Customer experience innovation is a constant evolution. What was inventive five years ago could be commonplace today. Being brave enough to be different and make a difference is popularly known as Punk. Punk in creating a unique customer experience means daring to be different.
It is up to you as a leader to initiate adding Punk into your customer experience strategy. In my leadership Academy called Call Center Coach, I often encourage leaders to be daring. What can you do things differently? How can you pioneer new ways to do things?
In my CX Quick Tips interview with Adrian Winscoe, we shared insights on What Does Punk Music Got To Do With CX?
For example, when I worked for the call center, we competed on the happiest voices. It does not detract from your brand or goal, and neither does it undermine service delivery; instead, it enables a type of engagement that really you cannot get any other way. Let your team be in a position of service at their work.
Origins Of Punk Music And How It Relates to Customer Experience
Whilst progressive rock music was quite popular. It was also accused of overly elaborate, self-indulging, and obsessed with technicalities like how you play the guitar. Punk music, on the other hand, brought the idea that anyone can be a musician.
It brought the impression that you do not need to have a Ph.D. in music, but anyone can form a band and make music. Punk music was more of Do It Yourself (DIY), democratic and dare to be different.
It was about emotion, connecting with people, and very much about movement. I often get the impression that the CX space is looking like the 1970s progressive rock space being overly codified, certified, and having a benchmark framework.
Creating A Unique Customer Experience Through Punk CX
Like the progressive rock space, the CX is seemingly more interested in itself than its institutes, thereby losing sight of the outcomes it’s trying to drive. This then gave the idea of a punk version of CX. A punk CX is an incitement to do better work, thereby creating a unique customer experience.
Your customers are waiting for better outcomes, and it is upon the service or experience community to deliver that unique experience. It is about punching through so that one day the overly engineered material produces better outcomes. Punk CX is all about our teams pulling up their socks to meet their responsibilities. Punk CX is also about getting things done quicker.
Concerning CX’s benefits, Forbes revealed that 86% of Buyers Will Pay More for a great customer experience. Also, 32% of customers will walk away from a brand they love after a single bad experience.
Possible 2021 Revisions For A Punk CX
Punk in CX is getting things done in weeks and days rather than months and years. The biggest revision for 2021 would be to do more, go faster, learn more and read more into your customer needs.
In my view, understanding what is important to the customer and is instrumental in the engineering of a distinctive consumer experience. Two of the most important things you should consider are speed (do it faster) and getting it done.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, some if not most organizations barely had remote persons, but the pandemic circumstances pushed us to get it done, and within 48 hours, everyone was remote. Havard Law Today revealed that COVID-19 has changed how your team works and, for some, where you work from.
Role of Space In The Unique Customer Experience
One of the biggest emerging things is how leaders have to create space to understand how things are going on. There are so many back-to-back meetings in a normal operating environment. Hence, you barely get space to work and really think and consider how things are going on.
You can create space by taking control of the time and turning down other commitments or arbitrarily canceling 20-30% of all weekly meetings. This creates space to understand the flow of things around the organization properly. The other thing that is important for leaders is to develop their people.
Adrain Swinscoe, in his book Punk CX, posits that ‘Punk music is not the answer that is up to you.’ You are in this space, be it customer service or experience. It would be best if you were devoted to producing better outcomes for your customers.
To produce better outcomes, you have to own it, have responsibility for it. You also have to realize that none of that stuff will happen if you don’t do something differently. Steve Jobs once said, “you’ve got to start with the customer experience and work back toward the technology- not the other way round.”
It requires you to push, be vulnerable, takes risks because that is what it takes to lead. It all starts with you,’ get moving, and take the lead.
Conclusion
A unique customer experience lies in the hands of the service delivery personnel. Hence, the need to embrace a punk approach to it. Adding punk involves being daring enough to make a difference. Punk does not detract from your overall objectives, but it simply enables a type of engagement that serves customers better.
Shaking things up keeps your team excited, and it keeps your brand fresh and appealing to your customers. I challenge you today to do one thing each week that is new and daring.
Watch My Interview With Adrian Swinscoe
Please Comment
- In your own opinion, what does it take to create a unique customer experience?
- Do you think it is effective to add Punk to CX?
- What revisions can be made to CX in 2021?
Jim Rembach is the Editor in Chief of the Customer Service Weekly and it’s Podcast host. He is President of CX Global Media and the creator of the Call Center Coach Virtual Leaders Academy. As the host of the Fast Leader Show Podcast, he has interviewed hundreds of experts, authors, academics, researchers, and practitioners on various angles, viewpoints, and perspectives for improving the customer experience. He has held positions in retail operations, contact centers, customer support, customer success, sales, and measured the customer experience. He is a certified Emotional Intelligence practitioner, Employee Retention Specialist, and recipient of numerous industry awards.