July 21, 2016

The customer experience has become the competitive battleground for business. By delivering a consistent, memorable experience, companies can create a competitive advantage that increases customer engagement, conversion, loyalty and advocacy.

Over the next three-to-five years, 75 percent of marketers say they will be responsible for the end-to-end customer experience.

This series will provide CMOs and business executives with a deeper understanding of the strategies and tactics required to deliver a superior end-to-end customer experience.

/ About the Series

James F. O’Gara, CEO and Founder, OnMessage

/ About me

1,000s of Hours Workingwith CMOs / CEOs

HUNDREDS of Emerging Companies

DOZENS of Fortune 500 Companies

25+ Yrs Experience

Leading Brands

Expertise and Experience/ Customer research and analysis

/ Corporate messaging strategy and execution

/ Customer-centric culture development

/ Go-to-marketstrategic planning

About the sponsor. OnMessage specializes in helping executives align and activate their entire organization around a corporate strategy and story that dramatically improves the customer experience. Leveraging our disciplined methodology — executive teams are able to crystallize their go-to-market strategy, formulate a strategically aligned corporate messaging platform and ensure every stakeholder understands how to activate the strategy and story throughout the customer journey. www.itsonmessage.com

/ Upcoming sessions: August - October

/ Upcoming sessions: November - December

Download the complete curriculum guide and register for the entire series:

www.cmoeducationseries.com

Quick Recap June Education Session

Establishing Executive Alignment and Priorities Around Your Company’s Customer Experience.

JUNE SESSION RECAP

For customer experience (CX) to translate into improved financial performance and become a competitive advantage it must be embraced enterprise-wide. It must be implemented in a cross-functional manner — and, it has to be a priority for the CEO and the entire C-suite.

Without CEO commitment …

CX … fails to gain traction in customer-facing areas of the business.

CX … never receives executive support and endorsement.

CX … never delivers material business results.

Without CEO commitment …

It’s never …

> Identified as a cornerstone of the business strategy > Institutionalized and operationalized

> Infused into the company’s culture

Have difficult discussions. Ask tough questions.

Do you feel our leaders have a deep understanding of the customer?

Is our company’s go-to-market strategy rooted in deep, meaningful customer insights?

Is our product / service roadmap driven bycurrent / future customer requirements?

Are C-suite discussions and decisions consistently anchored in meeting or exceeding customer expectations?

Is our company’s culture driven by a deep and genuine desire to deliver a superior experience?

Do we have the people, processes and technologies in place to create a superior customer experience?

CustomerCentricity1

You need your CEO to commit to 10 things.

Experience Ownership

C-Suite Reporting Relationship3

C-Suite Funding& Involvement42

LeadershipAccountability5 Organizational

ChangeClear PerformanceMetrics7

Measurement &Reporting Systems86

Realistic Time to Impact9 Sustained

Cadence10

Educational Content and Tools

This worksheet will help you identify additional commitment that may be required from your CEO and C-suite to successfully institutionalize and operationalize Customer Experience Management at your company.

“10 Commitments Every CEO Must Make to Realize Customer Experience Success.”

Today’s Topic:Driving Organizational Change in Support of the Customer Experience.

“The state of your culture is in fact, the state of your customer experience.” ~ OnMessage

Culture used to be a soft concept.

It used to be something executives would only pay attention to when the business environment grew toxic.

In today’s world, this is changing — and in a big way.

/ Culture … yesterday.

Forward-thinking executives now view culture as the surest way to establish a competitive advantage because of its direct impact on the customer experience.

They also realize the role culture plays in the financial performance of the business.

/ Culture … today.

“Executives overwhelmingly indicate that an effective corporate culture is essential for a company to thrive in the modern business world.”

~ Professor Jillian Popadak, The Fuqua School of Business Duke University

Many still see culture as an HR issue.

They separate it from the company’s overall go-to-market strategy and story. They view it as something that is built in isolation.

Executives with this point of view rarely develop a culture that positively impacts employee engagement, the customer experience or business results.

/ Not all executives get it.

“Leaders who delegate too much will lose their opportunity to become role models and energizers for the culture they want to shape. Your choices should reflect the company’s strategic and operating priorities.”

~ Jon Katzenbach, Booz & Company

What is culture?

