The Human Experience: Busting the Myths That Exist in CX Lore, with John Sills
Following our second annual Global Gathering Conference, over the next month we’ll be sharing key outputs from the keynotes, WiCX Talks, and discussions that took place, ensuring our vision for a human-centred future spans much further than just our community walls…
John Sills joined the Women in CX Conference as the first external speaker of the day, taking to the stage after an introductory speech by our founder Clare Muscutt.
Author of The Human Experience, and a curator of hilarious CX fails on social media — John busted some of the great misconceptions in current-day customer experience.
John Sills, author of The Human Experience, speaking at the Women in CX Global Gathering 2023.
First up: the myth of customer feedback.
John brought a slew of examples to our attention, skewering the deep irritation most of us feel in the face of feedback requests. A key statistic to prove the point: 78% believe that organisations ask too many feedback questions. Plus this witty tweet:
Noah Garfinkel via Twitter: “Does anyone know of a good website where I can get a shirt and then also two emails every day for the rest of my life?”
It’s the unhygienic insanity of touchscreen feedback screens outside a public toilet. It’s being emailed by Sweaty Betty at 4:50 am, chasing you relentlessly for a product review.
And the final straw for customer feedback forms in this field study? A particularly insensitive A&E feedback text, asking for feedback after a tragic hospital visit.
In short, giving feedback is at the thin end of the wedge in your customers’ lives. It convinces leaders that they understand their customers, but they’re only close to their customer’s opinions of their business.
85% of people believe that organisations aren’t allowed to act in a human way.
Surely a sign of progress is that you make things more efficient, but keep the quality the same. John argues that what we’ve seen instead is organisations spending time focusing on the functional experience, but completely losing touch with the human experience.
People feel taken for granted. They’re tired of being delivered the minimum amidst cost cuts and deceit, with profits soaked up by shareholders.
Which is a problem when you consider the next CX myth to be busted.
The myth of customer loyalty.
Countering the idea that once you’ve won the heart of a customer, you’ve got them for life — the reality of customer retention plays out differently. The truth is that customers are only loyal when they’re getting what they want, and nothing better comes along.
Take John’s choice of taxi business, for example. John spoke of being seduced away from his local taxi company by Uber (of course). Until the local cab firm brought out their own app, providing access to all the convenience and accessibility of Uber, but with the added advantages of a local business.
The lesson? Stay more useful than your competitors. Never stop trying to impress your customers. If they’re not being served, they’ll go somewhere else.
Then we took a tour through notable consumer pet hates:
Don’t reply emails
Long call waits
Copy that doesn’t live up to the product
Using complex/inappropriate language
A general lack of common sense and humanity
Brilliantly illustrated by an anecdote about a customer experience black hole — an ex-display chair that John wanted to purchase, but only if it fit in his car. Rather than receiving good-natured, proactive help with this problem, the shop staff managed to trap John in a Catch-22 bind of epic proportions, sending him in circles with frustrating story policy logic.
This is the kind of irritating madness that can happen when employees aren’t empowered to use their common sense. And when you’ve been the customer caught in one of these ridiculous, farcical customer experiences — you’ll remember how much you avoided shopping there again.
So after tearing apart and taking down some of the biggest myths in CX, and some spectacular fails… John moved on to incredible, heart-warming customer experiences that stand out.
Octopus Energy’s hold music is the song that was number one when you were 14 years old.
When Citymapper adds a new city, they take a cross-section of the team and go and live there for a month.
These examples speak of a depth of care – and a willingness to truly immerse yourself in the world of your customer.
In the words of the rail industry’s Alan Riley: “The more formal the forum, the less I learned. I learned everything I needed to know on the train itself.”
So what’s the culture like in organisations with good human experience? According to John it’s one of ambition, connection, and focus on the customer.
Another deeply affecting example to illustrate the power of empathic, empowered employees. John stopped at a pub called The Alma on his way to a hospice. Unfortunately, the food and drink was abandoned upon receiving a call. On his next visit — the staff not only recognised him, they offered his meal on the house, going as far as to refund the food and drink that went untouched.
This is the power of people who are empowered to make the right decision for their customers at the time. Not only is the name of that pub likely to be spoken well of amongst potential customers — the conduct of the employees means that this pub is getting mentioned in keynote speeches, and on social media.
Referencing Ao’s customer service values:
“We treat every customer like our own gran.”
“We make decisions that would make our mums proud”
— John concluded by saying that these examples speak powerfully to what it is that women bring to CX.
It’s our natural, innate desire to make the world a better place. To keep our connections strong, and make our societies feel more connected.
And like the Swiss train manager who gave John his direct number after a missed train, and had his family personally escorted to their next connection — the question is also one of ambition.
His ultimate message to the Women in CX Conference was this: we have the empathy and the ambition required to revolutionise the standard of customer experience in our world.
Be part of a conference experience like no other. Click here to register your interest in our 2024 Global Gathering Conference today and be the first to receive exclusive updates straight to your inbox.
About John
John Sills is Managing Partner at the customer-led growth company, The Foundation. 25 years ago, he started his career on a market stall in Essex, and since then has worked in and with companies around the world to make things better for customers.
John’s been in front-line teams delivering the experience, innovation teams designing the propositions, and global HQ teams creating the strategy. He's been a bank manager during the financial crisis, launched a mobile app to millions of people, and regularly visits strangers’ houses to ask very personal questions.
He now works with companies across industries and around the world, and before joining The Foundation spent twelve years at HSBC, latterly as Head of Customer Innovation. His first book on the topic – The Human Experience – was published by Bloomsbury in February 2023.
