CEM is getting more attention – which is a good thing. It means that companies are not only recognizing the importance of the experiences that they deliver to their customers, but also that they need to do something about those experiences. But, this attention also worries me. I’m concerned that CEM is seen as a magic bullet to solve companies’ problems, without companies really understanding what CEM is. So let me take some time to discuss what CEM is not.

First, CEM is not aiming to deliver the ultimate experience. This is an impossible task, and companies setting out to do it are setting themselves up to fail. This will discourage their employees, and never satisfy their customers. Instead, companies need to strive to deliver consistent experiences that match the brand promise. If the brand promise is low-cost, low-frills flights with an airline that cares, customers expect value and friendliness. When the airline delivers these, customers are pleased – they’ve gotten what they expected. And while sometimes over-delivering on the promise is okay, consistently delivering exceptional experiences actually makes them less exceptional and more regular.

Next, CEM is not surveying customers more frequently. CEM is using the information that customers provide in a targeted way. Unless there is a way to understand what customers share in the surveys, and deliver that information to people in the organization who can use it to improve their part of the business, companies are only tiring their customers and wasting money with extra surveys.

Third, CEM is not consultants imagining what customers want. CEM is letting customers tell you what they like and dislike about the experiences they have with your company and using that information to make improvements. Designing experiences using information that customers provide means designing experiences that customers value. It is more effective than designing them based on guesses.

Finally, CEM is not corporate NPS™ programs. NPS is a metric that many companies use in combination with others in their CEM programs, but measuring NPS alone is not CEM. To be useful, NPS needs additional information to bring about the change it promises. As I’ve written about previously, the value comes from understanding why customers offer the ratings they do, not just asking the question.

So, if CEM is not delivering the ultimate experience, not increasingly frequent surveys, not consultants engineering what they think customers want, and not an extra question on those extra surveys, then what is it?

CEM is continuously delivering the voice of the customer to employees across the organization in a meaningful way so they can use it to improve the experiences that they are responsible for.

Once the improvements happen, it’s telling the customer about them. The key is doing this continuously and integrating it into your employees’ routines. In doing this, companies create customer advocates and build a reputation for consistently delivering on the promises they make.

For more information about CEM, email us, with CEM Solution in the subject.

NPS is a trademark of Bain & Company.