An organization’s culture consists of the values, beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors that employees share and use on a daily basis in their work. Culture is how employees describe where they work, understand the business and see themselves as part of the organization. Culture is important because it drives decisions, actions, and ultimately the overall performance of the organization.

Source: DecisionWise

Culture … simplified.Culture is about shared values, beliefs, attitudes and behaviors.

Culture is about how employees describe their company and their role in the organization. Culture is about driving decisions and actions that positively impact business performance.

Keep these statements in mind today. It will become clear why culture is not a thing, but rather the outcome of a few things done well.

Is culture really a C-suite priority?

84% of executives agree that their culture is critical to business success.

60% of executives agree that culture is more important than strategy or operating model.

So, yes?

SOURCE: PwC “Culture’s Role in Enabling Organizational Change” Report

Wait a minute …

95% of executives say change is needed in their culture.

51% of executives believe their culture is in need of a major overhaul.

SOURCE: PwC “Culture’s Role in Enabling Organizational Change” Report

What does this mean?

There is a real and material “gap” between desire and reality. Between the importance and positive impact of culture on business today.

90% of executives said that culture was important at their firms.

Only 15% of executives said their culture was where it needed to be.

Impact of Culture

Import

ance o

f Culture

SOURCE: Duke’s Fuqua School of Business

How do we bridge the gap?

Redefine executive’s view of what culture is.

Reconnect culture to the customer experience. Reset the process by which culture is formed. Make culture a “real” C-suite priority.

We must help executives understand …

Culture is not an “isolated” initiative.

Culture is not something that can be “manufactured” apart from the company’s story and strategy.

Culture is …

The manifestation of your company’s story and strategy … in action.

Your story. Clearly defines the company’s purpose, positioning, value proposition and promise to customers.

Your strategy. Defines vision, mission, values as well as the associated actions, investments and initiatives required to make that story a reality.

The challenge. Most companies do not have a fully aligned, documented corporate story and strategy.

As a result …

The company says one thing in external messaging and another through internal communications.

Leaders make decisions that do not align with the company’s core values.

Executive teams roll out strategic initiatives that are in conflict with the company’s vision or mission.

Inconsistent words and actions are culture killers.

Winning cultures are built on clarity.

Clarity in the company’s story

Clarity in the company’s strategy

Mindset Behavior

Culture

Your story frames the mindset and

belief system in your culture

When employees have a deep understanding of

what your company stands for, what it does and

how it creates value for customers, their

purpose becomes clear.

They feel more connected.

They believe what they do matters.

Clarity of purpose is a powerful motivator.

This is born from a clear, compelling and

consistent corporate story that aligns with your

go-to-market strategy.

Your strategy drives behaviors

and actions in your culture

When leaders and team members across the

organization understand how the strategy connects

with the story, congruent actions and decisions

unfold.

Your company’s vision, mission and values go beyond

words on paper and take on a life of their own.

Employees see how strategic decisions, investments

and initiatives connect with the story.

They understand how their marching orders align

with the bigger picture.

So the question is, what is the state of your go-to-market story and strategy?

> Aligned > Documented > Consistently Communicated > Internalized > Operationalized

Question. On a scale of 1-5 (5 being absolute clarity), how clearly does every employee understand your company’s story?

Story. Your company’s purpose, positioning, value proposition and promise to customers.

Question. On a scale of 1-5 (5 being absolute clarity), how clearly does every employee understand your company’s strategy?

Strategy. Vision, mission, values as well as the associated actions, investments and initiatives required to make that story a reality.

The degree of clarity, connectivity, consistency and belief in your company’s story and strategy plays a significant role in the type of culture that takes root inside the business.

Questions you and the executive team

must answer.

> Our company’s purpose?

> How we want to be positioned in the market?

> Who we are?

> What we do?

> The value we deliver?

> What makes us different in the market?

Do our employees truly understand and believe in the company’s story?

> Vision?

> Mission?

> Values?

> Customer needs and desires?

> Promise to customers?

> Pillars of our go-to-market strategy?

Do our employees understand the strategy and the role they play in executing it?

Executives that can answer these questions with a resounding “yes” will most likely have built high-performing cultures rooted in story and strategy.

Executives that answer “no” or don’t really know the answers should take a hard look at the role their company’s story and strategy play in their business.

Your story and strategy must become more than just words on paper.

