I met the design critic Stephen Bayley once. I’d always admired his writing so I sent him a gushing email and he took me out for pizza, cementing his hero status forever.

A quote from Le Corbusier in one of his books had left an indelible impression on me: “Design.” He wrote, “Is intelligence made visible.”

From the moment I read that, I felt intense pressure to do my best whatever project I was working on. It wasn’t just my intelligence on public display, I reasoned, but my entire work ethic laid bare.

To re-jig the master’s prose, I believe that a brand’s customer experience can be thought of similarly. Not as intelligence, but as thoughtfulness made visible.

Thoughtfulness is the universal hallmark of excellence in CX because everything else ladders up to it: a neat flourish here, some streamlining there, an unexpected personal touch — they all show consideration for our customers.

Thoughtfulness is also universally appreciated. It makes people feel special and fortunate. It also makes them want to reciprocate - no bad thing.

Best of all, in defining customer experience as "thoughtfulness made visible" maybe we can escape the trap of trends and generic solutions, and stay focused on what really matters - our customer's unique needs.

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