Improvement Process & Model

Framework Criteria (The Six Dimensions of CEM Improvement)

The Framework represented as an infinity visual is a step by step non-restrictive framework that organisations use as guideline for the improvement of customer experience management. The Framework is composed of six dimensions that are closely integrated and linked, three of these criteria are categorised under ‘Alignment’ and three are under ‘Performance’.

The ‘Alignment’ dimensions cover how an organisation understands what is important to its customers in delivering Happiness and Value and to create a process to align and develop the organisation to fulfil them.

The ‘Performance’ dimensions are how the organisation delivers the developed experiences and continuously analyses voice of customer feedback to innovate and improve experiences.

Implementing the Framework starts at the “Define” dimension and is a continuous dynamic loop of analysis development delivery and measurement.

The dimensions of the Framework answer the fundamental questions surrounding customer experience management.

Deﬁne: What do customers expect in terms of experience, happiness and value?
Design: What experiences can be delivered?
Develop: How will they be achieved?
Deploy: How will they be implemented?
Discover: How will it be measured?
Devise: What innovations and improvements are required?

Each of the elements of the six dimensions has a definition to explain its purpose and objective, the definition is then followed by a detailed explanation that describes the expected activities that lead to its achievement (maturity indicators).

Dimension 1: Define

Define - Summary

Define is the first driver of the Framework and creates the initial strategic template for the design and development of a customer experience. In depth analysis is conducted to create a picture of the customers’ needs, values, perceptions, expectations and emotions.

It is critical to have senior management commitment to develop continuously explorative programmes that seek to understand and define the service elements that directly build the customer experience proposition.

Some of the means used to define the customer experience includes but are not limited to:

D 1.1 Deﬁne and Analyse Market Needs & Competitors Offering

It is important to define the market in terms of the general markets’ expectations and needs to establish an action plan that addresses their identified needs.

Analysing and defining market needs,
Include all current and potential market segments in order to understand and anticipate their needs
Analyse the target customer needs and expectations to understand any gaps in the organisation’s current proposition
Analyse the general market needs and trends what the organisation should develop in order to address them.
Analyse competitor brand propositions as an integral part of market offering analysis
Monitor competitor offerings continuously in order to understand the latest market changes

D 1.2 Deﬁne & Position Organisation against Market Needs

It is important to establish a clear understanding of the organisation’s position in the market as perceived by the customer and to assess the degree to which that is coherent with the market offerings and general market needs

The process of analysing and positioning against market needs includes,

Analysing the organisation’s strategic objectives in the light of market needs analysis.
Analysing the current brand and organisation perception and positioning
Analysing the unique selling preposition against current competitors in the market
Identifying the gaps in brand and organisation positioning against the market needs and competitors’ analysis defined in 1.1

D 1.3 Deﬁne Customer Needs & Expectations

Effective CEM is enhanced when organisations regularly seek a better understanding of their customers’ psychological profiles and have a clear understanding of customers’ needs, values, perception, expectations and experience. This analysis creates an understanding of the main drivers of customer delight and satisfaction as well an understanding of the importance of the emotional weight of customer interactions in the critical touch points within the expected customer experience.

As part of defining customer needs and expectations organisations,

Analyse both behavioural and perceptual metrics
Conduct customer psychology analysis
Include all relevant current and potential customer segments within the target customer groups
Use customer psychology analysis to define the ranges of their customers’ profiles.
Use psychology analysis to assess the customers’ response to the organisation’s processes as part of the service design

D 1. 4 Deﬁne Customer Loyalty Metrics

As customer loyalty is the key prerequisite of customer lifetime value it is sensible to utilise customer loyalty metrics in order to understand the loyalty determinants that inform and direct their customer engagement strategy and propositions.

Organisations defining customer loyalty metrics,

Analyse the loyalty metrics within their target customer segments in order to understand their effect on market trends and purchase/ repurchase propensity.
Analyse the determinants of behaviour to purchase and to advocate (recommend) the organisation.
Analyse loyalty to understand and prioritise the factors that drive and positively/ negatively influence loyalty
Analyse loyalty measures using conjoint and adaptive choice and other interviewing techniques
As part of the service design and the service enhancement process measure the customers’ likelihood to buy and recommend.
Use local, regional and international insights to better understand loyalty metrics, market trends and customer experience delivery propositions

D 1.5 Deﬁne Organisation performance and experience offerings against Customer Needs & Expectations

It is important to establish a clear understanding of the organisation’s current customer experience performance and status and the extent to which the experiences offered to customers is coherent with the aspirations, needs and expectations of the customer.

