Creating a Customer Experience Playbook

If your CX Program simply consists of surveys, it's like trying to understand the whole movie by watching a single frame. You have to integrate data, insights, and actions if you want to understand how the movie ends, and ultimately be able to write the sequel. But integrating multiple customer signals isn't easy. In fact, it can be overwhelming. I know because I successfully did this in the past, and counsel clients on it today. So, here's a 5-step plan on how to ensure that the integration of diverse customer signals remains insightful and not overwhelming: 1. Set Clear Objectives: Define specific goals for what you want to achieve. Having clear objectives helps in filtering relevant data from the noise. While your goals may be as simple as understanding behavior, think about these objectives in an outcome-based way. For example, 'Reduce Call Volume' or some other business metric is important to consider here. 2. Segment Data Thoughtfully: Break down data into manageable categories based on customer demographics, behavior, or interaction type. This helps in analyzing specific aspects of the customer journey without getting lost in the vastness of data. 3. Prioritize Data Based on Relevance: Not all data is equally important. Based on Step 1, prioritize based on what’s most relevant to your business goals. For example, this might involve focusing more on behavioral data vs demographic data, depending on objectives. 4. Use Smart Data Aggregation Tools: Invest in advanced data aggregation platforms that can collect, sort, and analyze data from various sources. These tools use AI and machine learning to identify patterns and key insights, reducing the noise and complexity. 5. Regular Reviews and Adjustments: Continuously monitor and review the data integration process. Be ready to adjust strategies, tools, or objectives as needed to keep the data manageable and insightful. This isn't a "set-it-and-forget-it" strategy! How are you thinking about integrating data and insights in order to drive meaningful change in your business? Hit me up if you want to chat about it. #customerexperience #data #insights #surveys #ceo #coo #ai

Using Data to Drive Strategy: To lead with confidence and achieve sustainable growth, businesses must lean into data-driven decision-making. When harnessed correctly, data illuminates what’s working, uncovers untapped opportunities, and de-risks strategic choices. But using data to drive strategy isn’t about collecting every data point — it’s about asking the right questions and translating insights into action. Here’s how to make informed decisions using data as your strategic compass. 1. Start with Strategic Questions, Not Just Data: Too many teams gather data without a clear purpose. Flip the script. Begin with your business goals: What are we trying to achieve? What’s blocking growth? What do we need to understand to move forward? Align your data efforts around key decisions, not the other way around. 2. Define the Right KPIs: Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) should reflect both your objectives and your customer's journey. Well-defined KPIs serve as the dashboard for strategic navigation, ensuring you're not just busy but moving in the right direction. 3. Bring Together the Right Data Sources Strategic insights often live at the intersection of multiple data sets: Website analytics reveal user behavior. CRM data shows pipeline health and customer trends. Social listening exposes brand sentiment. Financial data validates profitability and ROI. Connecting these sources creates a full-funnel view that supports smarter, cross-functional decision-making. 4. Use Data to Pressure-Test Assumptions Even seasoned leaders can fall into the trap of confirmation bias. Let data challenge your assumptions. Think a campaign is performing? Dive into attribution metrics. Believe one channel drives more qualified leads? A/B test it. Feel your product positioning is clear? Review bounce rates and session times. Letting data “speak truth to power” leads to more objective, resilient strategies. 5. Visualize and Socialize Insights Data only becomes powerful when it drives alignment. Use dashboards, heatmaps, and story-driven visuals to communicate insights clearly and inspire action. Make data accessible across departments so strategy becomes a shared mission, not a siloed exercise. 6. Balance Data with Human Judgment Data informs. Leaders decide. While metrics provide clarity, real-world experience, context, and intuition still matter. Use data to sharpen instincts, not replace them. The best strategic decisions blend insight with empathy, analytics with agility. 7. Build a Culture of Curiosity Making data-driven decisions isn’t a one-time event — it’s a mindset. Encourage teams to ask questions, test hypotheses, and treat failure as learning. When curiosity is rewarded and insight is valued, strategy becomes dynamic and future-forward. Informed decisions aren't just more accurate — they’re more powerful. By embedding data into the fabric of your strategy, you empower your organization to move faster, think smarter, and grow with greater confidence.

