In this episode of CS School, we're joined by Raymond Otero, the Director of Global Customer Experience (Strategic Programs) at Microsoft, about the intersection of customer experience (CX) and customer success (CS).

Raymond discusses the evolution of CX and CS, the cultural shift towards customer centricity, the use of technology in CX, and the measurement of CX success.

Raymond shares a case study of how Microsoft integrated CX and CS with Adobe, resulting in cost savings, improved app performance, and increased customer satisfaction. He also addresses common misconceptions about CX and CS and offers advice for implementing CX initiatives in small to medium-sized businesses.

Key takeaways

• CX and CS have evolved significantly in recent years due to technological advancements and changing customer expectations.

• CX and CS are not limited to customer service or support; they encompass the entire customer journey and focus on proactive engagement and value realization.

• Cultural shifts towards customer centricity have improved customer satisfaction, retention, and loyalty.

• CX and CS initiatives should involve collaboration across departments, including marketing, product development, and sales.

• Metrics such as net promoter score (NPS), customer satisfaction (CSAT), and customer effort score (CES) can be used to track and measure CX success.

• Implementing CX initiatives in small to medium-sized businesses requires starting with one metric, collecting data, and demonstrating the return on investment to gain buy-in from leadership.

Resources

• Attend Ray's keynote session "Anticipating customer needs: Proactive services and analytics strategies for support teams" at Customer Support Summit on October 9, 2024.
• Connect with Ray on LinkedIn
• Join the CSC Slack community