The process of defining the organisation’s status quo against the customers’ needs and expectations includes,

Reviewing the current customer experience delivery and offering
Analysing the history of customer feedback for all the customer experience channels
Identifying the gaps in customer experience performance in relation to the needs, expectations and loyalty metrics defined in 1.3 and 1.4

Dimension 2: Design

Design components

The Design dimension uses internal innovation, research and market analysis to design and plan the customer experiences across all channels both digital and physical as well as develop the touch points of their customer experience delivery.

Ideally the customer experience is designed to ensure that the customers’ expectations are exceeded and creates a unique brand positioning experience.

Design activities include but are not limited to:

D 2.1 Customer Engagement Strategy

“Good customer service begins at the top, if your senior people don’t get it even the strongest links down the line can become compromised” – Richard Branson

A customer experience strategy based on research and analysis developed to provide the organisation, its leadership, customers and stakeholders with the level of customer focus and centricity that the organisation requires to achieve its objectives. The strategy is the foundation for the customer experience delivery Framework, deployment plans and tactics.

As part of designing a customer engagement strategy organisations,

Engage with relevant stakeholders in the development and alignment of the customer engagement strategy
Set a vision statement or engagement objectives
Base the strategy on research and insight analysis
Ensure that the strategy statement reflects changes in customers’ and market needs
Translate the document into tactical plans that are time bound with relevant stakeholder’s accountability identified.
Create a detailed responsibility matrix that includes leadership and top management involvement and their role in improvement

D 2.2 Customer Loyalty and Retention Strategy

Based on the insight from the customer loyalty metrics outlined in the Define dimension (D1.4) organisations design a detailed customer loyalty and retention strategy.

The loyalty and retention strategy is designed to achieve operational objectives and financial targets through tactical plans to build long term relationships with customers

To design a customer loyalty and retention strategy organisations, Document the customer retention strategy and consider all customer insights in its development and alignment
Link the customer loyalty and retention strategy with the engagement strategy and objectives (outlined in 2.1)
Base the strategy on research and insight analysis
Update the strategy statement to meet the changing needs of customers and the market.
Translate the document into tactical plans that are time bound with relevant stakeholder’s accountability

Monitor the retention strategy to ensure effective deployment

D 2.3 Marketing Strategy

Develop a detailed marketing strategy that combines both the marketing and communication approaches and details the performance indicators on which their success will be monitored. The marketing strategy is drawn from comprehensive market trends and competitor analysis (outlined in the Define dimension) and focuses on the customer value proposition for the product or service mix that will achieve the optimum sustainable profit potential.

As part of designing a marketing strategy organisations,

Base the strategy on research and insight analysis
Document the marketing strategy and engage all relevant stakeholders in its development, and alignment
Ensure that the marketing strategy reflects the organisation’s customer experience value proposition through all customer facing marketing functions
Translate the strategy into tactical plans that are time bound with relevant stakeholder’s accountability
Link the marketing strategy to both financial and operational performance objectives
Monitor and review the marketing strategy on a regular basis in order to ensure effective deployment
Ensure that the strategy encompasses all the channels required to meet customers’ needs

D 2.4 Value Proposition

CEM is enhanced when the design of the customer experience value proposition is in accordance with the Deﬁne dimension market research and analysis results.

Customer engaged organisations design multi-channel value propositions which ensure that the customer’s experience is based on experiential interaction.

The customer experience value proposition is translated into an experience delivery Framework with detailed performance measures.

To define a customer experience value proposition and a delivery hypothesis organisations,

Document the value proposition based on customers’ insights, research and analysis
Align policies, operational processes and efficiency requirements to support the value proposition
Involve relevant stakeholders in the development of the value proposition
Utilise insight on how to amplify the total customer experience value proposition from benchmarks within and beyond the organisation’s industry or sector
Design delivery criteria that support the value proposition (experience delivery Framework)

D 2.5 Service Pricing & Payment Structure

Product / service pricing should select a pricing scheme that takes into account the organisation’s development, production, distribution and maintenance costs.

The pricing strategy positions the product in accordance with an analysis of its market sector opportunity. (Detailed in the Define Dimension).

The price point should reflect the customer value proposition and all expectations the target market may attach to the brand.