Consistency creates trust. Say what you will do. Do what you said you would. Reliability. Consistency. Whatever you call it, it is a customer experience superpower. When a brand is clear about what its customers can expect, and then it delivers on those expectations with its product, its service, its experience, that is consistency. That builds trust. ✈ Southwest Airlines is a great example. 💺 No seat assignments. You know this when you book with them. 2️⃣ checked bags for free. You know this as well. Guess what? They didn’t used to advertise about 2 free checked bags. Because 10 years ago, that wasn’t special. Now, with all the other airlines charging, Southwest has a new point of differentiation. Because of their consistency. While The Southwest experience is changing, it is changing in a predictable way. It does not feel like a moving target. How do you create consistency in your customer experience? Share your thoughts in the comments below. 👇 And here are 5 steps to follow to build trust through consistency: 🔷Start with the end in mind. What do your customers expect from you? 🔷Identify experience elements that meet those customer expectations. Ask yourself, What can we consistently deliver that will meet our customers’ expectations? 🔷Set customers’ expectations appropriately. Make promises about what you will consistently deliver. 🔷Keep those promises with your experience. Obvious, but make sure you’re keeping your promises the vast majority of the time. 🔷Apologize and rectify when you don’t keep your promises. This reinforces that unkept promises are rare exceptions, not signs of a new pattern. If you are showing up consistently, setting expectations for an experience that customers want, and keeping those expectations in most instances, then the exceptions stay exceptions. And, in fact, they’re service recovery opportunities that reinforce the fact that you usually do keep your promises, and that you take it seriously when you don’t keep your promises. 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝘀 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁. 𝗧𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝗲𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻.

Your buyer persona: “Meet Sarah. She’s 35. Drives a Honda. Drinks oat milk.” OK ... But that tells me nothing. I don’t care if she shops at Whole Foods. I want to know: 👉 what does she struggle with? 👉 what triggers her to buy? 👉 what words does she actually use? Most personas are packed with shallow info. Not what actually moves a customer to buy. You don’t need a cute name. Or a coffee order. You need insight. Here’s how to build a persona that actually helps you sell: 1. Do customer interviews 1. Talk to real people. 2. Ask open-ended questions. 3. Capture exact language. And during these interviews ... 2. Capture voice of customer (VOC) VOC are the words your customers use to describe: - their customer journey - your product VOC eliminates jargon. And ineffective messaging. It makes customers think, "They get me." 3. Map customer pain points 👉 What keeps them up at night? 👉 What problem are they trying to solve? 👉 Why have they failed to solve it? 👉 What else have they tried to solve it? 4. Identify search triggers 👉 Why did they start looking for a solution? 👉 What triggered their search? 👉 What makes their search urgent? 5. Document objections 👉 What gives them pause? 👉 What uncertainties do they have? 👉 Where have competitors failed them? 👉 What almost stopped them from buying? 👉 What makes them doubt your product? 6. Find "The Flip" What makes your customer flip from 🧐 “What is this?” ↓ 😍 “This is exactly what I need.” Build your messaging around this moment. ___ This is how you create a messaging guide. Not by guessing. Not with a cute persona worksheet. Knowing Sarah’s favorite podcast? Sorta helpful. Knowing what keeps her up at night? Insanely helpful. ____ ♻️ Repost this if you found it useful 🧐 Follow me (@lizwillits) for more posts 💌 Get VIP insights in my email newsletter

Wondering how to design a Scaled Customer Success motion? Leverage your data and reverse engineer what your customers need. Take the customers that you already know are successful, and look at their data to identify what a successful customer journey looks like. We keep the customer at the center, and use the data we have available to better understand our customers en masse. As you look at the data, you might find information that surprises you. Doing a regression analysis across customer data will tell you surprising things around signals that indicate growth potential as well as risk. You might find that the feature you thought was most "sticky" isn't actually used all that much by your growing and successful customers. You might find that the data that correlates to successful business outcomes for customers isn't at all what you would have guessed. After you've looked at this data and put on your detective hat and asked it good questions, you're ready to begin mapping out how to achieve those results at Scale. Start with what channel you're going to use. You can decide what is best delivered via digital channels vs human channels so that customers can grow and better accomplish their goals. You can identify where your CSMs can best spend their time in strategic human intervention as risk mitigation or growth acceleration as they help customers achieve their desired outcomes. You keep customers at the center by listening to what they're telling you: both in what they say and what they DO. That's what data can help you understand: what it is that your customers are actually doing. And then as you build out this Scaled motion, constantly go back to the data and get a better understanding if what you're doing is accomplishing the goals you're looking for. Don't make assumptions, be willing to look at the data and see the results. Because the only thing worse than not having data you need, is ignoring the data you have because you're too comfortable with what you're already doing. #CustomerSuccess #SaaS #Data #DigitalCS

