The CX Cast

We all know technology is integral to delivering better customer experiences. But this technology isn’t limited to consumer-facing apps and websites. Cloud services from Salesforce, Amazon, and Google enable nimble and ubiquitous digital experiences. In episode 20 of CX Cast, Senior Analyst TJ Keitt shares how upstart companies like Uber, Netflix, and Pure Insurance are leveraging the cloud to create new, exciting digital offerings disrupting your industry, and how other companies can embrace the cloud to compete. For more on TJ’s research, check out his blog and his latest report “Four Things Smart Cloud Companies Know About Customer Experience.”

In 2003, Forrester undertook research examining how customer advocacy — the perception by customers that a firm does what's best for them, not just what's best for the firm's own bottom line — impacts customer relationships in financial services. Now, over 10 years later, we continue to find customer advocacy is a key driver of future purchase intent for customers of retail banks, brokerages, credit card issuers, and insurance firms. In episode 18 of CX Cast, we speak with VP and Principal Analyst Bill Doyle about which firms rate high in customer advocacy, which firms rate low, and how one firm turned its business around by focusing on this important customer perception. Forrester clients  can read more detail about our annual customer advocacy benchmark in Customer Advocacy 2014: How US Consumers Rate Their Financial Institutions.

Last week, over 1,500 attendees gathered in NYC to learn about CX trends from leading B2B and B2C brands, discuss best practices, and hear the latest research findings in CX. In this special episode of CX Cast, we recap some of the highlights of this 2-day event. If you missed it, you can view our video clips on Youtube. And for more on these topics, check out Forrester’s new research examining The CX Innovation Imperative and What Do Excellent Emotional Customer Experiences Look Like? Then put your skills to the test with our new User Experience Capabilities Assessment.

At Forrester, we spend most of our day thinking about the challenges that customer experience professionals face. Some of these challenges are evergreen, like who in the organization is ultimately responsible for customer experience and how to convince colleagues that CX matters to the business. In this episode of CX Cast, Senior Analyst Sam Stern shares insights and practical advice on addressing these challeneges gathered from discussions with nine senior CX professionals. For more, read his related report, Executive Q&A: Success Secrets From Senior Customer Experience Executives.

The US federal government supports over 230 mobile apps and over 500 social media accounts not to mention countless websites. And in its 2016 budget, it proposed spending $35 million more for the US Digital Service, $105 million for digital services teams at 25 agencies, and tens of millions more for digital channels throughout the federal government. But the public’s interest in digital government remains tepid, at best. In episode 15 of CX Cast, we speak with Rick Parrish about his research “Washington Must Work Harder To Spur The Public's Interest In Digital Government.” He describes the public’s hesitation in using digital government CX channels and how the government can be more strategic in its digital CX investments.

Structured surveys are the mainstay of customer experience (CX) measurement programs. But despite their strengths and ubiquity, they can also fall short: insights derived from surveys often cover too few interactions or come too late in the game. In episode 14 of CX Cast, we speak with senior analyst Maxie Schmidt-Subramanian about her research Beyond Surveys: New Tools For More Effective CX Measurement and how CX pros can compensate for the shortcomings of today's typical experience surveys.

Master the art of journey mapping and you have a powerful customer experience (CX) change management tool. Part of the art is following a well-defined journey mapping process, and part is adopting the right governance model. In episode 13 of the CX Cast, we talk with Joana van den Brink Quintanilha about how companies must Adopt The Right Governance Model For Their Journey Mapping Efforts. She describes how the right governance model, applied alongside the right journey mapping approach, creates accountability, prioritization, and sustainability for CX professionals' journey initiatives. Joana also breaks down journey mapping approaches along two dimensions: ad hoc to systematic and reactive to proactive. For more on this research, check out Joana's webinar on the topic, or releated reports on Journey Mapping Best Practices and Future-State Journey Mapping.

Credit card fraud is a huge problem for credit card companies, banks, and customers - 20% of frequent card users have had their credit card declined. But now Visa intends to reduce these mistakes with its new mobile location confirmation service, which uses smartphone location data to boost the accuracy of fraud detection algorithms. In episode 12 of CX Cast, we talk with Andrew Hogan about his report Visa Tackles A Thorny CX Problem With Smartphones and he shares how CX pros can learn from Visa’s smart use of technology.

Innovation is a hot topic these days, and it’s no surprise given the increasing pressure from customers to create novel experiences that stay ahead of the competition. And while there’s no shortage of opinions about why innovation is essential, few look at innovation from the perspective of the customer experience professional. In episode 11 of CX Cast, we talk with Tony Costa about his report How CX Pros Innovate, and why savvy CX pros are adopting an approach focused on fostering and cultivating the conditions that give rise to innovations rather than leading the innovation effort itself. To hear Tony speak more about what CX pros can do to foster innovation efforts, come see him speak at Forrester’s Forum For Customer Experience Professionals in NYC on June 16 and 17.

Customer experiences fail, and customer experience (CX) pros often don't know why. That's because they don't systematically collect feedback from the one group that can provide insight about the entire ecosystem — their employees. Employees' feedback provides context for how customers perceive their experiences, helps identify process, policy, and technology hurdles that hinder experience delivery, and gives insight into the quality of employees' experiences. In episode 10 of CX Cast, we talk with Maxie Schmidt-Subramanian and Sam Stern about their report called Cure Broken Customer Experiences With Voice Of The Employee Programs. They tell us about how CX pros can build voice of the employee programs that collect feedback from employees, help them uncover the causes of CX issues, react to feedback, and ultimately explain to employees how their feedback is used. More more, check out Sam's blog post or their recent webinar on the topic.