To set and design service pricing organisations,

Set products and services pricing in accordance to set and design service pricing organisations, with research and insights into customer expectations and aspirations
Ensure that the product / service pricing is aligned with the value proposition
Ensure that the payment methods are in line with the customers’ needs and expectations
Design genuine product and service pricing information
Design payment / refund mechanisms that are straightforward and in line with customers’ expectations
Clearly communicate the product service pricing that is up to date and easily accessible to all stakeholders in all delivery channels

D 2.6 Customer Journey Mapping

Customer journey maps with visualisation are vitally important tools for designing customer experiences.

The customer journey map should link the organisation’s systems and infrastructure in the form of customer journey blueprints against which all delivery processes should be conformance tested.

To achieve this customer journey mapping objective organisations,

Ensure that the customer experience and customer journey maps for all delivery channels conform to the customer research and analysis and the organisation’s value proposition
Document customer journey maps for all customer experiences and interaction across all service delivery channels
Use customer journey maps to detail all stages of macro and micro customer experience moments
Integrate an emotional linkage (emoji- graph) to the map
Link customer experience maps to the internal operational front-end and
back-end processes necessary to fulfil a holistic customer experience
Have interactive systems that record, monitor and visualise customer journey maps and record their performance results
Ensure that Omni-channel orchestration and harmonisation is visible in journey maps

D 2.7 Design of Customer Interactions

To achieve a customer engagement objective, it is necessary for organisations to link all customer interactions both within and across the delivery channels of the organisation.

This linkage is used to determine the overall customer experience and is usually visualised within customer journey maps.

To design and visualise the linkage of customer interactions with journey maps organisations,

Design customer journey related interactions
Align all interactions with customer research, needs and analytics that impact the customer experience
Ensure multi channels and cross channel linkages positively impact the customer experience
Align customer interactions with the defined customer journey hypothesis (details in element D.2.5 Value Proposition & Delivery Hypothesis)

D 2.8 Emotional Weight of Customer Experiences (Happiness Value Moments)

Application of emotional weight of customer experiences (Happiness Value Moments) will provide input and insight to prioritise touch points. It is useful to conduct an analysis to determine the touch points and interactions that have the most impact on the customer experience as stated in the Deﬁne dimension.

To achieve the outcome of alignment and performance development based on applying emotional weight to customer experiences organisations,

Determine the sub-processes, touch points and interactions that are of high value and importance to customers
Base the emotional value on research and analysis Present the emotional weight on an emotional graph (linked with the customer journey maps)
Exhibit both value moments and pain points on the emotional graph as high importance and low importance elements
Use this linkage to analyse the performance of the prioritised touch points (Discover Dimensions)

Dimension 3: Develop

Develop components

This stage of service development and alignment brings together all the previous investments and includes the internal and external enabling factors necessary to fulfil the design of the customer experience.

Internal and external re-alignment could be required and may include the following:

D 3.1 Operational Processes

Operational processes are developed in order to enable and support the deployment of the designed customer experience.

Overall satisfaction and perception by the customer of their experience is dependent on the operational efficiency, effectiveness and performance of the organisation and is monitored through performance metrics.

Organisations developing their operational processes to achieve customer engagement,

Develop their operational processes and procedures based on insights and analysis.
Align the current operational processes that ensures effective deployment of the designed customer experience
Develop the processes in accordance with the organisation’s value proposition Communicate the operational processes to all relevant levels in the value chain
Develop the skills and motivate employees to show a high level of commitment to, and adoption of, the operational processes in their day to day service delivery
Develop a framework for the performance measurement of the organisation’s processes
Develop performance indicators that are specific for stages within the operational processes and develop a generic key performance indicator for the whole process.

D 3.2 Technical & System Infrastructure

The development and planned alignment of the technology and systems used within the delivery of the customer experience is a main component of high quality customer experiences.

Organisations striving towards customer engagement develop and integrate their technical, technological and system infrastructures in order to fulfil and support the designed experiences

Develop innovative experience delivery and management technology Use technology that supports multi-channel delivery
Adopt the platforms, IT systems and resourcing to support the deployment and continuous measurement of the customer experience
Assign resources to support and manage the technical and system infrastructures

D 3.3 Channel Infrastructure Development

The development of customer channels and touch points includes infrastructure requirements that deliver a consistent and satisfying customer experience across all channels.

