The Verde Edition - May 2023, Vol. 10

MAY 2023 | VOL. 10

CX PERFORMANCE: WORTH THE INVESTMENT?

"Customer experience isn't an expense. Managing customer experience bolsters your brand."

- Stan Phelps

Connecting CX performance to financial impact is a passion for The Verde Group. Our business was founded on the principle that experiences, not attitudes, drive customer behaviors and that the linkage of experiences and behaviors helps companies understand how their customer experiences impact financial risk and opportunity.

In last month’s poll, we asked readers about their success connecting CX performance data to financial performance. Nearly two-thirds of respondents indicated that they simply do not attempt to ground CX insights in financial performance or that their efforts are spotty at best. We believe it is an organization's inability to successfully address this challenge that is putting CX programs at risk.

Unfortunately, many companies are cutting or will be cutting down on CX programs this year according to Rick Parrish, VP, Research Director at Forrester. “Companies that cut their CX programs are shooting themselves in the foot,” Parrish says. The only question, he adds, is how bad that bloody injury is going to be. In a world where consumers are experiencing an unprecedented level of CX friction, Forrester predicts that one in five companies is expected to ditch their CX teams altogether in 2023. So why are these programs being cut?

Verde Group believes the answer is relatively straightforward: CX practitioners are unable to connect investments in CX performance to the business’s financial performance.

The good news… Companies can monitor progress using a more reliable CX beacon metric. This can be a sensitive topic for some organizations, but the reality is that many attitudinal metrics simply do not correlate to changes in financial performance. But we believe we have cracked the code… Verde Group’s Revenue@Risk® Index has proven to track with changes in financial performance and we would love to share our story with you.

April Poll Results

In the April 2023 poll, we asked readers about their success with connecting CX performance data to financial performance. It's very important that CX practitioners determine the correlations between customer behaviors and an organization’s bottom line. Critical issues that are affecting customer behavior should be ranked by their financial impact.

There also needs to be a definable difference between the behaviors of loyal customers and occasional customers. With CX metrics in place and a more focused understanding of customer behavior, a higher value will be placed on CX investments.

May 2023 Poll

What statement best describes your organization’s appetite to explore supplemental CX measurement programs?

Please choose one answer:

We’re always open to new thinking on CX measurement methods.

Select

We’re currently exploring alternatives that better support our objectives.

Select

Our current programs will be difficult to change.

Select

Skepticism runs high when it comes to CX impacting our financial performance.

Select

We do not invest in CX measurement programs.

Select

61% of consumers will pay at least 5% more if they know they’ll get a good customer experience.

COPENHAGEN BUSINESS SCHOOL RE-CAP

I recently had the pleasure of speaking to a number of leading Danish organizations and at the annual Danish Marketing Association conference. I’d like to thank my colleagues from the Copenhagen Business School for their support in making this happen.

As I left the sessions and pre-conference events, one thing became clear, there is a definite hunger for better CX measurement programs. Global companies and smaller regional players alike indicated that they are intrigued by companies like The Verde Group, which offer alternative methods and thinking that challenge the status quo.

This has been my experience for over 20 years at the Verde Group and I look forward to sharing our story with others as we continue our pursuit of providing organizations the insights they need to increase revenues and profits.

A CELEBRATION TO REMEMBER

On April 27, 2003, the Verde Group was founded by CEO Paula Courtney. As we approached the 20-year milestone, we knew it was the perfect time to celebrate the successes of the Verde Group and recognize our clients, friends, and colleagues.

Our 20 Year Anniversary Celebration was held in a high rise venue with a spectacular view of Toronto and it was a roaring success! Thank you to all who attended.

IN THE NEWS

The De-Influencer Backlash: Did we see it coming?

SM Influencers: conspicuous consumption and pay-for-play, or a valuable marketing tool? The recent backlash against SM influencers can be seen in the de-influencer trend on platforms such as TikTok and Instagram (common hashtags: #antihaul, #overconsumption #whatnottobuy).

Sometimes these de-influencers "may be doing so to promote cheaper, more sustainable alternatives to the products in question, highlight unethical practices by the brand making them, or call out misleading advertising by another influencer." For whatever reason, this is a trend that deserves attention, particularly for brands that have heavily relied on SM influencers to promote their products, and especially in light of a 3000% increase in mentions of de-influencing.

How should retailers adapt to the de-fluencer trend? Read the whole article from Raconteur 👉 HERE

ASK US ANYTHING

April 2023's Question: What are some effective ways to measure customer experience or feedback?

Ask for feedback at the right time – Approaching customers at the right time is critical for gathering meaningful feedback. Ask for feedback at the end of the chat, after a checkout, support ticket resolution, or a product demo. Recency is key to understanding the specifics of their experience.

Avoid scaler measures when assessing the impact of experiences – It is essential to understand which experiences happened (or not) to your customers. But asking them to tell you how they felt about that experience can cloud an organization’s ability to prioritize which experiences truly matter most.

Use unstructured data to understand sentiment – This data can be obtained from many sources. Using unstructured data to understand the sentiment and intensity of CX friction can contextualize what behaviors experiences may be driving.

Send us your questions and stay tuned for the June newsletter to see your questions answered by one of our CX specialists.

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Past Newsletters

2022

2023

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April