Week of November 4, 2024

Elevate Your Customer Experience Strategy with Marra CX Hub’s Weekly Insights

We know it’s hard find time to keep up with the continually evolving Customer Experience (CX) landscape. We’ve got you covered!

Every week, we bring you the Top 3 CX Articles, handpicked by us to help you stay on top of the latest trends, insights, and innovations. Dive into the latest CX game-changers and empower your team with the knowledge they need to create unforgettable customer journeys that drive brand loyalty.

Bad customer service costing £41bn as Gen Z are ‘killing the high street’

(Express.co.uk, Sarah Barltrop) Bad in-store experiences cost the UK high street up to £41 billion in lost revenue, according to a leading market researcher. Forsta found a staggering 80% of UK adults exit a store without buying something if they have a poor experience.

Bad Customer Service Costing 41BN as Gen Z are ‘killing the high street’

Gary’s Take: It’s only 80%??? LOL. What is interesting to me is the stark comment that “Gen Z is terrible at Customer Service”. I think we all have observed this in some form, an “unprofessional tone, poor attention to detail, lack of initiative, low enthusiasm”. More importantly perhaps we should be asking “why?”. The article ends with a commentary on the on-line generation, but to me…that is just the beginning. This is an interesting concept that should be explored more. Now excuse me while I go tell my 8 year old to put down the tablet. 

Freshworks Reports “Strong” Growth, Then Lays Off 13% of Its Employees

(CX Today, Rhys Fisher) Freshworks is letting 13 percent of its staff go following the decision to raise its annual revenue and profit forecasts.  The layoffs equate to 660 employees, with the company stating that the realigning of its global workforce will allow the business to have a more significant impact on its customers.  The decision followed the release of “strong” Q3 results that saw Freshworks achieve 22 percent year-on-year revenue growth.

Freshworks Reports “Strong” Growth, Then Lays Off 13% of Its Employees

Gary’s Take: Good news everybody, everything is going great! We have strong Q3 results, including 22% YoY growth, and this means we have to let 660 of you go! Huh, WUH???

You will hear me start talking about “Layoff-A-Mania” in Rick Denton’s CX Passport Podcast this week. Look, I get it, this company is growing but struggling with profitability. But have we completely normalized layoffs and downsizing to a point of fault and ethical concern?

The kicker is the comment that the company says managing employee experience is imperative. NEWSFLASH: You can’t do that when you layoff 13% of the company.

Client Success Managers Can Give Firms A Leg Up in Customer Service

(Inside Public Accounting) Forward-thinking accounting firms are embracing a new role – a client success manager – to lower response times, lighten the load for partners and cement strong relationships with the most important clients, who just may buy more services as a result.

Client Success Managers Can Give Firms A Leg Up in Customer Service

Gary’s Take: Often people think that CSM’s (Customer Success Managers) are for SaaS companies only. Rather than focus on pure CX, firms need to focus on Client (Customer) Success as well. In fact, this CSM concept has been in use for a long time, pre-dating the SaaS boom. Financial Services firms have been doing this for decades. How do I know? That’s what I have done for years! The concept is the same in both Asset Management and Asset Servicing: a singular point of contact that maintains a strong relationship, offers support, coordinates communications, organizes servicing internal and keeps management informed. This allows the Subject Matter Experts to focus on their area of expertise while still maintaining an open channel to clients as well. It’s a model that’s worked for years, it could work for you too!