Are you overlooking culture in your CX strategy?

People, processes, and systems are three key elements of a successful business. Few companies get the balance and weighting right. People consist of your customers, employees and other major stakeholders. Customers and stakeholders often take up most of the airtime and employees can be neglected. For your CX strategy to work well your customers and employees must both feel supported, looked after and understood. 

It's easy to focus on systems and processes to ensure a business is efficient and well-run, but even with the advances in these areas and the introduction of AI, we still need people to carry out activities and tasks, bringing a human element and level of empathy, understanding and deeper context. The environment your employees operate in is the culture. Your culture may be adding or subtracting from your efficiency and in some instances could derail your CX strategy altogether.

What is Culture?

Culture is a culmination of shared values, beliefs, and behaviours that influence how employees interact with others (customers and colleagues). This includes everything from how readily information is shared and decisions are made, to the level of autonomy and empowerment employees have, to the overall sense of purpose and motivation within the organisation. By fostering a customer-centric culture that emphasises empathy, ownership, and continuous improvement, you empower your employees to deliver exceptional experiences and drive your CX strategy forward.

Why Culture Matters for CX Strategy

A strong CX culture isn't just about happy employees. It's about fostering an environment that empowers your team to make decisions, solve problems, understand context and go the extra mile for customers. A strong CX culture allows your front-line agents, who are handling customer queries, to connect with customers at a human level, displaying empathy and understanding. It promotes collaboration, and knowledge sharing, ensuring consistency and exceptional experiences across all touchpoints. With this comes innovation and continuous improvement, allowing you to adapt to evolving customer needs.

How to build a CX Roadmap with culture as the foundation?

Creating a continuous improvement plan for CX excellence requires a strategic foundation based on a strong CX culture. Points to consider include:

1. Define your CX vision and values: What kind of experience do you want to deliver to your customers? What principles guide your team's interactions and decisions?
2. Align your culture with your values: Ensure your company culture actively supports and reinforces your CX vision and values.
3. Invest in your people: Provide training, resources, and tools that empower your agents, reduce friction, and boost their morale. By demonstrating that you care about your team's wellbeing, sense of purpose and motivation you're fostering a culture of engagement and ownership.
4. Empower decision-making: Give your team the autonomy and authority to make decisions that benefit the customer, fostering a sense of ownership and accountability.
5. Recognise and celebrate successes: Acknowledge and reward your team's efforts in creating positive customer experiences. This reinforces positive behaviours and motivates continuous improvement.

Neglecting culture in your CX strategy is like building a house on sand. While systems and processes are crucial, it's your people who breathe life into your strategy and deliver exceptional experiences. It's easy to get caught up in the mechanics of running a business, focusing on systems and processes to ensure efficiency. But while technology plays a crucial role, people will drive your success.

Neglecting your employees' experience and culture can have a detrimental impact on your customer experience (CX) strategy. A strong CX culture doesn't happen by accident; it requires intentional nurturing. By fostering a culture of empathy, ownership, and continuous improvement, you empower your team to deliver exceptional experiences consistently. So, are you overlooking the lynchpin of your CX strategy? Start building your culture today and watch your customer experience flourish.

Cloudset provides Zendesk add-ons built with agents and customers in mind. They allow you to invest and contribute to a positive CX culture. By simplifying workflows, reducing confusion, and enhancing agent productivity, Cloudset allows your team to focus on what truly matters: delivering exceptional customer experiences. All our products come with a risk-free 30-day trial and onboarding support to ensure you succeed. 

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