Navigating The ‘Wild West’ Of CX

In this guest post, 2019 B&T 30 under 30 winner and founder of Melbourne based consultancy Tiny CX, Tom Uhlhorn, discusses the ways in which the CX industry as a whole is unfolding.

While we see increased focus and investment on improving Customer Experience (CX) in Australia, the industry as a whole requires more structure and accountability than ever before.

Educating the market in CX by applying accountable framework and implementing structure will help to shape industry standards. But as CX is still largely undefined, businesses seeking to invest in CX are navigating a ‘wild west’ style marketplace.

Despite the demand for businesses to implement successful CX practices, few can identify how to do so, or how they can quantify their investment.

As an emerging industry with limited guidelines, creating structure and framework is paramount.

CX versus marketing lingo

There is a new breed of ‘experience professionals’ who can, and sometimes will say anything to convince a client that their approach to experience design is the best.

But there is a difference between agencies who specifically focus on CX and those who offer a version of CX.

Advertising and marketing agencies are often guilty of this, leveraging CX as a buzzword and ultimately diluting what CX actually is.

Marketers must be encouraged to apply standardised CX practices in order to alleviate the disparity in such a complex and technical environment.

Typically, the traditional marketing role doesn’t have the remit to include post-sale experiences and typically steers clear of applying CX practices entirely.

The sector is lacking a standardised framework

There is a clear need to educate the market in CX best practice.

This will eventually be achieved by implementing systematic and evidence-based framework that can be taught to both providers and clients. Creating this differentiation will make the
emerging CX industry more accountable to results and therefore, less risky to venture into.

The accountability of CX will only be amplified from a commercial perspective by applying framework and educating the market.

This is especially crucial as more businesses dive into the CX realm.

Without structure, there’s less accountability.

As clients demand a more solid ROI, the future of the industry will see more accountability to results.

The sector requires a standardised framework to refer to when applying CX, similar to the BCG Matrix (Growth Market Share Matrix) or the Rogers Stage Gate Process. CX metrics will
increasingly be measured to justify investment.

The future of CX

CX will see key innovators at the helm of revolutionising the emerging sector.

This may play out similarly to how renowned international consulting firm IDEO revolutionised global design using Design Thinking methodology.

Not only did this key player design the first manufacturable mouse for Apple, the startup pioneered the emerging Design Thinking business model and advanced the practice entirely.

Similarly, the best-known practitioners and innovators in the CX game are at the forefront of defining new territory.

Applying framework is the way forward to keep current CX industry standards and the sector as a whole accountable and results driven.

Implementing structure will assist in laying strong industry foundations both now and into the future.

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Tiny CX Tom Uhlhorn