6 Competencies of Highly Effective Experience Professionals<\/span><\/h1>\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”3071″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center” qode_css_animation=”” css=”.vc_custom_1653504965995{margin-bottom: 60px !important;}”][vc_column_text]The customer experience and employee experience have become strategic moats for brands. With digital brand growth and the great resignation in full swing, customers and employees have leverage, and companies are heavily investing to understand their experiences today.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nIn my opinion, the greatest challenge facing retail brands is having an effective experience leader to guide the overall customer and employee experience strategy. Without this key individual, the brand\u2019s experience strategy can become disjointed, siloed within verticals, and often<\/span> times, a creator of friction instead of positive business outcomes.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nNot all brands are afflicted with this disfunction, though. Leading experience brands understand the importance of running a holistic customer and employee experience strategy. They have created Chief Experience Officer roles within their organizations, which are responsible for leading these strategies forward. This high-level position, which typically reports directly to the CEO, is meant to accelerate the brand, increase brand equity, increase customer and employee loyalty, and improve key business metrics like same-store sales revenue and customer churn.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nSo, what makes a brand lag behind when it comes to experience? Usually, organizations with disjointed strategies are too focused on their NPS score<\/a>. As a result, they create a dysfunctional culture that does not lead to positive business outcomes.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nI have been fortunate enough to act as Executive Advisor to more than 200 retail brands around the world, many of which are considered to be top experience brands by customers. The following six competencies \u2013 which I have personally validated by consulting experience professionals in my LinkedIn network \u2013 have been the most common among the top leaders I have worked with.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nBefore we break down the six competencies, let\u2019s explore the results of the LinkedIn polls:<\/span><\/b>
\n(Top \u2013 my personal network; Bottom \u2013 a CX Network Group I belong to)<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row css_animation=”” row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”grid” angled_section=”no” text_align=”left” background_image_as_pattern=”without_pattern” z_index=”” css=”.vc_custom_1647886971238{padding-right: 15% !important;padding-left: 15% !important;}”][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”2690″ img_size=”large” qode_css_animation=”” css=”.vc_custom_1651069143181{padding-top: 25px !important;padding-bottom: 25px !important;}”][vc_single_image image=”2688″ img_size=”large” qode_css_animation=”” css=”.vc_custom_1651069131418{padding-top: 25px !important;padding-bottom: 25px !important;}”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row css_animation=”” row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”grid” angled_section=”no” text_align=”left” background_image_as_pattern=”without_pattern” z_index=”” css=”.vc_custom_1647887020635{padding-right: 15% !important;padding-left: 15% !important;}”][vc_column][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1653504509724{padding-top: 5% !important;}”]<\/p>\nThe Experience Competency Model<\/span><\/h3>\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1651068518537{padding-top: 5% !important;}”]Overall, the feedback from more than 200 professionals validated the<\/span> importance of these competencies<\/span>: influencer, empathetic, bias for action, storyteller, problem solver, an<\/span>d dot connector<\/span>. Furthermore, I conducted an analysis <\/span>of<\/span> the professionals who responded to the poll, <\/span>including <\/span>their role <\/span>within their organization<\/span>s<\/span>, and built the following Experience Competency Model for skill building and professional development:<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”2691″ img_size=”large” qode_css_animation=”” css=”.vc_custom_1651069229467{padding-top: 25px !important;padding-bottom: 25px !important;}”][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n1. Influencer<\/span><\/h3>\n <\/p>\n
