A customer experience is the multisensory experience of a brand which is embodied in an organization's product and service offerings. Jeneanne Rae, President and CEO of Motiv Strategies, outlines the customer experience (cX) management framework here.

1. Customer Experience Management
Customer Experience Management Framework:
Elements and Purpose
By Jeneanne Rae
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2. Customer Experience Management
Customer Experience customer experience vision and align their
responsibilities, activities, and incentives to
Management Framework: support it.
Elements and Purpose
Brand
A customer experience is the multisensory An organization’s brand promise, values, and
experience of a brand which is embodied in an identity must be infused at every customer
organization’s product and service offerings. touchpoint. Brand is the “north star” in making
Traditionally, the customer experience was important decisions that will enhance brand
limited to the point-of-sale of a product or the equity and drive differentiation along the
point-of-delivery of a service, but today’s continuum your customers experience through an
customer experience champions manage organization’s human and technological
consumers’ experiences across all touchpoints interfaces.
before, during, and after the consumption of the
product or service. Culture
Culture is the set of values and resulting
Motiv’s intense study of customer experience environment within which your customer’s
exemplars over the years has led us to develop experience is produced. Customer experience
the following framework to explain the level of exemplars put little before serving its customers’
orchestration required of any entity that aspires to needs as a number one priority.
produce distinctive interactions with its customers
that will drive loyalty and premium pricing over
time. THE HOW
Technology
In order to drive quality and a high degree of
personalization at scale, customer experience
exemplars use a wide range of technologies to
support their customer experience visions, from
simple databases and data mining to mobile apps
and web-based utilities. Technology is a major
tool in driving engagement, facilitating ease-of-
doing-business and garnering system feedback.
Process and Tools
User-centered, service-design-based processes
and tools such as ethnography, customer journey
mapping, service blueprinting, visualization,
CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE VISION customer–co-creation, and rapid prototyping are
used extensively by customer experience
A customer experience vision is a high-level
exemplars. Managing an overall vision and
description of what the organization aspires to
change management for large systems at scale
achieve in its interactions with its customers and
require synthesis of large quantities of
its employees. A customer experience vision will
information, as well as frameworks to direct
identify the persons your organization wishes to
action that these “design thinking” methods and
benefit, empathize with the problem they need to
tools provide.
solve in their lives, evoke the emotions they
should experience, and leave the “how” vague in
Metrics
order to foster wide interpretation by the various
“What gets measured gets managed.” An overall
levels of employees who will produce the
customer satisfaction score might tell an
experience. For example, Starbucks’s Customer
organization how well it is doing with its
Experience Vision is, “Give a busy customer the
customers in general, but will not tell it where a
20 minutes each day he or she will look forward
touchpoint is systemically broken and frustrating
to most.”
for its customers. All touchpoints require quality
standards and measurements of how that
Leadership Alignment
touchpoint compares to others along the
Senior leaders from all functional areas
continuum of the customer journey, as well as for
understand and buy in to the organization’s
811 N. Royal Street ©Motiv Strategies 2012
2
Alexandria, VA 22314
motivstrategies.com

3. Customer Experience Management
the same touchpoint by comparison in a system identity must be continually reinforced through
of retail stores, or medical clinics, for example. consistent messaging that must rely on an overall
Since a broken touchpoint can ruin the entire intentional strategy to drive desired results.
customer experience for an individual, metrics
are essential to drive continuous improvement. Training
Whether the customer engagement involves a
Customer Feedback retail associate, a sales person, a service
Producing a great customer experience is a two- representative, or a manager of front-line
way street. Without the customer in the loop to employees, training is an essential element to
tell you how you are doing with them, the drive quality and consistency across the various
producer of the experience will be in the dark to customer journey touchpoints. As important is the
act on opportunities that will drive greater need to communicate how to handle exceptions
relevance for that customer, or to improve upon to any employee who might encounter a situation
or even cure a problem with an existing that needs to be made “right” in order to stay in
experience. the customer’s good graces.
THE WHO
Employee Engagement Jeneanne Rae is the
For systems where the majority of the experience CEO of Motiv Strategies
is delivered by human beings (as opposed to and a nationally
machines), the level of employee engagement is recognized thought
a key indicator of whether the organization can leader on innovation
produce a compelling, high-quality experience. management and design
Organizations that can effectively communicate strategy. She was hailed
their customer experience vision to invoke as one of Bloomberg
employees to deliver on the “higher purpose” of Businessweek’s
driving not only customer satisfaction but also “Magnificent Seven Gurus of Innovation” in its
customer delight, align their organizations for cover story on the creative corporation. After
success. Leadership intervention, measurement receiving an MBA from Harvard Business School,
tools, inspiration, and training play a big role in Rae spent 20 years mastering the art and
this element. science of innovation through senior
management positions at Peer Insight and IDEO.
Partners For 10 years, she taught new product
The challenge of producing high-quality, development and service development as an
compelling experiences requires a myriad of adjunct professor at Georgetown University's
talents (e.g., market research, training) that may McDonough School of Business, and she
not be core internal competencies for the currently teaches executive education through
organization. Additionally, fostering obvious various top-ranked programs throughout the
connections between companies (e.g., country. Rae can be contacted at
McDonald’s tight worldwide partnership with jrae@motivstrategies.com
Coca-Cola; Apple’s stable of accessories
producers) to “complete” a customer experience
vision is an effective strategy to promote Motiv is a multidisciplinary innovation strategy
increased loyalty with minimal financial outlay consultancy that partners with visionary leaders
and reduced risk. Partnerships, therefore, are to produce innovative services and experiences
essential to cultivate and manage as part of any that materially contribute to our clients’ goals.
customer experience strategy.
We perform assessment work to gauge
Communication organizational readiness, develop program
The need to drive system alignment around a architecture, and execute projects on specifically
customer experience vision requires an equal or targeted opportunities to help our clients build
better need to foster communication at all levels: enhanced experiences for their customers.
management to employees; organization to
customer; customer to organization; and For further information, please contact:
organization to its market and other business Jeneanne Rae, CEO
stakeholders. Its brand promise, values, and jrae@motivstrategies.com
811 N. Royal Street ©Motiv Strategies 2012
3
Alexandria, VA 22314
motivstrategies.com