A Listener Juggles Two Industries

Jeannie Walters 0:00

Do you ever feel pulled in a bunch of different directions? That's what I'm hearing in this question from a listener.

Listener Question 0:08

Hey Jeannie, a new listener question arrived for you. I work in consulting and account management for two very different industries. Insurance and luxury retail. As I have always had a passion for CX, I now try to scale myself up to be able to also work on projects for my clients. So if you have any recommendations for what could help me to get myself CX project ready, let me know. Especially in regard to these two extremely different industries. Insurance equals as much AI as possible. Luxury retail equals no AI at all.

Stop Starting With The AI Tool

Insurance CX Built On Reassurance

Luxury Retail Personal Touch At Scale

Find Shared Needs Across Segments

Holistic Journey Foundations That Travel

Resources And Ways To Reach Us

Jeannie Walters 0:38

Now, some of you might not have this exact situation where you are being pulled into two very different types of industries because of the job you have. But I still think it's worth a conversation for everybody. And here's why. A lot of the work we do as customer experience leaders becomes fragmented. We have to deal with different customer segments, for instance, or different product lines or different distribution models. Very few organizations have straightforward, here's one product that we're selling to one type of customer. Most of us live in a complex, complicated world, and customer expectations are changing super fast right now in every industry. So we have to make sure that no matter what, we are looking at this in a holistic way. So here's what I heard. I heard that you were thinking about how to use AI and luxury retail versus insurance, very different scale, very different automation needs, all of those things. I hear that. What I want to challenge you to do is think about who are you to your customers, who do they want you to be, and how do tools like AI actually serve you in that way? Because if we start with the tool, which is what AI is, then we're going to find reasons to use it or not. But I would challenge a little bit this idea that in luxury retail you can't use AI at all. There are wonderful applications if you can personalize and make sure that you can scale that luxury, that high-touch, all of those things. Now I'm not saying you should do that. I'm just saying there's something about being open-minded about that that might open up different ways of exploring the customer experience. So if I were you, so that I didn't lose my head by being so fragmented, I would get really clear on what a customer wants in each of these spaces. And for something like insurance, ironically, it's almost better when we don't ever think about it, right? Because when we make a claim on insurance, it means something didn't go great. So sometimes the best thing we can do is focus on reassurance. How do we reassure somebody that they have the right coverage? How do we reassure them that what they've submitted is enough? How do we reassure them that we are working on that claim? Whatever that moment of anxiety is, get really clear on that and focus on that as a way to really, to your point, use AI to scale. Now, on the flip side, on the luxury side, maybe they are looking for that high-touch custom personalization. They want little touches that remind them that they are special. Well, maybe there's some similarity here. Where could they be reassured? Where could they understand that, you know what, that product that might feel like a big luxury and a big splurge, you know what? Reassure that this is the quality product that you were expecting. This is the experience that you were expecting. And not only that, but we want to cater to you even further. By focusing on what is it that they actually want and getting really clear on that, not just in the moment, not just transactionally, but for the entire customer relationship, that can help you make better choices throughout. Now, if you start feeling too fragmented, I would recommend you focus on things like, okay, what is similar about these two things? What how can we create a holistic customer journey? Well, a holistic journey requires a couple of things. Number one, you have to set the right expectations. So focus on that. Are we setting the right expectations? Number two, you want to give customers choice. Choice of channel. Can they call you? Can they use the chat? Can they show up? Whatever that is, how can you give them that choice? And then everybody wants personalization, even in insurance. So, what are the key factors around personalization that you could apply to both these things? So start building those muscles now by getting really clear on who are you, no matter what, to these customers, what is the promise that you've made, what are their expectations, and how do you build a strategy around that? Once you start taking that step by step, you will start seeing there are probably more similarities than you think. And where you need to make those differences, it will be clear based on how you built those foundations. Everything's in the Experience Is Everything book. So that could be a key tool for you as well. You could literally walk through that with each of those industries and see what bubbles up to the top as far as what similarities to make your job a little easier. But at the end of the day, your customers have certain expectations, and it's up to us to not only understand those expectations, but understand how we can show up in a way that not only delivers on those expectations, but helps them feel seen and heard and valued. Any customer experience requires that. I wish you a lot of luck with this. It's very easy to feel that fragmentation to feel like we're not doing enough. The more you can centralize your goals, the more it will help you take the right steps at the right moment and know what to prioritize. So, all of you out there, I hope that you are able to prioritize the right things for your customers and more importantly, maybe for that winning business strategy. We need to build our organizations and help them succeed in order to continue to deliver for our customers. So that's your rallying cry this week. I hope that you will continue to listen and continue to submit these fantastic questions. And if you haven't heard, there's a book. It's called Experience is Everything. You can order it wherever books are sold. I'm so excited to hear about your progress with all of this. Don't be a stranger. Even if you don't have a question, let us know. What are you working on? Where could you use some additional help and support and resources? We love hearing about your real lives. So contact us by leaving me a message at askjeannie.vip. I love when you record your voicemails for me because I get to hear your voice and I get to hear your emotion. It really helps. So don't be shy. All right, I'll see you next time. Thanks everybody. If you're ready to turn insights into action, join CXI Membership, our community for customer experience investigators just like you. Get the tools, support, and inspiration to move from ideas to true impact. And don't miss my book, Experience is Everything: Making Every Moment Count in the Age of Customer Expectations. Available wherever you order books. Until next time, keep asking questions, keep improving, and keep leading with experience.