Customer Experience (CX) has become a gold standard in modern business. Brands race to provide perfect service, dedicated customer care, and personalization to every detail. But there is an important question: are we “trying to pamper” customers or are we just “trying to pamper” them? And when CX is put first, does that mean employees have to endure to please customers?
Afternoon – When CX Is a Beautiful Picture
“Afternoon” evokes the image of a brilliant sunset, where the light colors the sky naturally, harmoniously and emotionally. In business, the ideal CX should be the same: customers feel genuine care, enjoyable experiences, and satisfaction that comes from dedicated but not forced service.
Businesses that know how to paint a radiant CX picture often reap long-term success. Not only do they meet expectations, but they also create memorable moments for customers that keep them coming back again and again. But to achieve this, one fundamental element is indispensable: the experience of the people who create it – the staff.
Struggling – When Employees Work Under Pressure
In some organizations, CX is misinterpreted as “trying to please” customers at all costs. Staff are trained to always say “yes”, unconditionally meeting customers’ sometimes excessive requests. They must appear cheerful even when exhausted, keep smiling even when inside they are full of pressure. When EX (Employee Experience – employee experience) is overlooked, businesses are only pushing employees into a spiral of fatigue and loss of motivation.
A Gallup study shows that happy employees can increase customer satisfaction by up to 10% and improve revenue by 20%. On the contrary, an employee who is forced to “suffer” to make guests happy is unlikely to deliver memorable experiences.
CX & EX – Two Sides of One Coin
Instead of placing CX above EX, businesses need to see these two factors as two sides of the same coin. An employee who has a positive work experience will naturally radiate that energy to customers. When they are listened to, respected and have a good working environment, they will serve customers with sincerity instead of force.
Instead of “trying to please” customers with rigid processes, build a corporate culture where CX and EX go hand in hand. Give employees a voice, empower them to be creative in how they serve customers, and most importantly, ensure they feel valued within the organization.
Conclusion: Try to Enjoy, Don’t Try to Endure
Customer experience should not just be about “pleasing” customers at all costs, but must be a beautiful “afternoon” picture, where employees and customers have memorable moments together. When businesses put EX on par with CX, the benefits not only stop at higher performance, but also create a sustainable business environment, where customers are served from the heart, not from effort.
So is your business “trying to please” or just “trying to please” customers?
