intelligent

Bill Staikos , Senior Vice President , Evangelist and Head of Community

Engagement at Medallia

capture , analyse and act on customer insight will always be well-placed to drive customer loyalty – even through recessions .

Be proactive within the organisation

During times of economic turbulence , proactivity pays dividends – and this is true on an organisational level , too . CX professionals have a responsibility to align thinking on customer-centricity , from top management to the executive level and there are many ways to do this .

1 . Engage the C-suite in frequent conversations and create a few use cases to show the role of customer experience in helping the business achieve its goals . 2 . If the C-suite is out of reach , ask direct line managers to escalate the use cases that give the C-suite much-needed insight into what is happening in the marketplace .

3 . Take the lead in creating executive dashboards that can highlight trends in operational , financial and customer data .

4 . Re-engage partners on CX improvements that the business may have previously identified but never had reason enough to implement , such as a newer version of a product customers frequently use .

5 . Provide product teams with the customer insights they need to improve user stories without accruing technical debt – a hallmark of rushed decision-making at times of crisis , as shown during the pandemic .

6 . Look for efficiencies . Are there tools that are outdated or underutilised ? Are there areas where teams have to rely on manual processes ? Keep in mind that the speed of insight is what makes the decision-making process faster and more accurate , so the technology stack shouldn ’ t be an obstacle . If a technology upgrade is in order , make sure the return on investment is clearly stated and can be achieved within a timeframe aligned with the business strategy for managing through the downturn .

The common thread between all these action points is data . Data is everywhere and it ’ s not getting any simpler to decipher , with more