\u00a0The customer and employee experience journeys have become more complex<\/span>,<\/span> with multiple stakeholders involved in a single interaction. When customers provide feedback regarding a specific experience, the feedback spans across multiple departments responsible for the experience. As experience professionals, our role is to utilize customer feedback and data to influence optimizations and enhancements, creating positive experiences that meet the organization\u2019s goals.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThe experience professional must therefore be able to influence cross-functional stakeholders through data and storytelling. <\/span>Reed Good, Senior Director, Branded Retail at Comcast<\/span>,<\/span><\/a> provided this insight: \u201c<\/span>The ability to influence across organizations and teams to get meaningful work done is a critical competency as I believe the others roll into it. You have to help those whose help you require to understand the bigger picture and convince them that your priority is indeed their priority.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nAccording to <\/span>Will Huffman, Vice President of Customer Experience at Brinks Home<\/span><\/a>, \u201cCX leaders need to be able to influence other peers and leaders to take action on enhancing the experience.\u00a0 Most successful CX leaders I’ve come across have a bias for action but can be limited in their span of control.\u00a0 Thus, they need to be able to collaborate, influence, etc. with peers to take action.\u00a0 Getting others on board greatly accelerates the pace of change and collective buy-in.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n2. Empathetic<\/span><\/h3>\n <\/p>\n
This competency may <\/span>seem<\/span> like a no-brainer<\/span> for <\/span>e<\/span>xperience<\/span> professionals, but it <\/span>means<\/span> much more than just <\/span>connecting with your customers and acknowledging their feelings<\/span>.<\/span> W<\/span>hen an experience breaks down <\/span>and<\/span> creates a customer service issue<\/span>,<\/span> t<\/span>he <\/span>experience<\/span> professional must also be able to connect with their cross-functional stakeholders<\/span>,<\/span> who are often under prioritization constraints from leadership. <\/span>Experience leaders are the loudest advocates for their customers, <\/span>and the most skilled ones will know how to <\/span>balance <\/span>advocacy <\/span>with<\/span> their colleagues\u2019 list of priorities<\/span>.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n3. Bias for action<\/span><\/h3>\n <\/p>\n
in my opinion, th<\/span>is<\/span> competency<\/span> is <\/span>particularly<\/span> lacking <\/span>among<\/span> experience<\/span> professionals today. I have worked with well over 400<\/span> retail brands across the world, and have <\/span>been met with<\/span> silence when asking the following question<\/span> to <\/span>experience<\/span> profes<\/span>sionals<\/span>: \u201cWhat actions has your organization taken based<\/span> on<\/span> the feedback collected from your customers?\u201d <\/span>Too many programs today are focused on benchmarking <\/span>instead of<\/span> taking action<\/span>. <\/span>Leading experience professionals understand that <\/span><\/span>action is the new experience<\/span>:<\/span><\/span> they use<\/span> their influencer skills to create a culture of action.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n4. Storyteller<\/span><\/h3>\n <\/p>\n
Storytelling is a powerful way to <\/span>humanize <\/span>the experience your brand is delivering by connecting the dots with <\/span>data.<\/span> The challenge for <\/span>experience<\/span> professionals today is not <\/span><\/span>collecting<\/span><\/span><\/span> data<\/span> \u2013 in fact,<\/span> b<\/span>rands are<\/span> quite <\/span>data<\/span><\/span>–<\/span><\/span><\/span> rich<\/span>.<\/span> H<\/span>owever, <\/span>this<\/span> data is sitting in multiple silos within the organization<\/span><\/span>,<\/span><\/span><\/span> and each stakeholder <\/span>can only <\/span>tell<\/span> a partial story <\/span>based on<\/span> the way their department interacts w<\/span>ith the customer. The top <\/span>experience<\/span> professionals<\/span> use<\/span> every bit of<\/span> customer data to tell the story from the customer\u2019s perspective <\/span>and illustrate <\/span>how they are experiencing the brand.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n5. Problem solver<\/span><\/h3>\n <\/p>\n
Organizations are obsessively focused on growing same-store sales revenue, increasing EBIDTA, operating in a safe and compliant manner, and focusing on sustainability and social justice as strategic priorities. Each stakeholder leader within the organization will align their priorities and business outcome targets for each year to support the brand in achieving this strategy. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nAs experience professionals, we must use problem solving skills to align the experience strategy with the organization\u2019s strategic priorities and ensure feedback and insights are being used to influence prioritization decisions.\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n6. Dot connector<\/span><\/h3>\n <\/p>\n
