The Customer Experience Framework Explained

What the heck is a customer experience framework? Man, there are so many buzzwords and duplicate terms in business, even with something as specific a topic as customer experience. We’ve talked about the cycle, the roadmap, the journey map, and the many phases of the experience. We’ve talked about how to enhance it, and how to strategize around it.

But, customer experience framework seems like the spot to draw the jargon line, doesn’t it? Well … it’s approaching that threshold with stuff like this, as it’s getting to the point where everyone is taking a common, de facto set of circumstances with a shared context, and given an unnecessarily complex term. But, it’s not quite there yet.

I think this term and definition are pushing into the unnecessary world a bit, but I see where others would find this concept useful. So, I’ll try to explain it, despite the fact there’s not so much to it when you get down to it.

When you look around online for this concept, you’ll be confronted with a bunch of named frameworks, with little to no explanation of what they really mean. Along with this, you’re going to get a whole bunch of graphs with vaguely related directives and concerns involved in customer experience.

Honestly, most of this stuff you see online is nonsense. It says nothing useful, and is a product of the instances where the term has gone into hollow buzzword territory quite blatantly.

However, there is the less convoluted definition of this concept, which you’ll have a harder time seeing. Let’s forget about all that baloney you’ve been shown by Google and others up to now.

So, in the real definition of a framework for this, you’ve plotted your lifecycle for your customers, and worked out a solid procedural strategy for implementing it, and for handling more likely variable outcomes along the way. Well, a strategy and forecast are one thing, but having the elements for its implementation ready are another.

And herein lies the creation of an actual framework. You’ve chosen not only your marketing campaign, and you’ve chosen the software and protocols for implementing and tracking it.

You’ve chosen your publication mediums for the comparative phase, and you’ve got your affiliates and your SEO strategy for visibility well planned and already built. It merely needs to be deployed.

You’ve implemented training and support tactics for delivery and installation phases, so that when the customer asks for them the first time, it’s already there, rather than to be put together on the fly when the need is pointed out.

Finally, you’ve got a good system for multi channel support (possibly with self service) in order to support your customers and handle any problems, complaints or inquiries they may have.

Your customer experience framework is the implementation of all the services, materials and strategies you’ve planned out, so the system is there and built, from need generation to the final end of support, and when prospects appear, transform into leads and finally become customers, you’re ready for it, and you’re successful at a positive rate and ratio. Don’t buy into the buzzwords and directionless infographics that would have you believe this is something more complex (to the point of being impossible to come to terms with).

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Matthew is the Lead Author & Editor of CXperience Blog. Matthew established the CXperience blog to create a source for news and discussion about some of the issues, challenges, news, and ideas relating to Customer Experience.