To develop channel infrastructure organisations,

Develop the hardware and software requirements for the delivery of the designed customer experience

Maintain uniformity across all self-service channels with relevant and robust infrastructure platforms that support business critical processes
Develop an integrated service platform to receive and handle all channel transactions from one hosted platform
Have a plan and framework in place for the continuous development, monitoring and management of channel infrastructure based on customer and employee engagement
Where possible the customer’s profile and current contact history should travel with the system across channels to avoid repetition for the customer and time waste for the organisation.

D 3.4 Organisation structure & Human Resource Planning

It is the responsibility of leaders, managers and human resource specialists to ensure the organisations’ human resources are equipped with the right skills to meet the needs of the organisation’s customer experience proposition.

This includes recruitment and selection, development and engagement of staff and the programme required to motivate the employees to engage with the organisation’s values and customer experience proposition.

It is critically important that the human resource development and alignment is directly linked to the organisation’s customer engagement strategy, to do so organisations,

Have a high level of leadership engagement and responsibility in the deployment of the value proposition and designed customer experience
Fulfil the designed customer experience by developing a collaboration, communication, accountability and responsibility structure within the organisation’s management and people
Align and develop the human resource policies required to ensure the deployment of the customer experience value proposition
Ensure the recruitment and selection process is a competency based or similar approach directly linked to the customer experience value proposition.
Develop the relevant systems to implement the human resource engagement strategy
Engage relevant employees in the development and alignment of the human resource system to fulfil the value proposition
Have a structured framework for capturing feedback and insights from all employees directly or indirectly responsible for the management and delivery of the customer experiences

D 3.5 Partner & Supplier Alignment

Organisations striving to achieve customer engagement develop, plan and manage their partners and suppliers in accordance with the designed customer experience

Organisations should ensure that partners are aligned with the organisation’s value proposition and support the organisation’s core values. To achieve this organisations,

Ensure an assessment system is in place for the selection and assignment of partners involved in customer experience delivery
Engage partners within the process of development and deployment of the customer experience
Align partners’ insights and analysis of customer experience results to the partners and suppliers
Have accurate performance indicators to ensure the consistent delivery of the customer experience value proposition
Have a formalised agreement between the organisation and its partners and suppliers to ensure effective and efficient delivery of the customer experience

D 3.6 Interaction Guides and Standards

Human and channel interaction guides and standards create a clear guidance for Multi-channel interaction.

Based on customer research and insights analysis these guidelines should be regularly reviewed in accordance with the evolution of customer needs.

The development of interaction guides enables the engagement objective of consistent multi-channel performance, to achieve this organisation,

Ensure that the interaction guide is based on research analysis and insights
Make use of interaction guides to deliver a positive and seamless customer experience at every touch point, across the customer life cycle
Build the interaction guidelines into the organisation’s customer experience strategy and the customer experience value proposition
Create a personalisation element within the interaction guide based on the research insights and analysis

D 3.7 Marketing & Customer Communications Alignment

It is a key requirement that all channels of customer communication are consistent with the value proposition, enhance brand perception and deliver a consistent customer experience.

To align customer communications with the customer experience hypothesis and value proposition organisations,

Utilise customer insight analysis to evolve their customer communication channels as they become adopted and preferred by customers
Embrace new technology in terms of managing communication and marketing strategies which encourage customers to interact with the brand via different channels
Align their marketing and communication messages to fulfil the value proposition

Dimension 4: Deploy

Define components

Deployment of the elements in the experience management strategy is the first performance based outcome of the initial dimensions of planning and alignment, to ensure they are governed by and fulfil its promise the main focus of deployment is the delivery of the designed customer experience via the effective and efficient management of the key touch points.

The deployment of the customer experience can include:

Communication with, and skill development of, the supply chain
Communication of the proposition to customers
A combination of innovative technology that is aligned with customer needs,
Communication of product/service and other relevant information to all stakeholders.
The deployment and effective centralisation, integration or synchronisation of data to make it accessible

Customer experience deployment and management includes but is not limited to:

D 4.1 Deployment of the Developed Experiences

To ensure the efficient and detailed deployment of the developed experiences, it is necessary to develop a programme which includes processes, people management, systems and delivery technology.

