October 29, 2024 • 12 mins
Breaking down silos while maintaining specialization isn't just a buzzword—it's a necessity for a seamless customer experience. But how can companies, especially within tightly regulated industries like financial services, balance the need for specific expertise with the demand for a unified customer journey? In this episode, an insightful listener question sets the stage for a compelling exploration of cross-functional collaboration. We'll navigate the tension between specialization and an aligned customer vision, revealing how cultural commitment and strategic communication can transform fragmented operations into a cohesive brand experience.
Whether adapting marketing strategies or wrestling with supply chain challenges, tune in to hear some strategies to build customer trust and deliver a seamless interaction that transcends departmental boundaries. Let's turn the dream of a consistent and compelling customer journey into a reality.
Resources Mentioned:
CX Charter Guidebook -- https://bit.ly/cxcharter
Experience Investigators Learning Center -- experienceinvestigators.com
Watch the video version of this episode on YouTube -- youtube.com/@jeanniewalters
Want to ask a question? Visit askjeannie.vip to leave Jeannie a voicemail! (And don't forget to follow Jeannie on LinkedIn! www.linkedin.com/in/jeanniewalters/)
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
MC (00:00):
Experience Action.
Let's stop just talking aboutcustomer experience, employee
experience and the experience ofleaders.
Let's turn ideas into action.
Your host, jeanne Walters, isan award-winning customer
experience expert, internationalkeynote speaker and founder of
Experience Investigators, astrategic consulting firm
(00:20):
helping companies increase salesand customer retention through
elevated customer experiences.
Ready Set Action.
Jeannie Walters (00:31):
I bet you've been told to break down silos
when you are focusing oncustomer experience at your
organization.
We all have.
It's what we all want.
I'm Jeannie Walters and, thanksto this great question from
Gary, we're going to talk aboutthat today on the Experience
Action Podcast.
Listener Question (00:50):
Hi, Jeannie, it's Gary Marra.
Hey, we often hear the cry tobreak down the silos in the CX
world, and certainly, in myexperience managing clients,
I've seen way too muchfunctionalization in companies.
But working in large financialservices companies makes you
aware you do need a certaindegree of specialization and
subject matter expertise.
So how do you balance the cryfor breaking down silos with the
(01:12):
optimization thatspecialization provides?
Jeannie Walters (01:16):
Yes, breaking down silos.
That is the rallying cry, thatis the dream, because we know
inherently that if we have toomany silos in an organization,
that is more likely to cause afractured or challenging
customer journey for thecustomers that we serve.
So of course it makes sense tosay let's break down the silos
(01:38):
and focus on the customerjourney.
But Gary brings up a greatpoint here If we don't have
specialization, if we don't havepeople in our organization and
teams and departments and toolsand processes and all that go
with that really focused onbeing a specialist, bringing
that expertise to that part ofthe journey, then we're going to
(02:00):
create a whole other set ofproblems.
So how do we balance this?
Well, many of us find ourselvesin the crux of this trying to
balance question.
How do we make sure that we arehaving a seamless, consistent
experience for our customerswhile at the same time not
(02:20):
trying to be the expert acrossthat entire journey?
We can't be finance experts andsupply chain experts and
product design experts all atonce, so we need to rely on that
specialized expertisethroughout an organization.
So in some industries, justlike we talked about with
(02:43):
financial services, these arehighly regulated industries that
really require specialization.
That isn't just a beneficialthing to have.
It is absolutely necessary.
So certain areas absolutelyrequire deep knowledge,
compliance expertise and riskmanagement skills that we need
(03:05):
to make sure have trained,qualified, educated, experienced
people at the helm.
We need to ensure that we arebeing compliant and staying on
top of all of those differentrules and regulations as part of
those regulated industries.
But even if you aren't in ahighly regulated industry, you
(03:25):
can't always be the expert ineverything.
We need people to have thatexpertise.