“Culture starts with leadership. Leaders have to set the parameters for culture and then empower employees to act on the company's values and share with them what the rules are. Then you have to disseminate it and get it down to the person who's greeting the customer or answering the phone. If the only one who knows what culture looks like is the leader, you're dead.” ~ Chester Elton, co-author of “What Motivates Me, All In” and “The Carrot Principle”

Clarity and Connectivity are the Keys to a Winning Culture.

When your story and strategy are clearly defined, documented and fully infused into the company’s culture … magic happens.

“An effective culture is like an invisible hand at work inside of each of the employees that helps to guide their decisions and judgments in a way that the overall corporation would desire it to be.” ~ Duke University Report

Why is your story and strategy so critical to culture?

Without it there is nothing for your employees to connect with. There is nothing shared from department to department, or division to division. Well-appointed offices and break rooms will fade with time. An emotional and cognitive connection with your company’s purpose and promise will last forever.

How do you achieve

emotional and cognitive

engagement?

“A good leadership team and good CEO will put in the processes to make sure the message filters down to the very bottom of the organization unchanged.”

~ Executive Interview, Duke Research Study

Message. Process. Unchanged.

Leveraging your story and strategy to produce a differentiated culture requires consistent, sustained communication throughout the employee and customer experience.

It requires a fully aligned, documented story and strategy (message).

Strategy StoryBehaviors & Actions Mindset & Words

Vision:

Mission:

Values:

Customer needs and desires:

Promise to customers:

Go-to-market strategy:

Enterprise strategic pillars:

Divisional strategies:

Who we are:

What we do:

Our company’s purpose:

Positioning statement:

Value we deliver:

Key points of difference:

Our story:

It requires a disciplined infusion strategy (process).

“If you ask 10 people at five different units questions about purpose, message, value … do they say and believe the same thing? Is there a strong sense of common beliefs? I think if people say yes, then culture would have an influence and that would be a good way to measure it, but if people said no, then culture is not a prominent or important part of the company.”

~ Executive Interview, Duke Research Study

Stra

tegy

Go-to-Market Planning & Strategic Initiatives

Leadership Communication & Actions

External Messaging / Marketing / Branding

Public Relations

Investor Relations

Employee Recruiting and Onboarding

Internal Communications

Employee Performance Reviews

Compensation / Incentive Programs

Internal Events, Awards and Recognition Programs

Stor

y

Holistic Infusion Process. A formal, sustained initiative that ensures every functional leader is tasked with infusing the story and strategy across employee and customer channels in their respective areas of the business.

Fully Aligned, Documented Story & Strategy

Leadership Decisions, Words and Actions

Strategic Initiatives & Investments

C-Suite Decision, Words & Actions

Internal Communication Programs

External Communication Programs

Incentives, Rewards & Recognition

Performance Reviews, Mentoring & Coaching

The CEO must hold leaders across the enterprise accountable for implementing the infusion process within their respective area of the business. This is crucial. Internal and external messages must align. If they don’t, it will negatively impact adoption and the culture you are trying to build.

End-t

o-E

nd, To

p-t

o-B

ottom

Connectivi

ty

It requires clarity, connectivity and consistency (unchanged).

If you’re like 95% of executives that believe change is needed in their company’s culture, it’s time to address the root cause:

Lack of clarity in your story and strategy.

Because remember, your corporate culture is the byproduct of your story and strategy — in action.

Questions?

Next Session: August 18 The Clubs of Prestonwood(The Creek Clubhouse) Dallas, Texas

Topic:Extracting Business Value From all Three Phases of the Customer Experience

Thank you for coming. Please complete your “Feedback Form” before you leave.

“10 Commitments Every CEO Must Make to Realize Customer Experience Success.”

As you leave, please pick up these valuable resources and educational materials:

“CEO Commitment Assessment Worksheet.”

“The Secret to Creating a Culture That Increases Employee Engagement and Improves the Customer Experience.”

About the sponsor. OnMessage specializes in helping executives align and activate their entire organization around a corporate strategy and story that dramatically improves the customer experience. Leveraging our disciplined methodology — executive teams are able to crystallize their go-to-market strategy, formulate a strategically aligned corporate messaging platform and ensure every stakeholder understands how to activate the strategy and story throughout the customer journey. www.itsonmessage.com