In a discussion that echoes the age-old chicken vs. egg conversation sentiment, we engaged in a debate. After meeting a fellow Customer Experience proponent on a new social media platform called Clubhouse, we invited author and speaker Stacy Sherman to debate. The topic: Is Customer Experience the new marketing, or is it an entity on its own?

Sherman and I have a difference of opinion. Sherman, a director of Customer Experience and employee engagement at a global organization by day and the founder of DoingCXRight.com by night, says that Customer Experience is the new marketing, replacing and usurping it. I don't see it this way, and I see it as an entity/team separate from but working closely with marketing. 

In this episode, we each make our case for our view. We also define what Customer Experience and Marketing are and the relationships that we see between them. In the end, we settle on an answer that should help organizations make the most of both teams. 

Key Ideas to Improve your Customer Experience

We have set up this episode as a court with Professor Hamilton presiding as the judge and jury to offer his unbiased decision. For our part, Sherman and I know that both the marketing and Customer Experience teams contribute a lot to the bottom line. We also understand that the two departments have many shared goals and metrics that measure their success. However, is one of them swallowing the other or do they both present value to the overall goal in equal parts? You'll have to listen to know for sure.

Here are a few key moments in the discussion:

• 03:44 I define the topic of the debate based on a sentiment I have been hearing that CX is replacing marketing. 
• 08:41 Sherman and I offer our Customer Experience and Marketing definitions, which set the foundation for further discussion of our positions.
• 15:48  I explain why marketing has a different and equally important role as Customer Experience in defining what the experience should be.
• 18:25  Sherman explains that the blend of skills and real-world application of experiences that makes Customer Experience the new marketing.
• 22:15  Ryan asks us why this discussion matters to organizations trying to deliver an experience that promotes customer-driven growth. 
• 26:38 Ryan gives his decision and summarizes the issue for us all. 

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Customer Experience Information & Resources

LinkedIn recognizes Colin Shaw as one of the 'World's Top 150 Business Influencers.' As a result, he has 289,000 followers of his work. Shaw is Founder and CEO of Beyond Philosophy LLC, which helps organizations unlock growth by discovering customers' hidden, unmet needs that drive value ($). The Financial Times selected Beyond Philosophy LLC as one of the best management consultancies for the last two years. Follow Colin on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Click here to learn more about Professor Ryan Hamilton of Emory University. 

Why Customers Buy: As an official "Influencer" on LinkedIn, Colin writes a regular newsletter on all things Customer Experience. Click here to join the other 22,000 subscribers. 

Experience Health Check: You already have an experience, even if you weren't deliberate about it. Our Experience Health Check can help you understand what you have today. Colin or one of our team can assess your digital or physical Customer Experience, interacting with your organization as a customer to define what is good and what needs improving. Then, they will provide a list of recommendations for critical next steps for your organization. Click here to learn more. 

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