Isabella Villani - Transform Customer Experience: How to achieve customer success and create exceptional CX

Isabella Villani

First published in 2019 by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd 42 McDougall St, Milton Qld 4064

Ofce also in Melbourne

Typeset in 11/13.5pt Palatino LT Std Light

John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd 2019

The moral rights of the author have been asserted

All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the Australian Copyright Act 1968 (for example, a fair dealing for the purposes of study, research, criticism or review), no part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, communicated or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior written permission. All inquiries should be made to the publisher at the address above.

Cover design by Wiley

Cover image vectorplusb/iStock

Disclaimer

The material in this publication is of the nature of general comment only, and does not represent professional advice. It is not intended to provide specific guidance for particular circumstances and it should not be relied on as the basis for any decision to take action or not take action on any matter which it covers. Readers should obtain professional advice where appropriate, before making any such decision. To the maximum extent permitted by law, the author and publisher disclaim all responsibility and liability to any person, arising directly or indirectly from any person taking or not taking action based on the information in this publication.

Theres an evolutionary feature known to biologists as the Red Queen effect based on a tale in Lewis Carrolls Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There. Alice meets a chess piece the Red Queen who explains that in Looking-Glass Land, everyone has to keep running ever faster, but they never seem to get very far because the landscape is moving with them: Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place.

In the natural world, biologists have found that species must continually adapt and evolve just to keep in the same place, both with respect to other species competing with them for food and to avoid predators. Every time squirrels get quicker, foxes need to develop faster reflexes, because only the fastest foxes will catch enough prey, which means the squirrels have to become a little bit quicker still, because only the quickest squirrels will live long enough to pass on their own genes.

The Red Queen effect also applies to the business world, and to the customer experience space. Companies work hard to deliver a better experience so they can prosper by winning more customers, keeping them longer, and growing them bigger than their competitors. But their competitors are also innovating and evolving, so every successful CX initiative is soon replicated by other companies, which means that to be competitively successful, a company has to differentiate its own CX even more effectively.

We can call it creative destruction or survival of the fittest, but innovation is a constant business process, and it is especially pronounced in areas characterised by technological disruption or rapid change, such as the customer experience space. Three fundamental technological developments explain why customer experience continues to be such a topic of discussion in business strategy sessions, leadership meetings and corporate boardrooms around the world:

1. Cost-efficient interactivity. Companies can now interact with individual customers, one at a time, and they can scale these personalised interactions across millions of customers cost-efficiently.
2. Customer demand. Todays customers can easily find detailed information online, check social connections for reviews or references, and use self-service apps to complete transactions, with the result that they have not only taken charge of the buying process, but have developed ever higher expectations with respect to what an acceptable customer experience consists of.
3. Commoditisation of products. Automation and globalisation have undermined nearly all proprietary product features, dramatically increasing the competitive importance of strong customer relationships and trust.

Today, of course, we would take each of these three technological developments for granted; theyre obvious, and each points to a greater need for a business to be capable of delivering a competitively successful customer experience. But as focused as business leaders have now become on the customer experience, many senior executives still dont fully understand the magnitude of the task in front of them. Nor do they appreciate the rate at which this task is evolving, as ever more companies embrace the idea themselves and work hard to win the competitive battle.

And who is their adversary? Who are businesses trying to triumph over in this competitive struggle? You, thats who. Your business and every other business in the world.

Thats why you should read Isabella Villanis book, Transform Customer Experience. It is absolutely jam-packed with the latest thinking, the most competitively successful ideas and practical case studies from around the world. Youll find checklists of everything from channels and metrics to dealing with customer expectations and preparing for emerging technologies.

Isabella Villanis many insights are smart, well informed, up to date and helpful. She draws freely from a wealth of personal experience in the discipline, as well as from a voluminous assortment of expert opinions and judgements offered by other authorities on the subject.

Its difficult enough just to keep up with whats going on in the fast-changing CX world. But read this book and you might be able to get a little bit ahead of your own competitors, at least for the time being

Don Peppers is the author of more than a dozen books on aspects of customer experience. He co-founded the Peppers & Rogers Group as well as CX Speakers and is based in San Francisco, USA.

Isabella Villani is a thought leader in customer experience (CX) strategy and transformation. Renowned for leading high-performing teams, she is greatly sought after as a speaker at industry forums and events around the world.

As the founder and Chief Customer Officer of Exceed Global, Isabella has earned an international reputation for her infectious passion. With more than 20 years of experience at the forefront of CX, she provides consultancy services to companies in banking and finance, telecommunications, health, utilities, as well as government and not-for-profit organisations.

She is certified in Six Sigma (Black Belt), Kaizen, Systems Thinking Design, Agile and CompTIA Project Management; has a bachelors degree in Speech Pathology from La Trobe University; is a graduate member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (GAICD); and holds several board positions, including as a retail advisory board member for Save the Children Australia.

Isabella is based in Melbourne, Victoria. On weekdays she can often be seen at the airport, heading for her next exciting CX engagement, and on weekends she enjoys spending time at the beach with her dog.