Partners to Publish CX Standards after Consultation
July 19 2024
Kantar, Bain & Company and Qualtrics have announced they are working on a set of jointly-endorsed CX standards, described as a 'cross-industry effort' and including 'a common language for excellence in the CX industry'.
What was then Kantar TNS formed a global partnership with Qualtrics in January 2018, aiming to 'provide clients with holistic customer experience capability', and expanded it to include employee experience insights later that year. The following July WPP agreed to sell 60% of Kantar to private equity firm Bain Capital, which although launched (forty years ago) by former partners of Bain & Company is a separate firm sharing no management or information with the consultancy.
The partners say the proposed new global standards for CX will provide companies with 'proven strategies..., an expert-backed CX framework, actionable insights and comprehensive support'. The framework will focus on three areas for benchmarking excellence in customer centricity:
- Culture: to ensure a brand adheres to its stated purpose and values, firms should have metrics in place to measure progress against targets, leadership should 'spend time in the shoes of customers and employees', and systems should be in place for regular feedback from both audiences
- Capability: linking different sources of data and feedback for a single customer view, and making the resulting insights available to all within the organisation
- Execution: The value of CX investment and its impact on brand and growth should be communicated throughout the organisation; teams organized around customer needs; and customers understood in terms of their value and brand advocacy.
The three firms are inviting feedback from industry partners and practitioners, with a deadline of 31st August for comment, and the resulting standards are scheduled for launch on 'CX Day', 1st October.
Rob Huijboom (pictured), Global Head of Customer Experience at Kantar, says the initiative 'aims to provide unparalleled support to organizations who strive to deliver exceptional customer experiences and enrich the lives of customers'. Stanford Swinton, principal author of the standards and EVP at Bain and Company, comments: 'The need for common CX standards is critical: they establish a universal benchmark for excellence, ensuring that companies worldwide know exactly how to deliver superior customer experiences'. For Qualtrics, President and COO Brian Stucki adds: 'With nearly 20,000 customers globally, Qualtrics is the leader and creator of Experience Management. We are excited to bring our global expertise to bear on this important initiative, and to continue to play a lead role in shaping the future of the CX'.
The initiative has its own web site at
www.cx-standards.com .
See 'Bain Spin-Off' on
Bain & Company's web site for clarification of the distinction between the two 'Bains'. This article had originally implied a closer link between the two - we apologise for the error.
All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.
