Strategic Customer Experience Trade-offs
When businesses face challenges, the default response is often to cut costs across the board. However, this approach can erode brand equity and damage your customer experience. Drawing insights from "Uncommon Service," I believe this is a useful framework for business transformation or likewise identifying how to fund your growth acceleration.
The Strategic Service Framework
Successful turnarounds require thoughtful choices rather than blind cost-cutting. Consider this three-step approach:
Identify customer priorities through research and data analysis.
Make strategic choice by determining where to excel and where to deliberately cut effort.
Reallocate resources to strengthen differentiation and operational efficiency
Real-World Application
In one business transformation I led, the company initially aimed to match premium brands across all touchpoints—an unsustainable goal given their resources. Through customer research, we discovered:
Product design was non-negotiable for customers
Merchandising and in-store materials could be simplified without affecting satisfaction
Customer service costs could be reduced by using automated emails and an online help centre vs. call centre agents
By seeking to reduce merchandising costs, the team identified a new solution that didn’t compromise the perceived premium. For customer service, the self-help and automated emails were even preferred vs. speaking to an agent.
If your organisation is struggling, start by asking these key questions:
Where should we outperform? (What do customers genuinely value?)
Where can we strategically underperform? (What activities aren't driving growth?)
How do we align our operations, people, and brand around these priorities?
The Uncommon Difference
The principles of "Uncommon Service" extend beyond customer experience—they provide a blueprint for sustainable growth, enhanced profitability, and strengthened brand equity.
Making these deliberate trade-offs is what ultimately separates businesses that struggle from those that thrive in challenging environments.