In today's competitive marketplace, businesses are increasingly realizing that customer experience (CX) is not just a differentiator, but a critical factor for success. Yet many organizations overlook a key aspect of CX: aligning employee learning paths with the desired customer experience. By ensuring that employee training is directly tied to customer experience, businesses can ensure their teams deliver exceptional service that resonates with customers at every touchpoint.
Jeannie Walters, CCXP, CSP, CEO of Experience Investigators, has long been a proponent of the idea that customer experience should be ingrained in the very fabric of an organization. “Customer service shouldn't just be a department, it should be an effort across the entire company,” she said, quoting the late Tony Hsieh of Zappos. But how can organizations ensure that every employee, regardless of role, contributes to a consistent, positive customer experience? The answer lies in designing learning paths that are clearly aligned with customer experience.
The Importance of a Customer-Centric Learning Path
A learning path is more than just a series of training sessions or courses. It's a strategic approach to employee development that builds skills and knowledge over time. When aligned with customer experience, learning paths can transform an organization's culture and make great service a daily reality, not just a goal.
“All too often, organizations mandate training without explaining why it's important,” Walters says. “Employees are told to complete a course, but they don't receive context on how their learning will impact the customer experience. This disconnect can lead to employee disengagement and demotivation.”
To avoid this pitfall, Walters suggests organizations start by clearly defining their customer experience mission. “Every single person in the organization is responsible for a great customer experience,” she explains. “But that can only happen if each individual understands what that experience should be.”
For example, the Ritz-Carlton uses the famous phrase, “We serve ladies and gentlemen as ladies and gentlemen” to summarise their service philosophy. This simple, yet powerful mission statement helps employees understand the level of service expected of them and provide a consistent experience for guests.
Designing customer-centric learning paths
To effectively align your learning path with your customer journey, consider breaking down the learning process into four main phases:
1. Customer Experience 101
The first phase should focus on educating employees on what customer experience truly means. This foundational knowledge is crucial, as many employees may not fully understand how their role impacts the customer journey. Walters emphasizes the importance of defining CX in a way that resonates with your specific organization and industry:
“Customer experience is the end-to-end journey your brand takes with your customer,” she says. “It's not just about the people who are customer-facing, but it's important that every single person in your organization understands how they fit into that journey.”
2. The what, how and who of CX at your company
Once employees understand the basics of CX, the next phase should involve a closer look at how customer experience runs within your organization, including specific strategies, processes, and metrics tied to your CX goals. Walters recommends making this phase highly relevant to your company, addressing unique aspects of your industry and customer base.
“Now, we're going to switch things up a bit and talk about what CX can do for you and your organization,” she explains. “We're going to help employees connect their work to the success of the business as a whole. We're going to show how delivering a great customer experience improves key metrics like customer retention and word-of-mouth referrals.”
3. Team and role-specific education
In the third stage, learning paths should be tailored to specific teams and roles within your organization. Walters emphasizes the importance of recognizing that different departments interact with customers differently, even indirectly.
“For example, your accounting team may not think of themselves as a customer-facing team, but they play a critical role in the customer experience through their invoicing and payment processes,” she says. “Providing role-specific training ensures that all team members understand their impact on the customer journey and have the confidence to actively contribute.”
4. Designing and improving the experience
Finally, the learning path should encourage employees to think about customer experience from a design and improvement perspective. This phase fosters a culture of continuous improvement and challenges employees to identify and suggest ways to improve the customer experience.
“We want everyone to think big,” Walters says. “How can we actually improve the customer experience? What are the mechanisms for reporting issues and implementing improvements? By actively engaging our employees in this process, they're more enthusiastic about delivering a better customer experience.”
Supporting long-term cultural shift
Creating learning paths aligned with customer experience isn't a one-time effort. It requires an ongoing effort to foster a CX-first culture across your organization. Walters suggests several strategies to support this culture shift:
- Give reasonsMake sure employees understand the importance of their learning path. Connect employee training to the success of the organization as a whole. “If you don’t explain why, employees are less likely to engage with the learning process,” warns Walters.
- Connecting learning to the CX mission: Continually strengthen the connection between employee learning and the customer experience mission, so employees can see the bigger picture and understand how their actions contribute to organizational goals.
- Embrace what's next: Keep employees informed about industry trends and future challenges. “Talk about the future of innovation and customer experience,” advises Walters. “This will prepare your employees to meet future demands and give you an edge over the competition.”
Examples and anecdotes
To bring these concepts to life, Walters recommends leveraging real-world examples and customer anecdotes as part of the learning process. “Customer stories are incredibly powerful,” she says. “They provide concrete examples of what works and what doesn't work, and they help employees internalize the lessons in ways that abstract concepts can't.”
For example, Apple and Airbnb are often cited as companies that excel in customer experience. Both organizations focus on aligning their internal training programs with customer experience goals. At Apple, employees are trained not only in product knowledge but also on how to create a welcoming and supportive environment for customers. Meanwhile, Airbnb focuses on helping hosts create a personalized experience that makes guests feel at home.
Benefits for employees and customers
Aligning learning paths to customer experience is a strategic move that leads to better business outcomes, greater employee engagement, and increased customer satisfaction. When employees understand how their role impacts the customer experience and are equipped with the right skills and knowledge, they are more likely to deliver great service.
“Learning is a key way to encourage and drive innovation within an organization,” concludes Walters. “Designing learning paths that are tightly linked to the customer experience not only improves the service you deliver, but also creates a more engaged and motivated workforce.”
As organizations continue to address the complexities of customer experience, the alignment of employee learning and CX becomes increasingly important. By following the steps outlined by Walters, companies can ensure their learning paths support a customer-centric culture, leading to long-term success for both employees and customers.