understanding is the first stage of the process of change. Awareness of the detail of the current state creates the opportunity to deliberately design positive customer experiences which evoke feelings that enhance the relationship - and consequently improve the bottom line.
The benefits also extend beyond customer experience. Mapping the customer journey highlights where internal processes are unnecessary and provides an opportunity to reduce delivery costs. The clarity of designed customer experiences also provides a focal point to engage employees with and behind. And ultimately because the experiences customer have drive their perception of the organisation, it's about brand creation and delivery.

AND YET.....some organisations who have mapped their customer journeys are still not achieving great results. Why? Because in implementing the experience they've designed they manage out the ability of people involved in the delivery of the service to be flexible, to use their initiative and adapt according to the situation.

To deliver customer experiences which really add value, understand the current experience, design the framework of desired experiences and then allow people to work within it to deliver the experience in the way they see fit. Business has always and will always be primarily about people relationships....

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