Ways to Reduce Friction in Customer Touchpoints

2025 won’t be about what you add, it will be about what you remove. The winners won't be those who add more complexity. They'll be the ones who master the art of removing friction. But, HOW do we do that for both sides of the revenue equation for buyers and customer facing teams? 1️⃣ 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗥𝗲𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗕𝘂𝘆𝗲𝗿 𝗙𝗿𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: • Make information discoverable (think Netflix, not library) • Enable self-service exploration (let them learn their way) • Connect every touchpoint (stop asking them to repeat themselves) • Provide instant answers (or better yet, anticipate questions) • Match their preferred buying motion (not your selling motion) 2️⃣ 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗔𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗳𝘆 Customer facing teams 𝗪𝗶𝗻𝘀: • Bring insights to where they work (not another tab) • Surface what's working (and who it's working for) • Automate the routine (so they focus on relationships) • Make best practices obvious (not buried in playbooks) • Connect client signals to seller actions (right action, right time) 3️⃣ 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺𝘀 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝘆: • Connect platforms that should talk • Remove duplicate data entry • Automate the predictable • Surface exceptions that need attention Remember: Every extra click Every delayed response Every disconnected conversation Every scattered resource ...is friction that stands between your buyers and their success (and your teams and their wins). True enablement as a concept, not the team, isn't a function or a department—it's a strategic pillar that does two things masterfully: 1. Eliminates barriers that slow buyers down 2. Amplifies what helps sellers win 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘀: • Buyers get clarity instead of complexity • Sellers deliver value instead of managing processes • Teams achieve momentum instead of maintaining systems The future belongs to companies who understand that the best technology doesn't add steps—it removes them. The best strategies don't create new hurdles—they eliminate existing ones. Success in 2025 won't be measured by how much you can add to your tech stack. It will be measured by how much friction you can remove from your revenue engine. The real unlock? AI isn't just another tool—it's the invisible thread that weaves everything together: • Maps and predicts friction before it happens (across every journey) • Amplifies human expertise (instead of replacing it) • Learns from every interaction (what works, what doesn't) • Automates the routine (so humans focus on relationships) • Brings insights to every moment (right context, right time) • Connects signals across systems (no more blind spots) Any and all tech that I advise for, promote, consult, or evangelize for does this. Old tech requires people, (buyers and sellers) to go to the tech. AI/new tech GOES TO THE HUMAN. Tech that works seamlessly in your workflow instead of another tab or step will win. My mantra next year? Remove friction. I’m not the best at it, but Dagnabit, I’m working on it. #Enablement #ai

The Case for Boring Excellence in Customer Success "Delight your customers" has dominated CS strategy for years. But that often gets us in trouble by trying to be a superhero to the customer. What if the conventional wisdom is wrong? Matt Dixon's research in "The Effortless Experience" revealed something counterintuitive: 96% of customers who experienced high-effort interactions became disloyal, compared to only 9% of those who had low-effort experiences. The data is clear: customers aren't leaving because you didn't delight them. They're leaving because you made their lives difficult. The effort they put forth isn’t matching the outcome. What does "effort" really mean? It's more than just UI/UX: 1️⃣ Cognitive Effort: How much mental energy customers expend understanding your product, knowing who to contact, and learning your jargon 2️⃣ Time Effort: How much customer time you consume with complex onboarding, multiple touchpoints, and manual processes 3️⃣ Emotional Effort: The stress created through uncertainty, anxiety over whether things are working, and the feeling that customers need to "stay on top of" your team Want to reduce effort? Here’s four strategies you could look into: ➡️Address the next issue preemptively • ➡️Engineer better customer language (use their words, not yours) • ➡️Create contextual self-service that appears when needed • ➡️Enable front-line judgment instead of rigid policies • The truth is that reducing customer effort is rarely exciting work. It's about fixing broken processes, streamlining communications, and removing unnecessary steps—not launching flashy new programs. It's the customer success equivalent of paying down technical debt: unglamorous but immensely valuable. In a world where everyone is busy and attention is scarce, the most valuable thing you can offer isn't another wow moment. It's giving them time back in their day.

How can you cut handle time without hurting service? Try targeting pre-call friction. Imagine you're a customer who wants to call your company. Scratch that. Needs to call: they already tried self-service. Where is your customer service phone number? Is it easy to find? Many companies hide it. Customers must dig through several menus on your website to find the number. It's annoying. You finally find it. Now you call. What happens now? You're subjected to endless phone menus in your interactive voice response (IVR) system. It might take two minutes or longer before a customer can get into a queue. The frustration builds. A customer service agent finally answers. The first question they ask is for an account number or something else the customer already entered into the IVR. "Why do you need that?" asks your now agitated customer. The agent now spends the first 30 seconds of the call trying to soothe the customer. It's wasted time caused by pre-call friction. Here's how to fix pre-call friction: 1. Make your phone number easy to find. 2. Trim your IVR. It shouldn't take 2+ minutes to get into the queue. 3. If customers share info with the IVR, agents should be using it. How much handle time is pre-call friction costing your contact center? 1. Follow your phone customer's journey. 2. Identify friction points, such as endless phone menu options. 3. Listen to a sample of calls. 4. Identify when customers are agitated by those friction points. 5. Calculate how much extra time agents spend handling the issue. #ServiceCulture