Tech companies have done a great job persuading us that data analysis is the secret sauce, whatever recipe we’re making. When it comes to creating a great customer experience though, this isn’t true.

If it were, the top rated brands for CX would be the ones who gathered the most data from the most interactions and crunched it all with the most powerful software. But they aren’t in my experience.

Metrics are important — they tell us what is happening and help us evaluate our progress. But they don’t tell us why those things are happening or what to do about them, which is more important.

They also can’t make people care, which is the biggest challenge of all. In fact, they often make people care less, because metrics dehumanize.

Numbers help us communicate long-distance with detached objectivity, but the key to creating a great customer experience is exactly the opposite: psychological proximity. Getting close to customers, not gazing at dashboards.

Let’s be clear then. Our most vital currency isn’t data — it’s ideas about how the future can be better.

Ideas that come from an alchemical blend of customer understanding, subject matter expertise, and simple human ingenuity.

Creating truly exceptional experiences is more art than science. Data informed, yes. But idea driven.

See this post on LinkedIn