Is There Such a Thing as TOO MUCH CX?

An awesome customer experience is something that most companies strive for.  Customer experience can make the difference between you and your closest competitor.  It can win you more deals, gain you more advocates, and longer customer relationships.  

But when is it too much?  

Where’s the line between overwhelming your customers with onboarding events and other information versus giving them just the right information at the right time?

Getting a little personal here to illustrate my point:

My husband and I have a 4 year old daughter.  He’s in the military, and you all know what I do  :-).  He’s currently deployed and has been gone since June of this year.  Since he and I have been together (well before our wee one was born), we’ve made it a tradition to go on a vacation together when he returns from deployments.  

Now that we have a little one, our trips have evolved from places like Las Vegas and Mexico to more family-centric places.  He’s due to return home soon and we’re planning our first trip to the happiest place on earth.

Disney CX Run Amok

I’ve never been to Disneyland, let alone Disney World, and I’ve been utterly shocked at the Customer Experience.  I’ve run the gamut of emotional states with each step in my booking journey.  

After making our reservations I was advised to create an account on a specific website where I could plan my entire trip.  The advice that I received from the agent I was working with was to plan, plan, and then plan some more.

The sheer number of options was completely overwhelming.  

Are you supposed to make dinner reservations months in advance?  How do you meet a real live princess?  Can I schedule an appointment with her?  Where do you even find them?  Which park do I take a 4 year old to?  How do we get around?  Are there things that she can’t do because of age/height?  Where do we even start? What am I supposed to do with all this STUFF!?!  

I can sum up my initial customer experience in a few words…. It’s a lot.  In fact, the enormity of options actually caused me to walk away for several days.

Following up matters, when done right

Something happened after I made my booking.  I started receiving reminders via email advising me on what steps I should take next.  I was presented with recommendations for other things to look at and try based upon the other selections that I had already made.  The next steps and recommendations were far more directed than the deluge of “stuff” I had initially been faced with.  I was also informed of how our vacation may be negatively impacted if I didn’t plan for a few critical items and events.  

Before I knew it I was eating the proverbial elephant bite by bite.  Cinderella was in my daughter’s future after all!

What appeared to be “too much” and confusing on their website became a pleasant experience when guided by an email campaign.  

Disney Take-Aways

I think that we can learn a lot from Disney.  To really nail the customer experience we only need to do a few things:

• Simplify the initial experience. Disney managed to get me confused and upset with all the choices they threw at me up front on their website. The email campaign was much more effective because it led me through a clear set of steps.
• Tell your customers the why. Tell users why they should do what you ask. Be upfront about consequences if a user doesn’t start with the basics (i.e., unless you install a widget, you can’t do <x>, for example)
• Track your customer’s progress., Leverage messaging that’s tailored to their prior progress to move them along (let’s face it, customers get stuck sometimes).  

Great CX doesn’t have to be complex or fancy.  The step by step process and communication does have to be right, however.  

Cross your fingers for me that I survive a few thousand of my closest friends and characters in Orlando!