So, really, this is aboutbalancing the trust we're
building with customers byhaving the expertise when we
need it, by offering thatspecialization when we need it,
as well as offering a consistent, seamless customer journey that
(03:48):
all aligns around not just thepurpose of the customer, but who
we are as an organization andhow do we show up.
The customer doesn't care whichdepartment they're dealing with
.
They are dealing with a brandand that's who they believe
they're dealing with, no matterwhat, as they should.
So let's back this up a littlebit.
(04:08):
What do we do to balance thatneed for specialization and
expertise with that need tobreak down silos to create that
seamless customer journey?
Well, really a lot of this isabout cross-functional
collaboration.
Now, you've heard me talk aboutthis quite a bit and if you're
familiar with our CXInavigational framework, that one
(04:33):
of our big areas is culturalcommitment because this is where
you get that cross-functionalsupport.
We cannot do this work alone.
We need everybody involved andthat means that we need to lean
on those with expertise in ourorganization.
We need to make sure that we'recommunicating in ways that
everybody understands their role, but they also understand what
(04:54):
happens when.
What happens when we make achange in product?
What happens when we startcommunicating differently in
marketing?
What happens when we have asupply chain issue?
What happens when we can'tfinance in the same way that we
could in the past?
These are big questions thatour customers will have pain
(05:16):
points about if we don't havethat cross-functional
collaboration.
So the first thing I want toencourage you to do is look at
where are the pain points withinthe customer journey.
Where do you see and feel thosesilos, those internal silos on
the outside of the organization?
What are customers telling you?
Are the handoffs maybeuncomfortable when they go from
(05:39):
sales to account management orcustomer success?
Are there bumps in the roadthere?
Are there things that happen,where people say this is not
what you promised in the salesprocess.
That's a big red flag thatmaybe sales and delivery aren't
talking and communicating andcollaborating the best way that
they can.
We need to make sure that weare constantly talking about the
(06:02):
bigger picture here of theoverall customer journey and
engage different groups in thatprocess.
Have some customer journeymapping going on.
Invite them to customer days.
Make sure they're hearing thatcustomer feedback, not just in
the form of numbers andquantitative analysis, but also
(06:22):
in the true voice of thecustomer.
This is what moves people tounderstand that yes, maybe I did
my job in my silo and maybe Ican check that box, but what if
I didn't think about that nextstep on the journey?
What if I didn't set mycolleagues up for success?
What if they're getting thebrunt of the complaints because
(06:46):
we made promises that we didn'tfeel responsible to keep?
We need to make sure that weare looking at the holistic
journey as a holisticorganization, but we are relying
on the specialization andexpertise that's needed.
For example, a bank'scompliance team, we want them to
meet regularly with customerservice and product teams to
(07:09):
really discuss how regulatorychanges will impact the customer
experience?
How will we better communicatewith customers about these
changes?
How do we make sure that theproducts that we offer are
aligned with not only thecompliance but also with
customer needs?
So we need to constantly lookfor who do we need to bring into
(07:29):
this discussion about thecustomer experience,
cross-functional collaboration?
Well, we use something called aCX Charter.
This is a document that we useto really set the stage for
cross-functional teams.
They can be short-term orlong-term, but you need to have
something that everybodyunderstands, that explains what
(07:51):
are you trying to do, what areyour goals, what are the
outcomes you're looking toachieve, who's doing what when?
Some of the basics here we haveto get back to, because often
when we invite people into thesecross-functional collaborative
situations, they think this isfun, for a day, and then they go
back to their desk and they goback to their lives and they
(08:12):
kind of forget about it becausethey're not held accountable.
They're not seeing the results.
They're not seeing the outcomes.
If you have thatcross-functional collaboration
using a tool like a CX Charter,you can actually outline how
often will we check in?
When do we expect this to bedone?
What do we do if we run intobarriers?
Have those conversations upfront so there are no surprises
(08:36):
for those people involved.
Now, when it comes to thatexpertise that we need to rely
on, we can't pull people out ofthat.
Sometimes they're entrenched inwhat they have to do,
especially around things likecompliance.
