Interest in customer experience began as a pragmatic response to three trends. Digital channels were increasingly popular but often had low switching costs, and task completion depended a great deal on the user experience; social media had given customers a louder voice; and as the number of channels in use proliferated, extra value could be created by joining them up.

At the time, we didn’t have ideas above our station. We wanted customers to be better served, but we also wanted to make money and recognized the value of other disciplines. The emphasis was on balance and integration.

It was only later that customer-centricity became a religion that sought hegemony over the rest of the enterprise. Product, brand, advertising...these are all experiences aren’t they? We should own them too. Marketing, operations, even finance should kiss the ring.

This over-reach has been disastrous. By trying to do too much the discipline has achieved too little. In over-promising it has under-delivered. And irony of ironies, provided a poor experience to a crucial customer: the business itself, which funds these CX initiatives.

The discipline must return to its more modest, pragmatic roots — a time where context, integration and balance mattered — or it’ll be gone before we know it.

See this post on LinkedIn