Another common challenge facing brands is connecting the dots to articulate and demonstrate the value of customer and employee feedback. Many brands focus solely on experience benchmarks like Net Promoter Score (NPS) and\/or Customer Satisfaction (CSAT), but they fall short on unstructured data like text analytics. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
In my opinion, the greatest challenge facing retail brands is having an effective experience leader to guide the overall customer and employee experience strategy. Without this key individual, the brand\u2019s experience strategy can become disjointed, siloed within verticals, and often<\/span> times, a creator of friction instead of positive business outcomes.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Not all brands are afflicted with this disfunction, though. Leading experience brands understand the importance of running a holistic customer and employee experience strategy. They have created Chief Experience Officer roles within their organizations, which are responsible for leading these strategies forward. This high-level position, which typically reports directly to the CEO, is meant to accelerate the brand, increase brand equity, increase customer and employee loyalty, and improve key business metrics like same-store sales revenue and customer churn.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n So, what makes a brand lag behind when it comes to experience? Usually, organizations with disjointed strategies are too focused on their NPS score<\/a>. As a result, they create a dysfunctional culture that does not lead to positive business outcomes.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n I have been fortunate enough to act as Executive Advisor to more than 200 retail brands around the world, many of which are considered to be top experience brands by customers. The following six competencies \u2013 which I have personally validated by consulting experience professionals in my LinkedIn network \u2013 have been the most common among the top leaders I have worked with.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Before we break down the six competencies, let\u2019s explore the results of the LinkedIn polls:<\/span><\/b> [\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1651068518537{padding-top: 5% !important;}”]Overall, the feedback from more than 200 professionals validated the<\/span> importance of these competencies<\/span>: influencer, empathetic, bias for action, storyteller, problem solver, an<\/span>d dot connector<\/span>. Furthermore, I conducted an analysis <\/span>of<\/span> the professionals who responded to the poll, <\/span>including <\/span>their role <\/span>within their organization<\/span>s<\/span>, and built the following Experience Competency Model for skill building and professional development:<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”2691″ img_size=”large” qode_css_animation=”” css=”.vc_custom_1651069229467{padding-top: 25px !important;padding-bottom: 25px !important;}”][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0The customer and employee experience journeys have become more complex<\/span>,<\/span> with multiple stakeholders involved in a single interaction. When customers provide feedback regarding a specific experience, the feedback spans across multiple departments responsible for the experience. As experience professionals, our role is to utilize customer feedback and data to influence optimizations and enhancements, creating positive experiences that meet the organization\u2019s goals.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The experience professional must therefore be able to influence cross-functional stakeholders through data and storytelling. <\/span>Reed Good, Senior Director, Branded Retail at Comcast<\/span>,<\/span><\/a> provided this insight: \u201c<\/span>The ability to influence across organizations and teams to get meaningful work done is a critical competency as I believe the others roll into it. You have to help those whose help you require to understand the bigger picture and convince them that your priority is indeed their priority.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n According to <\/span>Will Huffman, Vice President of Customer Experience at Brinks Home<\/span><\/a>, \u201cCX leaders need to be able to influence other peers and leaders to take action on enhancing the experience.\u00a0 Most successful CX leaders I’ve come across have a bias for action but can be limited in their span of control.\u00a0 Thus, they need to be able to collaborate, influence, etc. with peers to take action.\u00a0 Getting others on board greatly accelerates the pace of change and collective buy-in.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n <\/p>\n This competency may <\/span>seem<\/span> like a no-brainer<\/span> for <\/span>e<\/span>xperience<\/span> professionals, but it <\/span>means<\/span> much more than just <\/span>connecting with your customers and acknowledging their feelings<\/span>.