Driving Customer Experience

Alexander Group’s 2019 Executive Forum attendees learned four lessons on customer experience (CX) from CX leader and avid storyteller Rajat Mishra, SVP and GM, CX product management at Cisco.

Cisco has created a CX life cycle model that puts the customer at the center of everything and details the experience a customer goes through in their buyer journey. This requires whole company buy-in from IT and operations to sales and service to HR and marketing to legal and finance. One of Rajat’s key points was that to succeed with the CX life cycle and drive profitable growth, you need to move from “silos to symphonies.”

To illustrate the impact and value of the CX life cycle approach, Rajat shared his personal experience and lessons learned as a customer of Dollar Shave Club. Rajat noted how the company was able to solve a clear problem (getting a good shave on a regular basis), engaged him on a personal level (tips on how to get a better shave), secured a renewal and expanded the relationship with additional value-add products.

Rajat Mishra Keynote Address – Alexander Group Executive Forum 2019

As a movie fan, Rajat likened four CX lessons to movie and television anecdotes.

Lesson 1: The Rounders Lesson

Just like Matt Damon’s character in The Rounders who becomes obsessed with poker to pay off his (and others’) debts, companies must intensify their focus from customer-centric to customer-obsessed. Know what your customer wants and anticipate solutions to problems yet to come. This way, you create the right customer experience from the start.

Lesson 2: The Moneyball Lesson

Define the right metrics and blueprint for the CX life cycle. Similar to the baseball scouting scenario from the movie Moneyball, the lesson for companies is that simply having data doesn’t matter unless you use it properly. Leverage those metrics to build a sales and marketing strategy that results in a home run customer experience!

Lesson 3: The Iron Man Lesson

Bring the best of human and digital experience together. Using either one alone isn’t enough. When you combine the “man and the machine,” just like Tony Stark from The Iron Man, you get the best CX experience.

Lesson 4: The Oprah Lesson

Utilize your channels and partnerships. Someone like Oprah has a lot of power and influence by herself. When she partners with other organizations and influencers, the experience multiplies. Don’t rely on your company’s brand or influence to do all the work for you. Partners who embrace the CX life cycle are more profitable. With all the changes in customer expectations, good partnerships lead to increased revenue growth, loyalty and success.

Discover more about the Alexander Group Leadership Events. Or contact our events team to secure your spot at the 2020 Leadership Series.
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