Time To Reset: Which Key Stakeholder Do You Need To Engage To Help Your Business Rise From A Crisis?
As the effect of the pandemic has begun to take different forms in different nations, it has brought about a new set of challenges for businesses:
- Start-ups are struggling to survive in the face of competition and lack of funds
- Proven organisations are struggling to stay afloat
- Established masters are simply bettering what they do
So what exactly are the Established Masters of the business world doing to withstand the sands of time, winds of change and continue to not just survive, but thrive even in a socio-financial crisis?
My research of 160+ brands has found that some organisations focus on their customer value proposition. However, only those brands that have fully engaged their employees and have provided them with their CX vision have achieved guaranteed success. In fact, in the three national employee engagement studies that I’ve spearheaded in Australia, I have identified four major key drivers of successful brands that are universal to every economy:
- All staff understand the organisational strategy and direction
- All staff emulate a personal commitment to make the organisation’s strategy and direction successful
- The Leadership is heavily involved in engaging staff
- Staff are recognised and rewarded for their CX-driven commitment
Essentially, there are four types of consumers and four types of needs that change dynamics during a crisis, which I have described in detail in my free ebook “From Powerless To Powerful – The ultimate business recovery roadmap”. Every time that the world has witnessed a crisis, there has been a phenomenal change in customer behaviour, with consumers shifting from one category to another. For instance, before the Global Financial Crisis of the 2000s hit us, consumers prioritised price and product or service quality over experience. But after the crisis tided over, there was a phenomenal change with consumers now focusing more on experience, followed by product quality and with a willingness to pay a higher price just for a great experience.
Organisations need a Moses now
The role of leadership is very clear if you want your business to ride the recovery roadmap. Set a direction and enlist your staff to design improvements that are required for your business to thrive in the new normal. Remember, without the involvement of your staff, you cannot achieve deep levels of commitment.
Note that your frontline staff especially know exactly what customers want and what frustrates them. They know the policies and processes that do not work or make sense to your customers. It is therefore critical that you enlist your teams to drive innovation and streamline operations. Establish top-down strategic think tanks to develop strategies and bottom-up think tanks to drive tactical improvements. Such a structure will help you stablish a strong practice of galvanising your staff. While you do this, ask yourself three important questions:
- Staff anxiety over job security peaks during a crisis, which leads to a visible drop in productivity. How do you intend to overcome this critical challenge?
- Are you absolutely confident that the strategic direction you have set will lead you to success?
- What is the most effective way to appeal to your staffs’ psychology and involve your teams completely with the business strategy?
Once you have the answers to these three questions, it will help you develop a strategic roadmap that will not only help you grow your business out of any crisis, but will also help you create a dynamic business model that will power you to thrive and beat competition in any scenario.
But what must you do once your organisation is CX-driven? Is that enough? Or would you like to eat your competitors’ share of the CX cake too?
If your answer to the last question is Yes, then it’s time to delve deeper into your business growth strategy and find answers to the following questions:
- Have your customers’ requirements changed since the crisis began?
- If yes, then do you know exactly what your customers want now?
- Are you being true to your customer value proposition?
- Do your customers relate to and experience your value proposition?
- Are your customers bored with your brand?
In my experience, I can say that customers are probably unhappy with your product or do not trust you enough only if there is a disconnect between any two of the following business practice:
Once you’ve built this coherent structure and put it to practice, there is no stopping your CX party.
Christopher Roberts
Chris is a Global Brand and CX Expert. He is the Managing Director of Engaged Strategy, which is the world’s first official distributer of Nice Satmetrix. Chris is the developer of the Total Engagement Model®, which designs and aligns key elements to maintain brand integrity and customer focus. He is a published academic author and a guest lecturer at the University of Queensland at a Masters Level.
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