Organisations that have an effective customer experience deployment

Ensure all systems, frameworks, infrastructure and people are in a unifying synergy to deliver the customer experience strategy
Exhibit a holistic approach in deploying a multi-channel strategy to customer experience management
Deploy the internal processes that fulfil the back-office elements of the customer experience
Integrate the systems and experience infrastructures
Secure the commitment of partners and suppliers the deployment of the customer experience. Deploy and utilise the human resources management system and infrastructure to enable all people groups to deliver the customer experience
Deploy marketing and communications to work synergistically with the customer engagement strategy and the experience value proposition

D 4.2 Customer Experience Monitoring & Response Team

Using a customer experience feedback response team to continually monitor and manage customer experience engagement and delivery across all channels.

The customer experience feedback response team is responsible for monitoring customer perceptions, impressions and direct feedback through all delivery channels.

The success factors of this function should include the use of problem solving and first-time resolution to drive performance improvement.

Organisations that successfully deploy a customer experience feedback response approach,

Use systems and tools to whether the customer experience deployment is fulfilling or exceeding customer expectations
Use performance metrics for the management of the customer experience response team to monitor performance and drive improvement.
Develop a time structure to resource and plan the response team’s availability to respond to customers’ needs.
Give access to integrated systems to create first time resolutions through the response teams
Provide an open channel for customers to interact with the customer experience response team
Develop and build the competencies of the customer experience response team
Link the feedback captured by the customer experience response team with the voice of customer metrics to create a performance improvement driver.

Dimension 5: Discover

Measurement - Has it worked?

The continuous measurement and results analysis of customer experience delivery performance is the key tool for customer experience improvement across all operational functions. Continuous performance analysis of experience ensures that the organisation is closely monitoring the touch points and interactions that affect customer loyalty.

Different forms of Voice of Customer analysis are used to continually develop and enhance the customer experience.

Measuring the customer experience and its implications on both speciﬁc and overall organisational performance includes but is not limited to the following analytical approaches:

D 5.1 Voice of Customer (VoC)

Voice of Customer feedback is a key metric that measures the customer experience performance against the customer engagement strategy and customer value proposition.

Voice of Customer offers a multi-source insight approach that focuses on customer needs, expectations, emotions and valuable input that leads to service and customer experience improvement.

Voice of the Customer applications are able to use unlimited techniques for capturing insights, from all forms of customer input. To successfully collect VOC organisations,

Assign a designated resource, tasked to design and manage the VoC methods and is responsible for authoring, and recommending improvement actions
Build a cross-functional team responsible for utilising the VoC
Consider all touch points and how they can contribute to a holistic view
Use technology for VoC automation that continuously gathers customer feedback and reports its results
Ensure customers receive recognition of the value of their time invested when providing feedback

D 5.2 Feedback Channels

The multiple feedback channels supported by the ‘Customer Experience Response Team’ (detailed in D.4.2.) encourage customer feedback by using open channels to provide the organisation with feedback.

The main characteristic of feedback channels in customer engaged organisations is that they are two way channels that provide immediate and proactive engagement with customers in regard to their customer experience.

To optimise the source of VOC insights organisations,

Provide multichannel customer feedback and engagement
Enable customers to engage with the organisation in real time.
Empower employees that handle customer feedback channels with the systems and tools needed to respond professionally
Log feedback onto systems to create a database of integrated feedback into the organisation’s operations and development strategies
Digitally and systematically integrate the feedback channels (multi-channel orchestration) to ensure that customer feedback is acknowledged and response actions are clear to the customers

D 5.3 Customer Loyalty

Customer loyalty metrics can be segmented through three metrics of Retention, Advocacy and Purchasing Behaviour.

On other levels the metrics can include Length of Relationship, Spending Patterns. Propensity to Purchase Combinations of Products/Services, Seasonal Purchase Behaviour, Attitude to Innovation etc. and these vary widely from sector to sector so measurement design has to be carefully undertaken.

As part of analysing customer loyalty organisations,

Create the framework and methodology for analysing the survey data into a meaningful construct that can be used by decision makers
Measure retention as a key indicator of a customer’s willingness to remain with the organisation and reuse the service or products.
Support the retention measures by linking them with the Advocacy Metrics
Translate the customer loyalty measures into financial implications.
Search for patterns when analysing responses to survey questions designed to measure specific indicators that, when taken in context by the analyst, have varying degrees of certainty for predicting future customer behavior

D 5.4 Customer Life Time Value (CLV)

Customer value analysis identifies the actual and potential cost, revenue and profit value of various customer segments. Customer value analysis insights are used to increase business outcomes through efficient management of defined customer segments.

Customer engaged organisations analyse the customer lifetime value (CLV) through diagnostic, historic and predictive value analysis approach, to engage customers to stay loyal to the organisation over an extended period of their lifetime.