<\/span> W<\/span>hen an experience breaks down <\/span>and<\/span> creates a customer service issue<\/span>,<\/span> t<\/span>he <\/span>experience<\/span> professional must also be able to connect with their cross-functional stakeholders<\/span>,<\/span> who are often under prioritization constraints from leadership. <\/span>Experience leaders are the loudest advocates for their customers, <\/span>and the most skilled ones will know how to <\/span>balance <\/span>advocacy <\/span>with<\/span> their colleagues\u2019 list of priorities<\/span>.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n <\/p>\n in my opinion, th<\/span>is<\/span> competency<\/span> is <\/span>particularly<\/span> lacking <\/span>among<\/span> experience<\/span> professionals today. I have worked with well over 400<\/span> retail brands across the world, and have <\/span>been met with<\/span> silence when asking the following question<\/span> to <\/span>experience<\/span> profes<\/span>sionals<\/span>: \u201cWhat actions has your organization taken based<\/span> on<\/span> the feedback collected from your customers?\u201d <\/span>Too many programs today are focused on benchmarking <\/span>instead of<\/span> taking action<\/span>. <\/span>Leading experience professionals understand that <\/span><\/span>action is the new experience<\/span>:<\/span><\/span> they use<\/span> their influencer skills to create a culture of action.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Storytelling is a powerful way to <\/span>humanize <\/span>the experience your brand is delivering by connecting the dots with <\/span>data.<\/span> The challenge for <\/span>experience<\/span> professionals today is not <\/span><\/span>collecting<\/span><\/span><\/span> data<\/span> \u2013 in fact,<\/span> b<\/span>rands are<\/span> quite <\/span>data<\/span><\/span>–<\/span><\/span><\/span> rich<\/span>.<\/span> H<\/span>owever, <\/span>this<\/span> data is sitting in multiple silos within the organization<\/span><\/span>,<\/span><\/span><\/span> and each stakeholder <\/span>can only <\/span>tell<\/span> a partial story <\/span>based on<\/span> the way their department interacts w<\/span>ith the customer. The top <\/span>experience<\/span> professionals<\/span> use<\/span> every bit of<\/span> customer data to tell the story from the customer\u2019s perspective <\/span>and illustrate <\/span>how they are experiencing the brand.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Organizations are obsessively focused on growing same-store sales revenue, increasing EBIDTA, operating in a safe and compliant manner, and focusing on sustainability and social justice as strategic priorities. Each stakeholder leader within the organization will align their priorities and business outcome targets for each year to support the brand in achieving this strategy. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n As experience professionals, we must use problem solving skills to align the experience strategy with the organization\u2019s strategic priorities and ensure feedback and insights are being used to influence prioritization decisions.\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Another common challenge facing brands is connecting the dots to articulate and demonstrate the value of customer and employee feedback. Many brands focus solely on experience benchmarks like Net Promoter Score (NPS) and\/or Customer Satisfaction (CSAT), but they fall short on unstructured data like text analytics. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
\n(Top \u2013 my personal network; Bottom \u2013 a CX Network Group I belong to)<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row css_animation=”” row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”grid” angled_section=”no” text_align=”left” background_image_as_pattern=”without_pattern” z_index=”” css=”.vc_custom_1647886971238{padding-right: 15% !important;padding-left: 15% !important;}”][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”2690″ img_size=”large” qode_css_animation=”” css=”.vc_custom_1651069143181{padding-top: 25px !important;padding-bottom: 25px !important;}”][vc_single_image image=”2688″ img_size=”large” qode_css_animation=”” css=”.vc_custom_1651069131418{padding-top: 25px !important;padding-bottom: 25px !important;}”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row css_animation=”” row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”grid” angled_section=”no” text_align=”left” background_image_as_pattern=”without_pattern” z_index=”” css=”.vc_custom_1647887020635{padding-right: 15% !important;padding-left: 15% !important;}”][vc_column][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1653504509724{padding-top: 5% !important;}”]<\/p>\nThe Experience Competency Model<\/span><\/h3>\n
1. Influencer<\/span><\/h3>\n
2. Empathetic<\/span><\/h3>\n
3. Bias for action<\/span><\/h3>\n
4. Storyteller<\/span><\/h3>\n
5. Problem solver<\/span><\/h3>\n
6. Dot connector<\/span><\/h3>\n
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