I've developed 3 prompts that will help CS leaders: - Create a comprehensive customer maturity model tailored to your product - Generate executive-level business reviews from your customer's perspective - Design personalized success plans based on actual customer outcomes —- Prompt 1: Custom Maturity Model Builder "I need to create a customer maturity model for [your product type], which helps [brief description of what your product does]. Our most successful customers typically achieve these outcomes: [Outcome one], [Outcome two], [Outcome three] Please follow these steps: 1) Create a 5-stage maturity model (Baseline, Developing, Established, Advanced, Leading) 2) For each stage, define: - Key capabilities customers should have developed - Typical usage patterns you would expect to see - Business outcomes they should be achieving - Common challenges they face at this stage - Recommended next steps to advance to the next level 3) Include specific metrics that indicate which stage a customer belongs in 4) Provide 2-3 key questions CSMs should ask to assess a customer's current stage" —- Prompt 2: Executive Business Review Generator "You are the CIO/CFO/CRO of [customer company]. You've been using our solution [your product] for [time period]. Create an executive summary of what you would expect to see in a business review, including: 1) The business challenges that led you to purchase our solution 2) The metrics you personally care about seeing in this review 3) How you would want success to be measured and presented 4) Strategic initiatives for the coming quarter that our solution should support 5) Concerns or obstacles you anticipate that might prevent full value realization" —- Prompt 3: Outcome-Based Success Plan Creator "I'm developing a success plan for [customer name] who uses our [product] to achieve [primary goal]. Their key stakeholders include: [Role one]: Focused on [objective] [Role two]: Focused on [objective] [Role three]: Focused on [objective] Based on their industry ([industry]) and company size ([size]), please: 1) Identify 3-5 specific business outcomes they should prioritize in the next 90 days 2) For each outcome, outline: - The measurable definition of success - Required capabilities they need to develop - Key milestones on the path to achieving this outcome - Resources and support they'll need from our team 3) Suggest a timeline that aligns with typical business cycles in their industry 4) Include how to measure and demonstrate the business impact of each outcome" —- These prompts are designed to create standardized, scalable approaches that still feel personalized to each customer's unique situation. They help your CS team elevate conversations from product features to business outcomes. What CS processes are you currently using AI to enhance?

Your customer avatar is probably wrong. It’s not your fault. The entire industry has been running the same lazy playbook for years... But there's a better way to truly understand your audience—I'll break it down for you step by step: First, it's important to note: most marketers confuse *data* with *insight*, and most brands only know their customer’s basic info. They'll run entire marketing campaigns based on minimal insights: • Male • 25-45 • Likes fitness But that’s not a profile. That’s just a demographic checkbox. To actually connect, you need to go deeper… I use a 5-point system to build customer avatars that actually work. The 5 pillars are: 1. Identity 2. Emotion 3. Generation 4. Seasonal purchasing behavior 5. Cultural movements Here’s how it works: 1. We start by researching Identity. Your audience isn’t just a group of people—they see themselves as someone specific. Are they: • Hustlers? • Achievers? • Rebels? Their core identity drives what they believe, which is why we start with the core and layer things on top. 2. Next we get insight on Emotion. Emotion drives buying decisions, not logic. Understanding which emotions fuel your audience is key: • Fear of missing out? • Desire for control? • Pride in their achievements? If you can nail the emotional hook, your offer becomes irresistible. 3. We then move on to Generation. Boomers, Millennials, Gen Z, and Gen X aren’t the same. Each grew up with different values, tech, and cultural experiences. Even subtle things like humor or world event references can make a huge difference. We add this to the mix along with: 4. Seasonal Purchasing Behavior Your audience doesn’t buy the same things year-round. Track when they’re most likely to spend and align your campaigns with their *natural habits*. E.g.: Fitness goals spike in January, outdoor gear in spring. Timing is everything. 5. Finally, we study Cultural Movements. What’s happening in the world that aligns with your audience? If we’re gonna tap into shared beliefs, trends, or societal shifts to make your brand feel relevant, we need to know how to go from “just a product” to a movement. When you understand these 5 layers, you stop guessing—and start connecting. You stop throwing spaghetti and start painting a masterpiece. TLDR; If your avatar is built on a static template from 6 years ago, you’re in trouble. Avatars are as fluid as the humans they’re built on. Knowing how to track the 5 most important those changes (and build a strong marketing strategy from them) is the key to real growth. 🔑