To analyse the impact of customer loyalty organisations,

Conduct customer value analysis as an input for prioritizing marketing segments
Conduct CLV through diagnostic, historic and predictive value analysis approach Identify and quantify high value customer segments
Utilise the CLV to understand the channels that are prioritized by high value customers
Utilise the outcome of the CLV to drive the marketing strategy and focus
Understand the purchase-repurchase cycle that is relevant in the sector in which the organisation operates and create loyalty strategies accordingly.
Analyse and determine the spend/profit per existing customer, this includes segment analysis and measuring share of wallet and informs designing repeat purchase opportunities

D 5.5 Performance Measures Monitoring

All key processes and operations should have clear performance indicators (KPIs), objectives and customer benefit measures identified in order to ensure process efficiency and the eradication of non-value-added activities.

The measurement of customer experience related processes should be analysed and monitored to identify areas that influence positively and negatively the customer experience.

Performance measurement monitoring and analysis include organisation activities to,

Engage all relevant stakeholders in the process of development and monitoring the performance indicators

Identify the processes that impact the delivery of the customer experience
Utilise modern technology to monitor, report and assess performance of the organisation
Use leading edge systems and infrastructure to monitor and analyse the performance of the customer experience delivery
Ensure that the results are used as input for the alignment, development and improvement of the customer experience management processes

Dimension 6: Devise

Devise Dimension Summary

The findings of the Discover dimension should inform the development of strategic improvement plans to ensure they optimise the opportunities available from being results-driven. The quality of the analysis and reporting of the collected insights is a main determinant in the development of an effective performance improvement programme.

The use of analytical approaches to discover and address trends, root causes and relationships to address failing customer experience factors and enhance successful experiences.

D 6.1 Integrated Reporting & Analysis

A detailed, regular reporting structure and detailed, documented analysis of measurement insights can provide clear direction on how to enhance, improve and / or develop the individual customer experience.

The development of a dynamic and regularly updated engagement platform used for analysis customer relationship management and reporting is a valuable tool to act as the repository of all the customer experience analysis initiatives. To integrate the reporting and effective analysis of its VOC activities organisations

Identify convergent findings across feedback sources and customer experience results that impact business and operational outcomes at both enterprise and unit levels
Demonstrate the connection between customer feedback, operational processes and business results. Use a formal, statistical process by which, input measures from one data source can be correlated to output measures from another
Develop a framework for organizing and analysing both structured and unstructured data sources
Analyse internal operational measures and customer experience measures to understand customer experience performance
Develop and implement a process for customer experience action plans and improvement
Use technology that includes real-time analytics, dashboards, and reporting formats to help stakeholders understand customer sentiment, detect trends and rising issues, and share information across the supply chain
Develop a dashboard reporting system to monitor customer experience performance and customer engagement within the organisation.
Display convergent and divergent analysis for unit and enterprise stakeholders on regular, clear comprehensible dashboards

What is the next stage?

The analysis, findings and the outcomes of the performance measurements are intended to provide guidance crucial to the continuous enhancement that will drive the organisation’s CEM performance.

This continuous enhancement of the delivery channels starts the process again thereby creating an infinity loop back into the Define dimension.

The utilisation of the analysis results includes but is not limited to the following:

D 6.2 Customer Experience Continuous Improvement

The analysis of all measures and insights linked to the organisation’s performance should provide action owners with the core data for their development and improvement plans.

To adopt customer experience continuous improvement initiatives organisations,

Deploy a consistent process for promoting development action and providing the necessary support to help teams better understand what to do and why it should be done
Identify the people and/or functions who “own” the customer-driven touch points about the items that must be addressed
Ensure owners of customer-driven functions have the tools to explore, understand and respond to the breadth of customer commentary
Pinpoint which improvement opportunities are High-Priority Action Items
Plans and test the improvement of the ideas
Incubate and test new ideas to the stage of proof of concept

D 6.3 Multichannel Presence and Orchestration

The results of customer insight analysis can be used to create more personalised touch points and channel experiences relevant to individual customer expectations.

