I was talking to a new customer experience (CX) leader yesterday about what her job is and how to explain it to the rest of the people in her organization. “My job is to improve customer experience ,” she said. Wrong. Her job, like all CX leaders, is to help the company take a systematic … Read more
Word Nerd Wednesday: Systematic
Word Nerd Wednesday: Role
We use words like customer, user, buyer, and influencer to describe the people a company serves, but those labels aren’t really about the people. They are about the role that person plays in their relationship with us. The role may matter most to you, but it’s a tiny fraction of who they are as a … Read more
Word Nerd Wednesday: Opposite
The opposite of big is small. The oppposite of open is closed. Not every word has a clear opposite, though. I’m wrestling with one such word now and would love input from my logophile tribe. Here’s the situation… Lack of clarity is a barrier to customer experience transformation. Having a 1-word label for this issue … Read more
Word Nerd Wednedsay: Retronym
On last week’s Word Matters podast I learned “retronym.” A retronym is a word or phrase we make up to distinguish the old version of something from a newer version or form. People didn’t say “rotary phone” until there was something other than rotary to choose from (i.e., touch-tone). We didn’t start saying “landline phone” … Read more
Word Nerd Wednesday: Declined
Data is supposed to spur people to action, but it rarely does. Why not? It’s because numbers, on their own, are boring, and the words people use to describe numbers tend to be boring, too. Boring numbers + boring words = tuned-out audience. Thankfully, there is this thing called a thesaurus.* In between overly flowery synonyms … Read more
Word Nerd Wednesday: Detox
Today I heard a CX leader refer to their culture change initiative as a “detox.” It’s the perfect word. Culture = a set of shared beliefs that drive behavior patterns in an organization. Toxins = things that poison or harm a system they infiltrate. Few things are more harmful to an organization than misguided beliefs … Read more
Word Nerd Wednesday: Technology
Today’s post was sparked by the ah-ha I had yesterday about still being a techie because the brain – where #customerexperience happens – is the ultimate legacy #technology. That got me thinking…I’d never looked up the definition of “technology.” Doing so led me down a fascinating rabbit hole! The debate about what constitutes technology and … Read more
Word Nerd Wednesday: Ennui
An article in the NY Times last week titled We’ve All Hit A Wall got me thinking about the French word “ennui.” It’s used in English to describe a type of weary, restless boredom that many people seem to feel right now, including me. I wanted to share the idea of “ennui” with you because … Read more
Word Nerd Wednesday: Or
Customers or employees? Digital or physical? Profit or loyalty? Questions like these are provocative, but they do more harm than good. How? By implying the two things on either side of “or” are mutually exclusive (i.e. a false dichotomy). Humans crave simple, clear-cut answers because, when they exist, we don’t have to think as hard … Read more
Word Nerd Wednesday: Virtual
In a recent webinar about the future of events, William Sell said something powerful that seemed perfect for Word Nerd Wednesday. While talking about the difference between virtual and in-person events, he noted that the word “virtual” is most often used to describe things that are aren’t real. Virtual reality is a simulation, as is … Read more
