The Importance of a Building a Meaningful Customer Relationship

We hear so much about the importance of strategic communications, but what does that really mean? Martha Boudreau, Chief Communications and Marketing Officer at AARP, helps bring strategic communication to life through relatable stories and concrete examples. Hear her explain what it means to become your customer’s wisest friend and fiercest defender – a core mission to Martha’s team at AARP. You’ll hear some of her globally-recognized insight into topics like aligning strategies, empowering employees, and much more.

Quotes

* “We have to be where everybody is, offering up the same kind of content to everyone – whether it’s a mailbox, a digital platform, or through our app. That is an obligation. What it means from a customer experience standpoint, is that it all has to work together. It has to be a sort of an omnichannel experience.”

* “For other brands, especially brands that were not created in the digital world, there can be no time to wait. You have to adopt different platforms, but first, you have to have a serious look at who your consumers are and know that moving forward, there will be no excuses for delivering anything that’s not a great consumer experience. You know what? Maybe, you never get it perfect – but you create processes whereby you can fix things as you move through.”

* “Being able to truly listen and then act on the input makes sense for the mission, and for the business model of the organization. That’s essential. You can’t satisfy everyone, but you can make sure that your processes are top-notch, and that you’re delivering what your brand promises.”

Time Stamps

*[:15] Martha’s role at AARP

*[3:20] How listening to customers benefits CX

*[7:50] Aligning CX strategies across multiple departments

*[12:20] Why customer experience is employee experience 

*[15:48] Martha’s go-to tools for productivity 

*[19:05] Responding to negative customer feedback

*[22:00] AARP’s Virtual Community Center

*[25:40] The future of CX 

*[29:17] Lightning round

Links

• Connect with Martha on LinkedIn
• Connect with Phil on LinkedIn
• Follow Phil on Twitter

Thank you to our friends

This episode is brought to you by IBM. If you are responsible for Customer Experience, they’ve created a White Paper just for you. In the CX North Star Report, you can learn more about how to activate your CX vision. Download it here.