The pandemic has forced us to remain indoors and observe shelter in place. Even though the situation is now being contained rapidly, we must still take precautions and avoid going out much. So, even though there aren’t many options to explore, it’s a good time to switch on your reading lamp, pull up a comfy chair, brew some coffee, put on your reading glasses, and start exploring the world of knowledge.

Because books let you travel through time without stepping into a time machine, and when it comes to learning, there’s absolutely nothing even close to getting absorbed in a well-crafted book. And with a subject that is fast-moving and ever-evolving, like Customer experience, there will always be more to explore and learn and more opportunities for thought leaders to take note of from these well-written books. Gaining knowledge about CX can be beneficial for anyone interested in this particular topic, whether one is planning a CX strategy from the ground up, planning to enhance the CX program, or even if anyone is looking to build up a customer-centric company culture.

Let these thought-provoking and awe-inspiring books guide your way.

5 must-read CX books for 2021, based on recommendations by thought leaders and experts

1. Customer Experience 3.0, by John A. Goodman (bookauthority.org)

Customer Experience 3.0 provides first-hand guidance on what works, what doesn't--and the revenue and word-of-mouth payoff of getting it right. Having managed more than 1,000 separate customer service studies, author John A. Goodman has created an innovative customer-experience framework and step-by-step roadmap that shows readers how to:

• Design and deliver flawless services and products while setting honest customer expectations

• Create and implement an effective customer access strategy

• Capture and leverage the voice of the customer to set priorities and improve products, services, and marketing

• Use CRM systems, cutting-edge metrics, and other tools to deliver customer satisfaction Companies who get customer service right can regularly provide seamless experiences, seeming to know what customers want even before they know it.

2. Inside Your Customer's Imagination, Chip R. Bell (bookauthority.org)

As Henry Ford is reputed to have said, "If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses. " To surprise and awe your customers, Chip Bell advises developing co-creation partnerships with them. Co-creation partnerships are about fulfilling customers' hopes and aspirations, not just their needs and expectations. Co-creation partnerships require:

• The curiosity that uncovers insight.
• Grounding that promotes clear focus
• Discovery that fosters risk-taking
• Trust that safeguards partnership purity, and,
• Passion inspires energized generosity.

3. Customer Experience Management, Dr. James Seligman (bookauthority.org)

A dynamic resource on "experience marketing" and management Organizations that want to deliver required outcomes can do so by shifting gears from traditional ‘command and control tactics’, to a more collaborative way of working with customer interactions, ensuring relevant skills and capabilities are made available. By investing in technology, organizations that support the customer experience can provide accurate forecasting, customer insight, and skills and capabilities regardless of their location and time zone.

4. The Customer Experience Playbook, Mr. Jonathan Daniels (bookauthority.org)

This Customer Experience based playbook offers a very practical method for building customer experience capabilities within an organization. There are five key elements of this playbook:

1) Founding Beliefs - these are the core beliefs on which the CX CENTRIC© playbook was founded on.

2) Inputs - This presents the importance of identifying data sources, and then creating a process that converts data into actionable insights.

3) Events - These are regular meetings that you need to schedule so that you can put your organization in the best position to work in unity to deliver a profitable customer experience.

4) Roles - We present the key roles required, please note that these are mapped in line with the Customer Experience pillars established by the Customer Experience Professionals Association (CXPA)

5) Outputs - These are the key documents required in order to be clear on the Customer Experience, and to manage your activities in a controlled manner.

5. The Disruption Mindset, Charlene Li (amazon.com)

In this book, Charlene raises awareness about CX and throws light on its various aspects that may go unnoticed with our bare eyes. She provides insights about questions like what if the disruption wasn’t the cause of growth, but the result? If growth creates disruption, what does that mean for CX? Charlene Li conveniently provides a fresh perspective on disruption, showing how it goes beyond just innovation. While also providing a roadmap to help you take the power of disruption forward into the future of your business. This book also helps you to develop a culture that not only survives but thrives on unforeseen changes and disruption. Over the years, Li has seen some organizations beat the odds and succeed at becoming disruptive: Adobe, ING Bank, Nokia, Southern New Hampshire University, and T-Mobile, among them. Their stories make it clear that organizations don’t have to be tech start-ups or have the latest innovations to transform. What they need to do is develop a disruptive mindset that permeates every aspect of the organization. Li lays out how to do so by focusing on three elements:

• A strategy designed to meet the needs of future customers;
• Leadership that creates a movement to drive and sustain transformation; and
• A culture that thrives on disruptive change.

Try these books, you can easily order them online and let your CX journey expand and meet new horizons.

Let us know if you’d like to talk about how DT is helping organizations to build a situation based and feedback centric client engagement plan that will not only help companies to leverage the data collected abundantly but also if done right this can turn into a long-lasting opportunity to keep your customers intact and keep the revenue bar up and running. Talk soon!