So think about this, andsometimes people call this
T-shaped skills.
This is where we want people tohave a broad understanding
(08:58):
about what is the customerjourney, what is customer
experience, but then have theirexpertise, have a deep knowledge
about their expertise andspecialization.
If we can do this well, if wecan have cross-functional
collaboration and bettercommunication and T-shaped
skills and an understanding thatwe're all in this together,
(09:19):
then there's another rallyingcry that we have here, which is
CX is everyone's business.
That means that you can maybehave certain parts of your job
that are very deep.
You're only focused on onething you put your blinders on,
but you can't do that foreverything.
You have to make sure that youunderstand your role, your
team's role and that rule's rolein the customer journey, and so
(09:43):
if we can achieve that, thatwill really help us have
collaborative problem solving,better communication and,
frankly, happier employees.
So this is really somethingthat I think is critical to most
organizations.
But you are right, Gary, wetalk about this and we don't
(10:04):
really give how-tos.
So I really appreciate youasking this question, because we
want to make sure that we arenot only providing seamless
customer journeys, but we'reempowering employees to do their
best work with what they'vebeen assigned to do, and
sometimes what they've beenassigned to do, and sometimes
what they've been assigned, isvery deep knowledge and
expertise, and thatspecialization we need to rely
(10:25):
on because we're not the expertsin everything.
So, in the end, this is aboutcreating a culture where
expertise doesn't isolate, itempowers.
This is about making sure thatwe come together as a group on
behalf of the ultimate goal,which is providing that
wonderful customer experience,not only for our customer, but
(10:48):
also to make things better forour employees and better
outcomes for our organization.
By bridging this specializedknowledge with cross-functional
communication and collaboration,companies can build a customer
experience that's not onlyseamless but also skilled and
specialized.
(11:09):
Great question.
Thank you so much for askingthis.
I encourage you, if you'relistening to this and you have
another question or you've beenthinking about something, reach
out to me, leave me a message ataskjeannievip.
You can record it on your phoneor your desktop.
It's super easy to do and weabsolutely love hearing from you
.
Now, until next week, keep upthe great work that you are
(11:32):
doing, breaking down those silos, creating cross-functional
collaboration and communicatingin better ways across your
organization on behalf of yourcustomers.
Thanks so much for being hereand we'll talk again soon To
learn more about our strategicapproach to experience, check
out free resources atexperienceinvestigatorscom,
(11:56):
where you can sign up for ournewsletter, our year of CX
program and more, and pleasefollow me, Jeannie Walters, on
LinkedIn.
Experience Action.
Let's stop just talking aboutcustomer experience, employee
experience and the experience ofleaders.
Let's turn ideas into action.
Your host, jeanne Walters, isan award-winning customer
experience expert, internationalkeynote speaker and founder of
Experience Investigators, astrategic consulting firm
(00:20):
helping companies increase salesand customer retention through
elevated customer experiences.
Ready Set Action.
Jeannie Walters (00:31):
I bet you've been told to break down silos
when you are focusing oncustomer experience at your
organization.
We all have.
It's what we all want.
I'm Jeannie Walters and, thanksto this great question from
Gary, we're going to talk aboutthat today on the Experience
Action Podcast.
Listener Question (00:50):
Hi, Jeannie, it's Gary Marra.
Hey, we often hear the cry tobreak down the silos in the CX
world, and certainly, in myexperience managing clients,
I've seen way too muchfunctionalization in companies.
But working in large financialservices companies makes you
aware you do need a certaindegree of specialization and
subject matter expertise.
So how do you balance the cryfor breaking down silos with the
(01:12):
optimization thatspecialization provides?
Jeannie Walters (01:16):
Yes, breaking down silos.
That is the rallying cry, thatis the dream, because we know
inherently that if we have toomany silos in an organization,
that is more likely to cause afractured or challenging
customer journey for thecustomers that we serve.
So of course it makes sense tosay let's break down the silos
(01:38):
and focus on the customerjourney.