To efficiently optimise Multichannel orchestration organisations,

Ensure that customer communication and customer messages are based on insights and understanding of the content the customers want via medium of communication they prefer
Connect customer interactions across all channels and continue to integrate the linkage
Enable customers to move across multiple channels seamlessly unify the customer profile to combine customer information, transactional data, online navigation and social interactions to create a rich customer profile and a more dynamic, personalized experience for the customer
Tailor the product/service information displayed for the customer based on the type of device the customer is using
Personalize wherever possible the customer search results to known segment needs, expectations and trends
Provides tools such as product recommendations, comparisons and knowledge management capabilities to assist the customer to make the right decision

D 6.4 Technology & Innovative Solutions

Organisations show commitment to their customers by adopting new or emerging technologically innovative solutions.

Adoption of innovative enhancement solutions includes,

Utilising innovative technology to support or lead customer needs, expectations and emotions at early phases of development of the customer experience
Adopting new technology in customer experience mapping and blueprinting
Adopting appropriate technology for the delivery and management of multi-channel experiences
Adopting leading edge technology to monitor customer experiences (enterprise management systems)
Adopting leading edge technology for the capturing, analysis and monitoring of customer experiences

D 6.5 Channel Features

The ongoing development of channel features to accommodate customer and market changes without restrictive commitment to periodical reviews is important in the fast-moving digital age.

The enhancement and continuous evolution of customer experiences is dependent on the technologies that are widely adopted and are requirements within a range of customer preferred touch points.

Channel feature enhancement plans includes organisation initiatives to,

Update the delivery channel infrastructure based on the needs and expectations of customers
Identify the latest technology and analyze its applicability to the organisation offering Update digital channels and applications to continually offer new features.
Circulate new features to all interested parties through the relevant channels and media platforms.
Measure the effectiveness of the enhanced features to ensure the targeted improvement objective is achieved

Framework Enablers

These enablers are critical to the effectiveness of all CEM initiatives within the organisation.

Leadership Commitment, Innovation, Creativity, Aspiration

Leaders understand the importance and benefits of integrating customer engagement into their business Framework. When organisations need to introduce new strategic approaches, leaders act as role Frameworks, the main inspiration and drivers of successful CEM transformation.

Leaders in organisations implementing a customer engagement strategy,

Set the organisation’s vision for achieving high levels of customer engagement and ensuring full support is being provided whenever needed.
Play the role of effective communicators of the organisation’s vision, direction, and values to the staff, the public and all stake holders
Create a culture of engagement by leading change, inspiring employees to take ownership of, and become involved in, taking accountability for all customer experience related matters
Are involved in the improvement and management of the strategic vision by managing teams through regular meetings, following up on performance reports and the developing future performance improvement plans.
Demonstrate effective decision-making ability based on continuous monitoring of the customer ‘s and stakeholder’s needs

In any competitive environment harnessing innovation and creativity are necessary to provide stakeholders with best in class solutions that meet and exceed their expectations.

Organisations adopting an innovative culture,

Understand the roles of all people within the organisation in driving customer experience innovation.
Engage all relevant stakeholders in a process of innovation and creativity by systematically collecting and reviewing their ideas
Enable the overall innovation and creativity process by creating the right environment, learning approach and internal collaboration structure to support it
Operate a structured methodology regularly to collect, manage and prioritize creative ideas related to the customer experience
Plan and allocate resources to implement creative ideas to maintain the organisation’s capability to deliver a best in class customer experience
Provide the required tools and resources to foster an innovative culture that positively impacts the customer experience

Positive Organisational Culture

It is imperative that the culture of the organisation recognises the potential value of the lifetime engagement of all its target customer segments and places a high priority on the importance of delivering an appropriate, leading edge customer experience across their whole customer life cycle.

Organisations leading a customer engagement focused culture,

Embed, adopt and communicate a customer engagement culture within all stakeholder groups.
Practice an approach of continuous collaboration, competency development and motivation to all employees.
Effectively assess and develop the culture to ensure all employees understand and have the skills and resources to support the development towards customer engagement.
Build a succession capability that ensures the policies that frame the appointment, development and progression of managers are aligned to the organisations’ values and culture.
Create an environment where employees feel they are engaged in a process that recognises personal contribution as a driver of organisational performance improvement.
Validate, acknowledge and recognise employees’ performance on a daily basis
Set, communicate and measure the behavioural expectations of their people in support of the organisation’s values.

Financial & Human Resource Allocation

Human resources are the key dynamic force that drives performance improvement or decline. Investing in the continuous professional development of the skills and capability of human resources is critical to supporting the implementation of an effective customer engagement strategy.