If I was launching your next product, here's the plan I would follow: It would take 16 weeks acceleratedl and I'd ignore anyone pushing for shortcuts. Most launches sputter and fail to meet expectations because teams get distracted by things like launch parties while skipping the boring-but-critical groundwork. Pulling off a successful launch means paying attention to EVERY detail. Over the years, I've built and refined this framework across dozens of launches. This is a high level version of my playbook. 1. MARKET ANALYSIS Analyze your target landscape thoroughly before designing a single asset. I've watched too many brands jump into creative work without understanding who they're competing against or why their product matters. 2. SALES ENABLEMENT Give your sales team the tools they actually need - not just pretty slides, but things like pre-sales materials, product knowledge training and objection guides for buyers and a compliant buyer sampling cadence. 3. RETAIL PARTNERSHIPS Sort out your shelf displays, merchandising units, and pricing strategy early. The physical pieces have long lead times - a reality that hits many brands in a panic three weeks before launch. 4. DIGITAL PRESENCE Make sure your product detaills; photography, naming conventions are consistent and compelling across Weedmaps Jane Technologies, Inc. , Leafly and your own platforms. There are a few SEO tricks too. I'm amazed how many brands mess this up. 5. EDUCATION PROGRAM Your budtenders make or break your launch. Create training modules on Seed Talent and SparkPlug they'll remember and incentive programs that actually motivate them to recommend your product. 6. CONSUMER JOURNEY Map out every single touchpoint from first impression to post-purchase. Each one needs to reinforce your key message and move consumers along a clear path. 7. AMPLIFICATION Get your social and PR engines running in a way that creates momentum your sales team can leverage when talking to buyers. I have a painfully detailed 16-week launch spreadsheet that maps every deliverable, deadline, and responsibility. I’ve been building on this and refining it for years. Those "boring details" everyone rolls their eyes at - UPC codes, compliance updates, inventory forecasting - usually determine whether you succeed or fail. What pieces are you pulling together for your next launch, and how far ahead have you started?

56% of sales & marketing people get customer personas wrong. Let's understand how to create personas with little/no access to first hand data... Last quarter, we analyzed 750+ “ideal customer” profiles. → 73% were just job titles & demographics → Only 27% mapped actual behaviors, buying triggers/pain points If your persona looks like this: "CMO at a mid-sized SaaS company, 35-50 years old, USA-based" You’re already off track. Here’s how to fix it: ✅ Analyze Unstructured Data (CRM alone won’t cut it) → Scan support tickets, live chats, & sales calls → Spot recurring objections & frustrations ✅ Reverse Engineer Buying Triggers → Check LinkedIn, Quora, & Reddit in your niche → Find what’s making people switch vendors ✅ Use Competitor Reviews → Study G2, Capterra, or Trustpilot → 1-star reviews show pain points (5-stars reveal what matters most) ✅ Validate with Prospects (No Costly Surveys Needed) → DM 5-10 people on LinkedIn: "Hey [Name], I see you’re working on [industry problem]. I’m putting together insights on [pain point]. Curious - what you seeing as the biggest challenge with [specific issue]?" Personas built this way drive conversions –  because they reflect actual buying behaviors, not assumptions. Find this useful? Follow → Junaid Dar

If you deploy it, they will come. Nope. They won’t. Too many companies release new features and assume customers will just find them, use them, and love them. Reality? Half the time customers don’t even know the feature exists. New product ≠ instant adoption. If you want customers to actually use what you’ve built, you need a rollout strategy. If you are getting ready to release and roll out new product into your software, here’s how to do it right: 1️⃣ Announce with intention Don’t bury it in release notes. Create a clear, customer-facing announcement that explains what it is and why it matters. 2️⃣ Educate customers Offer videos, walkthroughs, and guides tailored to different learning styles. 3️⃣ Enable through practice Run webinars, workshops, or sandbox sessions where customers can actually try it. 4️⃣ Empower champions Identify and activate customer advocates who can showcase real use cases. 5️⃣ Measure adoption Track who’s using it, how, and what value they’re seeing. Use that feedback to refine. 6️⃣ Keep reinforcing Fold it into business reviews, customer stories, and ongoing comms so it becomes part of the core product experience. If you don’t guide customers to it, your ‘big release’ is just another hidden button. How does your company roll out new features today? What have you seen work really well?