Author: Mark Atterby

Two years ago, the Salvos Stores embarked upon their customer experience journey by deciding to put their customers and the communities they serve at the heart of everything they do. As a result, when COVID struck, they were well prepared to cope and adapt. Salvos Stores maintain 330 retail outlets across Australia, selling pre-owned clothing, furniture and household goods. The profits from purchases go to support the community and charitable programs managed by the Salvation Army. The organisation started on its CX journey a couple of years ago. Edwina Morgan, general manager, customer and strategy, highlights, “Over past two  years…

An outstanding array of Australian CX thought leaders gathered on the 6th October to share stories on how their teams met the challenges of the COVID pandemic. Though each story was unique, the one thing that was common was the importance of customer empathy – the ability to understand what customers are experiencing and feeling in response to the crisis. COVID-19 has disrupted just about every business and individual across the globe. The organisations that have dealt successfully with the impact of the pandemic, did so by truly understanding and meeting their customers emotional needs. Beyond focusing on customer metrics…

The increased pace of digital transformation, due to the COVID pandemic, has drastically changed the cybersecurity landscape. The potential impact of these changes and their ramifications for CX are significant. Organisations who can maintain a safe and secure digital environment for their customers, will have a substantial advantage over competitors who can’t. A survey conducted earlier in the year highlighted that 95% of security professionals are facing added IT security challenges due to the coronavirus. These challenges have emerged rapidly across the globe and stem from: Remote work: mandated lockdowns have accelerated the transition of employees to work from…

The difference between Brand Experience (BX) and Customer Experience (CX) is often unclear and confusing. Each has a role to play in the reputation and success of your business. They are closely connected, where the success of one is very much dependent on the other. They are, however, two distinct functions. A brand is a name, image or symbol that identifies an organisation or its products and services, distinguishing it from its competitors. BX is the totality of all sensations, emotions, feelings, thoughts, perceptions and actions people associate, overtime, with a brand. BX is about making promises. According Dipanjan…

Most Australian employees expect things to improve in their workplaces as a direct result of changes being made by employers and their response to the COVID-19 pandemic. They expect to see more flexible work schedules, greater focus on hygiene and for employers to take greater notice of employee feedback. Will Australian employers live up to these expectations? “2020 has changed the way people work and live”, says Rebecca Wilson, Director of Human Experience for Sprout Strategy. “As well as the oft-cited changes to the way brands connect with their target audience, it has also changed the way that businesses connect…

PEXA is an online property settlement platform used by 150 financial institutions as well as more than 9,000 legal and conveyancing firms across Australia. Lisa Dowie, Chief Customer Officer for PEXA, explains how PEXA’s commitment to providing exceptional experiences for its members and employees has helped the organisation cope with the COVID-19 pandemic. A world first, PEXA was founded in 2010. Until this point, property settlement in Australia involved an inefficient paper settlement process that had changed little in the previous 150 years. Dowie comments, “Prior to the establishment of PEXA – lawyers, conveyancers and representatives from the banks for…

Most executives will readily say ‘our people’ are vital to the success of the business. Yet so many Australian organisations have inadequate employee engagement strategies in place. The coronavirus pandemic will be a defining moment in most people’s careers. How brands respond in the coming months will have a lasting impact on employee engagement, productivity and commitment. Most senior executives in Australia do not believe that investment in Employee Experience (EX) will yield a business return. Recent research from Mercer highlights that only 27% of executives see value in EX investment and just one-in-three business leaders are accountable for it.…

The COVID 19 crisis has dramatically changed customer journeys and what brands need to do to analyse and understand them. The traditional tools and methods associated with customer journey mapping are falling short in terms of providing a realistic and up to date view of an individual customer’s journey. Brands are turning to the relatively new practice of Customer Journey Analytics (CJA) as a solution. Mapping the customer journey is often the first step an organisation takes when it wants to improve the customer experience. A customer journey map is a very simple idea: a diagram that illustrates the…

Over the last decade numerous technology vendors have hitched their wagons to the term Customer Experience Management (CEM or CXM). As a software or technology category the term is fairly elastic. It can mean many different things to many different people. Deciding which technology is best for your CX initiative can be a mammoth and daunting task. Gartner defines Customer experience management (CEM) as the practice of designing and reacting to customer interactions to meet or exceed their expectations, leading to greater customer satisfaction, loyalty and advocacy. Using this definition of CEM, a CEM system may refer to any technology…

In the wake of the changes wrought by the COVID crisis and social distancing measures such as working from home, maintaining positive employee experience is more important than ever. A recent survey from Sprout Strategy highlights what Australian employees are feeling and what CX leaders need to do to maintain a positive employee experience. Considerable attention has been given to the impact of the crisis on the brands reputation and what this means for customers. But customers are also employees. Most CX leaders and professionals understand the link between the performance and motivations of our people and the experience of…