NEW YORK — While CX initiatives are often aimed at reducing friction, there is a limit to how much the pursuit of seamless experiences can help.
A customer experience without any friction can become too “slippery,” Phillip Jackson, CEO of retail media research startup Future Commerce, said during a Tuesday session at the National Retail Federation Big Show. An approach to CX that is too focused on speed and ease can lead to a lack of brand identity that makes it hard to form relationships with customers.
While the fast food company wants to make transactions easy for customers and associates, that is not the ultimate goal of its investments, according to Dane Mathews, chief digital and technology officer at Taco Bell. The true objective is to fuel growth by creating a fandom that remembers and enjoys the brand experience.
“Being memorable is the secret to success in the marketplace, and it certainly has been our secret sauce,” Mathews said during the session.
Creating a memorable, differentiated experience is not a straightforward task, according to Mathews. Speed remains an important factor even if it’s not the only one, and companies need to constantly consider the balance between their technological and human elements while always keeping the end consumer in mind.
“Honestly, it's not about the perfect widget, the perfect experience,” Mathews said. “It isn't. It's actually about creating an innovative spirit and then leaning in and being curious and launching and learning and relaunching.”
People, not technology, make the experience
The right knowledge can help companies understand how to create memorable experiences, but actually delivering those experiences is up to the people on the front lines.
“There is no way I can make a consumer experience memorable with a bunch of screens in AI,” Mathews said. “They'll be better, but I don't know if they'll necessarily be memorable.”
Technology has a role to play, and Taco Bell is leveraging technology in its CX plans, but those features can only improve certain elements of the experience, according to Mathews. Tech is at its best when it’s working to help people create a better experience for the customer.
The right tools can improve efficiency for customers and associates alike, but its greatest application is to help workers “unleash their natural superpower and deliver something far more memorable for the brand,” Mathews said.
Taco Bell will take this approach in how its drive-thru screens recognize and celebrate loyalty member’s birthdays, a feature planned to launch sometime this year.
“The screens will do a dance, so they'll fly confetti, and they'll say happy birthday or feliz compleaños or whatever, but the team member will be involved too,” Mathews said. “That's what's going to make it memorable.”
Know your brand and your customer
Building brand perception and loyalty can be a years-long endeavor, according to Mathews.
“It is very hard to change hearts and minds of what people understand about who you are today,” Mathews said. “It’s a very, very long journey.”
The process of perfecting that perception starts with a strong understanding of what your brand is about, combined with a deep understanding of its customers, combined with a deep understanding of its customers, which he calls its “muses,” Mathews said. It’s not enough to understand broad customer demographics or general preferences; brands need to develop real curiosity about their audience.
Taco Bell has used its loyalty program to develop this curiosity. The brand’s loyalty program offers a unique opportunity every Tuesday, and once even invited 50 loyalty members to its corporate headquarters to meet some of the Taco Bell team.
“I had a chance to meet with them, and having a chance to brush up against our loyalty members is one of these really tactical things that really helps create intimacy,” Mathews said. “That was a proud moment for me, my team and certainly for them, who were really excited. That allows us to know who our muses are.”