But Gary brings up a greatpoint here If we don't have
specialization, if we don't havepeople in our organization and
teams and departments and toolsand processes and all that go
with that really focused onbeing a specialist, bringing
that expertise to that part ofthe journey, then we're going to
(02:00):
create a whole other set ofproblems.
So how do we balance this?
Well, many of us find ourselvesin the crux of this trying to
balance question.
How do we make sure that we arehaving a seamless, consistent
experience for our customerswhile at the same time not
(02:20):
trying to be the expert acrossthat entire journey?
We can't be finance experts andsupply chain experts and
product design experts all atonce, so we need to rely on that
specialized expertisethroughout an organization.
So in some industries, justlike we talked about with
(02:43):
financial services, these arehighly regulated industries that
really require specialization.
That isn't just a beneficialthing to have.
It is absolutely necessary.
So certain areas absolutelyrequire deep knowledge,
compliance expertise and riskmanagement skills that we need
(03:05):
to make sure have trained,qualified, educated, experienced
people at the helm.
We need to ensure that we arebeing compliant and staying on
top of all of those differentrules and regulations as part of
those regulated industries.
But even if you aren't in ahighly regulated industry, you
(03:25):
can't always be the expert ineverything.
We need people to have thatexpertise.
So, really, this is aboutbalancing the trust we're
building with customers byhaving the expertise when we
need it, by offering thatspecialization when we need it,
as well as offering a consistent, seamless customer journey that
(03:48):
all aligns around not just thepurpose of the customer, but who
we are as an organization andhow do we show up.
The customer doesn't care whichdepartment they're dealing with
.
They are dealing with a brandand that's who they believe
they're dealing with, no matterwhat, as they should.
So let's back this up a littlebit.
(04:08):
What do we do to balance thatneed for specialization and
expertise with that need tobreak down silos to create that
seamless customer journey?
Well, really a lot of this isabout cross-functional
collaboration.
Now, you've heard me talk aboutthis quite a bit and if you're
familiar with our CXInavigational framework, that one
(04:33):
of our big areas is culturalcommitment because this is where
you get that cross-functionalsupport.
We cannot do this work alone.
We need everybody involved andthat means that we need to lean
on those with expertise in ourorganization.
We need to make sure that we'recommunicating in ways that
everybody understands their role, but they also understand what
(04:54):
happens when.
What happens when we make achange in product?
What happens when we startcommunicating differently in
marketing?
What happens when we have asupply chain issue?
What happens when we can'tfinance in the same way that we
could in the past?
These are big questions thatour customers will have pain
(05:16):
points about if we don't havethat cross-functional
collaboration.
So the first thing I want toencourage you to do is look at
where are the pain points withinthe customer journey.
Where do you see and feel thosesilos, those internal silos on
the outside of the organization?
What are customers telling you?
Are the handoffs maybeuncomfortable when they go from
(05:39):
sales to account management orcustomer success?
Are there bumps in the roadthere?
Are there things that happen,where people say this is not
what you promised in the salesprocess.
That's a big red flag thatmaybe sales and delivery aren't
talking and communicating andcollaborating the best way that
they can.
We need to make sure that weare constantly talking about the
(06:02):
bigger picture here of theoverall customer journey and
engage different groups in thatprocess.
Have some customer journeymapping going on.
Invite them to customer days.
Make sure they're hearing thatcustomer feedback, not just in
the form of numbers andquantitative analysis, but also
(06:22):
in the true voice of thecustomer.
This is what moves people tounderstand that yes, maybe I did
my job in my silo and maybe Ican check that box, but what if
I didn't think about that nextstep on the journey?
What if I didn't set mycolleagues up for success?
What if they're getting thebrunt of the complaints because
(06:46):
we made promises that we didn'tfeel responsible to keep?
We need to make sure that weare looking at the holistic
journey as a holisticorganization, but we are relying
on the specialization andexpertise that's needed.
