Blog - ExceptionalCX

Welcome to my blog -

Image of employees talking - demonstrating the importance of employee engagement strategies

Four employee engagement strategies for your business

You need to implement these four key employee engagement strategies if you're serious about engaging your team.

Image of a man working at a desk - culture affects employee engagement

4 things to look out for when measuring your employee engagement

Measuring your employee engagement is the only way to find out how engaged your employees are and how you can improve to increase their engagement levels. But your culture may...

Image of man serving Ice Cream to illustrate improving your customer service gets you noticed

The best and worst companies for customer service in the UK 2019

Which? ask 4,000 people in the UK about the customer service they’ve received from 100 UK retailers. As ever, there are large differences between sectors – airlines, telecoms and energy...

Measuring your employees’ engagement

There are a lot of studies out there that demonstrate a direct link between employee engagement and business performance. The higher the engagement the better the business does. So how...

Employee engagement, 2 colleagues talking

Employee engagement vs. employee experience – what’s the difference?

Employee engagement and employee experience are not the same! One is the means to achieve the other. Focusing on both will benefit you, your business and your employees. Let's take...

There’s a whole lot more to a brand than the logo

Colour, typography, templates and imagery are all part of your brand's visual identity. Paying attention to these details helps build a strong brand.

Positioning your brand for success

Your brand positioning affects what people associate with it and what they expect. Those associations and expectations influence your customer experience - not only what you deliver, but how it's...

Keep your eye on your ‘why’!

Why you do what you do is your driving force. Sometimes you can get distracted and lose your focus. Do that and it may stop you from achieving what you...

Jargon buster – branding

Your brand is more than a logo and a tagline! But when people start talking to you about the importance of branding and all the things that go with it,...

Why you need to build a strong brand

Your brand is much more than a logo and a tagline. Your brand is key to defining and designing your customer and employee experience. Are you using your brand to...

You can’t follow through on plans you don’t have

Plans are important. You need to make plans to achieve your goals. You can’t follow through on plans you don’t have. Neither can anyone else on your behalf. What are...

Customer experience – what is it and why should small business owners care?

Customer experience is something small business owners should know about and be focusing on. Whilst bigger companies have been improving their customer experience over the last ten years or so,...

Image of someone relaxed and reading on a beach - is your business ready for your freedom?

Is your business ready for you to be free?

If, like many others, you wanted to start your own business to give you more freedom, can you honestly say that's what you've achieved? Hand on heart? You're looking for...

The fundimentals of creating intelligent customer relationships

Kenneth B. Ellitott's quote perfectly describes how a customer focussed business should think about the people they serve – and how lots of companies or their teams actually think of...

Use empathy to improve your business

One of the 5 key elements of emotional intelligence, you can use empathy to improve your business. It also makes you a better person, friend, worker and leader. Empathy has...

Dream big! What's your vision for your business?

Are you making your vision a reality?

Every day you're taking action. You're working hard, creating products and services for your customers. Why? What vision are you working towards? Did you take the time to write your...

Pictures can be used to help visualise customers and bring them to life.

Why some customer personas don’t work

Customer personas should be useful and hard working documents. If you created yours and then wondered what you're supposed to do with it now, then something's not right. Perhaps I...

Image of a man complaining over the phone

Do your customers care enough to complain?

If a product or service doesn't match our expectations we feel disappointed and let down. But often we don't care enough about it to complain. So when we do complain...

Honesty is the best policy even with difficult conversations

Honesty really is the best policy

Honesty is talked about a lot in business. You want your business to grow, to be successful - whether it's going to stay a local business or you're going global, so...

Solitary man walking to show how customers traits are different

Distinguishing traits – what sets your customers apart

You've identified your niche and written a detailed customer persona. Have you included your customer traits? These could be key to finding out what your customers have in common or...

Image of woman on phone rolling their eyes - are all your customer touchpoints equally great

Have all your touchpoints been created equal?

Every contact we have with a customer influences that customer’s future decision whether to buy from us again. EVERY contact. It’s not just about when you or your team are...

Image of a happy woman driving a convertible - understanding emotional drivers help influence behaviour and perception

Are you connecting with your customers’ emotional drivers?

As people we do everything for a reason - because of our emotional drivers. If anyone's observing and trying to understand why, it might not be immediately obvious. In fact...

Are you keeping up with your customers’ expectations?

What is expected of you? What’s expected of your products and services? How do you serve your customers? Are you confident you know? Regardless of what industry you’re in, your...

Does your brand colour reflect your brand?

Choosing the colour for your brand is a big decision. It needs to differentiate you from your competitors while still being appropriate for the type of customer you want to...

Image shows golf clubs being sold – focus on making a customer not just one sale

Make a customer, not a sale

To some people these mean the same thing. Customers are the source of revenue that makes the wheels of their business turn.

Image of a person with no clear face - get to know your customers better with psychographics

Build richer personas with psychographics

Create a holistic view of your ideal customer by using psychographics. By understanding how what you offer fits into your customers' lives you can create a sophisticated profile of your...

Image of a man working at a desk - is he adding value to his customers?

How do you add value?

What problems do you solve? What do you do to deliver a great customer experience?

Image of a woman with a child using a tablet - using demographics rather than life stage in our customer persona may stereotype the woman

The danger of demographics

Are you using demographics in your customer personas? You could be introducing bias to your decision making and creating persona stereotypes that will limit your business' potential.

Your customer’s perception is your reality

What you intend your customers to experience may or may not be how they’ve interpreted their experience with you. It’s a personal reaction based on how they feel and what...

Image shows clear jelly sweets laid out in rows, with 1 red sweet in the middle - targeting your customer with customer personas or avatars

Why you need to create customer personas

You've been told by all the experts to find your niche. Congratulations - you've done it. What do you know about them and how can you be sure to keep...

Image of woman shopping on laptop, credit card in-hand

Think like a customer

Are you easy to do business with? You have repeat customers that buy from you time and time again. If you’re asking them for feedback it may well be glowing...

Hurdles, obstacles and dead ends

Is your business losing potential customers because something stops them on the path to making a purchase?

Quote from Shep Hyken: "There's a big difference between a satisfied customer and a loyal customer. Never settle for 'satisfied'."

Does satisfaction create loyalty?

"Another satisfied customer!" Is satisfied really enough? What does 'satisfied' actually mean?

Image shows business woman using a laptop to create content

Content, Conversion, Traction, Engagement…

Do all these words fill you with dread? Yet you’d like to ensure your brand is noticed and your customers are getting the experience they deserve? Content exists in a...

Image of a person shouting through a tin can on a string

Knowledge is power(ful)

I’ve worked in design studios for many years. In that time I have always produced work with the customer in mind. I’ve done this by attending focus groups and talking...

Image of a woman at a desk thinking with coffee and a pastry

It starts with you and your customers

If you've never done it before, starting a business is overwhelming. There's so much to learn and so much to do. How do you know where to start? Start with...

What is customer experience?

The most common question we get asked about what we do is "What's customer experience then?" So here's an overview of what it is and why it should matter to...