To implement a customer engagement strategy organisations,

Define the financial, human and technological resources they need in order to maintain the highest levels of customer engagement
Effectively and efficiently utilise their financial resources to support the strategic needs of their people
Invest in development and alignment of their human resources in order to fulfil the objectives of the customer engagement strategy
Provide the necessary financial resources to encourage the adoption of appropriate modern technology, systems and software Invest, where necessary, in recruiting experience to support and enable the customer engagement strategy to deliver its objectives.

Stakeholder Empowerment and Engagement

External stakeholders can play a vital role in influencing the customer’s experience whether as shareholders investing in an organisation that they know and understand the value of customer engagement or as stakeholders involved in the supply chain who share a beneficial opportunity to add value to the supply relationship and thereby increase the engagement potential of their mutual customers.

As part of stakeholder empowerment organisations,

Define all stakeholders, internal and external, at an initial stage of deploying customer engagement and customer experience management
Inform key stakeholders about the organisation’s strategic direction towards customer experience management and engagement
Consult with relevant stakeholders as part of the process of developing the customer engagement strategy
Involve stakeholders to ensure that all the customer and market needs are understood and considered within the decision-making process.
Collaborate with entrepreneurial stakeholders in developing partnerships, formulating options and providing recommendations for developing customer experience engagement
Empower stakeholders in the decision-making process to implement and manage the changes required to achieve a more customer engaged focus and delivery

Continuous Alignment & Performance Management

Customer engagement strategy provides a blueprint for organisational design. This includes aligning its operations for delivering and sustaining the highest levels of customer experience and optimising the commercial and operational opportunities available to the mutual benefit of the organisation and its customers.

To continuously align and manage performance organisations,

Have clearly focused, well-articulated and effectively communicated objectives that drive the actions required to achieve its engagement strategy.
Define and align the key processes that support the elements of the customer engagement strategy.
Continually assess the business and operational performance against the objectives and re-align the organisation’s activities when required.
Continuously evaluate the implrovement and customer engagement performance results to inform and improve the organisation’s future performance and delivery.

Framework Maturity Scale

The maturity scale concept is an assessment methodology that allows organisations to determine their present status versus their targeted maturity objective and plan the work towards its achievement.

This Framework maturity is based on a maturity categorisation aligned with other global maturity scales and Frameworks.

Organisations should conduct a detailed comprehensive review and assessment to analyse the present maturity status within each of the dimensions and elements within it.

A detailed maturity scale for each individual element is detailed within a separate Framework Assessors’ Guide available from Ethos. www.ethosplc.com

To benefit most from the Maturity Scale organisations should:

Assess their current maturity level according to the Framework Maturity indicators
Determine the maturity level that the organisation is aiming to achieve
Plan and develop a customer experience management implementation utilising the Framework
Follow the framework and dimensions to deliver the required customer experience results
Assess and refine the deployment approaches based on the ongoing monitoring of stakeholders’ feedback and voice of customer insights

Assessment Scoring Structure of the Framework

Framework maturity scale is an assessment approach that organisations striving towards customer engagement use to determine their maturity level of their customer experience strategy. The assessment scoring can also be used by organisations conducting self-assessment and seeking benchmarking with others.

All of the elements within each of the dimensions have their own score. By reviewing the individual level of each element, the organisation can identify areas of strength and weakness and develop an improvement plan to prioritise actions designed to reinforce areas of strength and address areas of weakness.

The underlying scoring system of the maturity scale is based on the six dimensions of the Framework weighted according to the relative importance of its components. There are 1000 points distributed among the six dimensions of the Framework. 40% of the assessment scoring is based on the Alignment dimensions and 60% are allocated to the Performance dimensions.

Each dimension’s allocated are built on the points of its component elements criteria, for example each of the criteria of the five Discover dimension score 50 points individually that add up to the 250 overall points of the discover dimension.

Each dimension is assessed according to the Framework maturity scale and a defined maturity level. The individual maturity of an element is based on two factors

1. Maturity Indicators Scoring 70% of the overall elements’ maturity level Assessors will use the maturity indicators defined for each of the elements to assess the maturity level of the elements.

2. Achievement of Statement of Objective 30% of the overall elements’ maturity level

Each of the elements is described by a statement of objective. This includes the overall objective of the element in relation to the overall customer experience management strategy.

Assessor will determine the extent to which organisations have achieved this statement of objective on three levels of achievement. (Fully Achieved, Partially Achieved, Not Yet Achieved) and apply the score accordingly