[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/12\/01\/cx-customer-experience-business\/#BlogPosting","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/12\/01\/cx-customer-experience-business\/","headline":"CX isn\u2019t an area of a business \u2013 it IS business","name":"CX isn\u2019t an area of a business \u2013 it IS business","description":"Business is about buying things, selling things, and engaging with customers. CX is about providing experiences that make people want to engage with you, buy from you, and buy again.","datePublished":"2021-12-01","dateModified":"2023-08-30","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/contributor\/alex-timlin\/#Person","name":"Alex Timlin","url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/contributor\/alex-timlin\/","identifier":537,"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e94635e4433fb68ff831af7198baf6a042e6ec41002963ba1994d05a7dfab5f3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e94635e4433fb68ff831af7198baf6a042e6ec41002963ba1994d05a7dfab5f3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"The Future of Commerce","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/logo-foc-schema-app-1.png","url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/logo-foc-schema-app-1.png","width":172,"height":60}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/CX-is-business_1200x375.jpg","url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/CX-is-business_1200x375.jpg","height":375,"width":1200},"url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/12\/01\/cx-customer-experience-business\/","about":[{"@type":"Thing","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/commerce\/commerce-general\/","name":"Commerce","sameAs":["https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Commerce","http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q26643"]},{"@type":"Thing","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/customer-engagement-58\/","name":"Customer Engagement","sameAs":["https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Customer_engagement","http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q5196451"]},{"@type":"Thing","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/marketing\/customer-engagement-marketing\/","name":"Customer Engagement","sameAs":["https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Customer_engagement","http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q5196451"]},{"@type":"Thing","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/customer-experience\/","name":"Customer Experience","sameAs":["https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Customer_experience","http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q984142"]},{"@type":"Thing","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/customer-experience\/customer-experience-general\/","name":"Customer Experience","sameAs":["https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Customer_experience","http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q984142"]},{"@type":"Thing","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/e-commerce-solution\/e-commerce-general\/","name":"E-Commerce","sameAs":["https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/E-commerce","http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q484847"]},"Future of Grocery Retail",{"@type":"Thing","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/commerce\/intelligent-enterprise\/","name":"Intelligent Enterprise","sameAs":["https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Intelligent_enterprise","http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q6044119"]},"Retail Trends, Data, News"],"wordCount":894,"keywords":["Customer Experience | CX"],"articleBody":"Customer experience \u2013 CX \u2013 isn\u2019t an area of a business, it IS business.That\u2019s both my opening and my summary for those who like sound bites and are short on time.\u00a0If you’ve got a little more time, let’s explore what CX is and how to look at business problems through the customer lens.Business is about buying things, selling things, and engaging with customers.This is grossly oversimplifying things to make a point, but the point is very simple.\u00a0The purpose of your business is to sell things or provide services to people who buy those things and get value from them. You want those people to either keep the product or service, buy it again, and\/or refer other people like them to your product or service.I hope the above statement reinforces my opening line \u2013 and I\u2019d love you to directly challenge this point of view if you disagree.\u00a0      Discover customer pain points – then fix them: CX will soar                Once a business uncovers customer pain points, immediate action must be taken to improve CX, thereby building loyal customer relationships.      B2B, B2C, D2C, B2B2C: No matter the model, you’re in the business of selling things or providing a service to peopleYour customer might be a purchaser within a large multinational company, or a buyer for a fashion retail brand, or a consumer buying for themselves inside a fashion brands own retail store – but they\u2019re all people buying things.\u00a0If you’re a brand who manufactures a product, but you rely on your partners to sell that product to the end consumer or customer, you still have the same objective \u2013 you want people to buy your product and get value from your product.There are different steps in this chain, and it\u2019s a different model than a similar brand who makes a similar product, but sells direct to the consumer via their owned and operated digital commerce offering. However, you have the same objectives\u00a0 \u2013 you both want to sell more product and you both want people who are buying your product to buy more product.This content is hosted by a third party ( twitter.com ).To view the content, either update your cookie preferences or view it in a new browser window.Cookie PreferencesNew WindowThe search, the clicks, the ordering process, the delivery, the service: It’s ALL CXWhether it\u2019s someone looking at an Instagram ad for your product, then buying directly from you, or buying from a retail partner, they\u2019re still initially engaging with your product and your brand. When they buy the product, they\u2019re engaging either with you directly or with your retail partners \u2013 and that impacts the experience with your brand and your product. Whether they get the product from a store or someone delivers it to their door \u2013 directly or indirectly \u2013 that\u2019s an engagement with you, your brand, and your product.How often in your own business, with your own team are you looking at that experience\u202f\u202fbetween your customers, your product, your brand across those different channels \u2013 both owned and partner owned \u2013 at where there are points of friction and where you\u2019re not providing value or the experience your customer expects?\u202f\u00a0\u00a0Annual customer journey map? Quarterly Voice of Customer? Weekly team meeting? Is it in one department or across teams? Which teams? And what\u2019s the output of this work?\u00a0      Is it easy for consumers to buy from you? How customer identity management can help                Learn the benefits of centralized customer identity management, including omnichannel customer experience and better security.      CX matters: 3 questions to gauge if your customer experience meets the markWhen it comes to genuinely evaluating your CX, there are three challenging questions required to facilitate an honest conversation:\u00a0Are you memorable?\u202fAre you engaging?Are you trying to be?\u00a0\u00a0Your company isn\u2019t a brand or a building \u2013 it\u2019s your people that interact with customers and how customers engage with your people and your brand.Customers don\u2019t care about your org chart or corporate structure; they see the \u201cwhole\u201d experience of interacting with your brand as CX.Inside of your business, who is helping connect those dots between teams and functions, while challenging processes and operating models to reduce friction for customers to add value to the organization?Technology is in service of people. Both your employees as well as your customers and consumers. It\u2019s a tool \u2013 but it\u2019s not a strategy.Implementing solutions is about understanding the problem.\u00a0When looking at technology, are you clear on how the implementation will improve the way that your customers see your business and business problems? Are you clear on how it will improve the way your teams engage with customers and customers engage with your teams? How will you measure the impact \u2013 not just through a business lens \u2013 but through the lens of your customers?CX is about providing the experiences that make your customers want to engage with you, buy from you, get value, stay engaged, and buy again.It\u2019s about how you generate value for the business in terms of growth \u2013 in customers, sales, revenues, profits. Because \u2013 remember \u2013 CX \u2013 isn\u2019t an area of a business, it IS business.  Build customer loyalty.Reap real dividends.We can help. Start HERE. 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