For example, a bank'scompliance team, we want them to
meet regularly with customerservice and product teams to
(07:09):
really discuss how regulatorychanges will impact the customer
experience?
How will we better communicatewith customers about these
changes?
How do we make sure that theproducts that we offer are
aligned with not only thecompliance but also with
customer needs?
So we need to constantly lookfor who do we need to bring into
(07:29):
this discussion about thecustomer experience,
cross-functional collaboration?
Well, we use something called aCX Charter.
This is a document that we useto really set the stage for
cross-functional teams.
They can be short-term orlong-term, but you need to have
something that everybodyunderstands, that explains what
(07:51):
are you trying to do, what areyour goals, what are the
outcomes you're looking toachieve, who's doing what when?
Some of the basics here we haveto get back to, because often
when we invite people into thesecross-functional collaborative
situations, they think this isfun, for a day, and then they go
back to their desk and they goback to their lives and they
(08:12):
kind of forget about it becausethey're not held accountable.
They're not seeing the results.
They're not seeing the outcomes.
If you have thatcross-functional collaboration
using a tool like a CX Charter,you can actually outline how
often will we check in?
When do we expect this to bedone?
What do we do if we run intobarriers?
Have those conversations upfront so there are no surprises
(08:36):
for those people involved.
Now, when it comes to thatexpertise that we need to rely
on, we can't pull people out ofthat.
Sometimes they're entrenched inwhat they have to do,
especially around things likecompliance.
So think about this, andsometimes people call this
T-shaped skills.
This is where we want people tohave a broad understanding
(08:58):
about what is the customerjourney, what is customer
experience, but then have theirexpertise, have a deep knowledge
about their expertise andspecialization.
If we can do this well, if wecan have cross-functional
collaboration and bettercommunication and T-shaped
skills and an understanding thatwe're all in this together,
(09:19):
then there's another rallyingcry that we have here, which is
CX is everyone's business.
That means that you can maybehave certain parts of your job
that are very deep.
You're only focused on onething you put your blinders on,
but you can't do that foreverything.
You have to make sure that youunderstand your role, your
team's role and that rule's rolein the customer journey, and so
(09:43):
if we can achieve that, thatwill really help us have
collaborative problem solving,better communication and,
frankly, happier employees.
So this is really somethingthat I think is critical to most
organizations.
But you are right, Gary, wetalk about this and we don't
(10:04):
really give how-tos.
So I really appreciate youasking this question, because we
want to make sure that we arenot only providing seamless
customer journeys, but we'reempowering employees to do their
best work with what they'vebeen assigned to do, and
sometimes what they've beenassigned to do, and sometimes
what they've been assigned, isvery deep knowledge and
expertise, and thatspecialization we need to rely
(10:25):
on because we're not the expertsin everything.
So, in the end, this is aboutcreating a culture where
expertise doesn't isolate, itempowers.
This is about making sure thatwe come together as a group on
behalf of the ultimate goal,which is providing that
wonderful customer experience,not only for our customer, but
(10:48):
also to make things better forour employees and better
outcomes for our organization.
By bridging this specializedknowledge with cross-functional
communication and collaboration,companies can build a customer
experience that's not onlyseamless but also skilled and
specialized.
(11:09):
Great question.
Thank you so much for askingthis.
I encourage you, if you'relistening to this and you have
another question or you've beenthinking about something, reach
out to me, leave me a message ataskjeannievip.
You can record it on your phoneor your desktop.
It's super easy to do and weabsolutely love hearing from you
.
Now, until next week, keep upthe great work that you are
(11:32):
doing, breaking down those silos, creating cross-functional
collaboration and communicatingin better ways across your
organization on behalf of yourcustomers.
Thanks so much for being hereand we'll talk again soon To
learn more about our strategicapproach to experience, check
out free resources atexperienceinvestigatorscom,
(11:56):
where you can sign up for ournewsletter, our year of CX
program and more, and pleasefollow me, Jeannie Walters, on
LinkedIn.
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