Episode 135 - Maturing Customer Experiences with Andrew Carothers

Throughout my career as a sociologist, I have come to the conclusion that people find sociologists annoying on a deeply personal level. Anthropologists have great stories about travelling to exotic locations. People seem to really appreciate psychology because they think it helps them to better understand why people do the things they do. Historians, while might be boring with their details and minutiae of past events, at least have something to help carry a conversation at a party. Perhaps the only other truly annoying academic profession are philosophers, but they may spend more time talking to themselves than other people. 

What makes sociologists annoying, in my opinion as a sociologist, is that we think critically all the time about everything. It is not just how we are trained; it is how we are wired. You could show a sociologist a picture of puppies playing in a field, and the sociologist would talk about the perils of puppy mills. You could assure the sociologist that these are from a rescue, and the sociologist would talk about there is a lack of oversight and regulation of these organizations and the emotional manipulation of Sarah McLachlan commercials. You could assure the sociologist that this in fact is a wonderful animal rescue, and the sociologist will talk about how veterinary services in the United States cost more than in other parts of the world, and then launch into a discussion of the lack of healthcare overall. We are exhausting. But the critical thinking element is nevertheless important, because through critical thinking and critical analysis, progress and improvements can be made. 

The person who joins me today on Experience by Design is neither a sociologist nor annoying, but is a critical thinker and thought leader in his field. Andrew Carothers has had a long career in customer experience, and has some perspectives to share about its past, present, and future. In his opinion, customer experience is in its teenage years, a kind of awkward adolescence where it is trying to find its identity. In finding its way, it also has to find ways to define its importance and relevance to organizational success and culture. 

We talk about the need for CX to go beyond the metrics it has, but also find other metrics that matter. Andrew discusses the need to put CX more centrally into strategy. We also explore the implications of artificial intelligence for customer experience as a feature and a profession. Andrew emphasizes that good enough is often good enough, especially if that is all that customers want. Finally, we explore how keeping customers is easier than getting customers, and that CX can provide the path to do so, but only if it continues to grow up. 

Andrew Carothers LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-carothers/

Episode Intro Music - The Tall Pines - “The Key”

Episode Ending Music - Ketsa - ”Dreaming Days”