How to grow your tech stack to meet your CX efforts

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    Choosing the right CX tech stack to invest in is dependent upon your CX maturity level.


    The current state of Customer Experience (CX) reveals that CX has reached a breaking point; your company’s level of investment in CX will be the ultimate determinant of its success. This means that investing in the right CX tech stack is more of a priority than ever before. Yet as the number of tools on the market continues to rise, how do you know which technology is right for you?

    Truly experience-led organizations operate with Journey Management, a way of working that ties back into having a deep understanding of all your customer journeys, knowing how they are connected, and being able to prioritize the right opportunities across the customer experience. Your ideal tech stack will depend on how well you’ve mastered Journey Management and should therefore match your organization’s level of CX maturity.


    Three common pillars

    First things first though. No matter which tools you pick, there are three basic pillars that should serve as the foundation for everything you do. When we look at thriving organizations and how they manage their CX, we see that they have three things in common:

    1. They have a single source of truth for their CX. 

    2. They use a data platform to measure important metrics like CSAT, CES, and NPS.

    3. They have a strategic structure in which transactional data (like volume, conversion, or revenue) maps onto their journey hierarchy.

    What does this mean for your tech stack? Below, we’ll explore the things we see at every level of Journey Management mastery. While there are many similar tools, we name some of the common ones. Not sure which level you’re at? Take the maturity scan to find out.


    Level 1: Intuition-driven

    Since the majority of organizations at this level are basing their customer journeys on a hunch, they’re not usually storing their customer insights in a systematized way. CX is organized project-based and journeys are all over the place. You need to start using basic CX tools. Don’t be afraid to experiment. Just be sure to document what you do and how you do it.

    1. Source of truth: Miro, Excel, and PowerPoint are good journey mapping tools when the customer journey is not yet so complicated. 

    2. Data: Some teams use a tool like Qualtrics, but without a framework.

    3. Structure: This is usually undefined, as businesses at this level are organized in silos or departments.


    Level 2: Introducing process

    When it comes to providing better service to your customer personas, your organization is already setting priorities based on journey insights. However, it might be messy because teams are using different tools and all of your insights are all over the place. 

    1. Source of truth: Miro, Excel, and PowerPoint and other journey mapping tools are still typically being used.

    2. Data: At this level, organizations are generally using different tools based on the data they need to track. Try Qualtrics to measure CX, Google Analytics for transactional metrics, and a tool like Power BI to consolidate. Store your qualitative insights in PowerPoint or a repository like Dovetail.

    3. Structure: While this usually happens in PowerPoint, any alignment occurs mostly in meetings.


    Level 3: Journey-driven workflow

    Your organization has a roadmap based on customer journeys and is working across teams to continuously update journeys and keep track of opportunities and progress. Most organizations at this stage benefit from setting up a journey framework to standardize the way journeys are created, updated and organized. You need to find the right structure for your organization, preferably one that allows you to connect the internal operations to your customer journeys. 

    1. Source of truth: This is usually where journeys become so complicated that teams make the big move to Journey Hierarchy (using a tool like TheyDo).

    2. Data: Teams are usually using Qualtrics for CX and Google Analytics and a CRM like Salesforce for transactional metrics. This data is then integrated into journeys.

    3. Structure: Rules are in place and set up in a Journey Management system (like TheyDo), introducing a way to prioritize both customer-centric opportunities and business goals. Alignment happens asynchronously, in and around journeys.


    Level 4: Company-wide framework

    You have a customer journey framework that is aligned with your organization’s broader business goals. Everyone in your organization speaks the same language around the customer and all your priorities are based on a common set of rules. However, some teams may still be focused on their own domain or stage of the customer experience. 

    1. Source of truth: At this level, it’s essential to have a Journey Hierarchy in a system like TheyDo. 

    2. Data: Teams are usually using Qualtrics for CX and Google Analytics and a CRM like Salesforce for transactional metrics. This data is then integrated into journeys. Since qualitative insights are usually larger, they can be stored in tools like TheyDo or Dovetail.

    3. Structure: From journeys, to data, to workflow – all systems are integrated around one framework. This connects Agile and product teams, ensuring that epics and journeys are in sync.


    Level 5: Journey Mastery

    Your entire team has a deep understanding of customer experience and your CX dashboard is used as the single source of truth that everyone works against. It’s rare to meet organizations this far in their maturity, and at this point it’s just about continuing to scale. Try experimenting with different methods of organizing teams around journeys and reach out to let us know how it goes. We would love to learn from you.

    CX stories from organizations like yours

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