Social Influencer Series | Erica Kuhl, CEO & Founder
It is 2020 and Customer Experience is everything, right? It is epicentral to the modern brand - the notion that your ability to survive and thrive will depend almost exclusively on the incredible customer experience you provide. “68% of C-Suite Executives expect organizations to emphasize customer engagement over products in the future”. (Source IBM)
Consider this: 80% of companies think they are getting it right, while only 8% of their customers would actually agree. What if your company is getting it wrong?
One of the most important initiatives in delivering Customer Experience is having a robust, on-brand, authentic Community. One that provides crowdsourced, peer-to-peer support; customer advocacy and engagement; and the ability to serve your customers at scale - at the speed of social. Many brands today are starting to think of a Community as their brand’s own Social Network. A social network that is secure and the brand owns the data.
Some of the most passionate CX professionals I have met, have been rockstar Community Leads who are redefining customer experience for their companies. One such community trailblazer, is Erica Kuhl who is the Founder and CEO of Erica Kuhl Consulting - she believes that building meaningful connections with customers will transform the way companies do business. As a consultant she’ll help companies do that by providing the formula to unlock the power of customers through community building.
Erica lives in Boulder, CO with her husband, two kids and their dog. Visit ericakuhl.com for more info on Erica.
I caught up with Erica recently and here is a snapshot of what she had to say:
Great article about the future role of "Chief Community Officer". What is your vision for that role and the importance of Community for delivering best-in-class CX?
I want the Chief Community Officer as regular role in every company. A role that’s coveted, respected, and key to the business. Community is a broad word that means different things to different people, but ultimately it’s about providing your customers the best possible experience with your brand. An experience that is cohesive, collaborative, and engaging. An experience that puts your customer first regardless of the different customer facing roles that play a role in the customer journey.
If you were consulting a brand who was thinking about launching a new community, what are the top 3-5 things to consider? The non-starters?
The first thing I always do with a brand that’s considering launching a community is aligning on the “why” and goals for making this decision. A community can influence many parts of the business but it’s important to have a laser focus and make it measurable. My motto has always been start small, but start strong. Your community will appreciate it and once they are see the investment, they will keep coming back for more. Then you can expand the community footprint thoughtfully.
Another critical first step that I always encourage is to hire an amazing Community Manager. This person is critically important to the success of your community. They are the voice, face, and represent the ultimate culture of your community. Hire someone with empathy, professionalism, fabulous communication skills, and can think strategically but also roll up their sleeves and do the work.
(Part two) Same brand. Why should they invest the time and money and energy into a community? What is in it for them?
As I mentioned in the last question, community can mean many things to a brand. It’s critically important to align on the main goals of the community and eventually make those measurable and tied to the company goals. These are goals I call “North Star goals”. The first year out the gate these goals might be a hypothesis, but if you benchmark correctly they can be proven and have a direct tie to the business goals. Examples of these goals include: lowering attrition, increasing product adoption, product ideas, support case deflection, larger deals, and increasing brand awareness
Any advice to a Community Manager who wants their company to think of them as the Chief Community Officer? How do we elevate the game?
I know I may sound like a broken record, but it’s all about ensuring the work they are doing is tied to the company’s overall goals. Even if the first year it’s a hypothesis, put the ground work in place to be able to measure and stay focused on your community member’s success. It’s also important to prioritize internal communication so everyone understands the value proposition of the community. Finally driving toward executive alignment is the best way to elevate the community game. These are difficult steps, but they are entirely possible if the Community Manager stays focused on goal.
What are some examples (or favorite example) of companies who are leveraging communities to deliver incredible CX?
I’m a big fan of what Asana, Marketo, Atlassian, Duolingo and Culture Amp are doing with their community strategies.
It is 2020. Customer Experience is the most important initiative of companies that want to survive and thrive. Where does community fit into that road map? What other CX advancements does it compliment or replace?
I predict that Community will become a key part of the company’s customer experience roadmap. My thought is that all the key customer experience programs can live harmoniously in one organization. This can include advocacy, community, reference, super-user and customer advisory programs. They have so many crossover touch points that aligning them in one organization will create a major edge for the company because the customer will be notably at the center.
Speed Round:
Celebratory Cocktail? Straight up Champagne
Proudest Accomplishment? Cheesy but the birth of my kiddies
Best advice for a Community Manager? Stay focused, think strategically but also execute tactically. Become in love with data
Favorite book on Community? it’s not exactly about Community but it’s inspiring and I’ve applied many of the teaching to my community building playbook. It’s also written by a fabulous human and my friend Karen Mangia. It’s called Success with Less. It’s about how having more starts with doing less.
Inspirational Hashtag? #BeBold
About the interviewer:
Mark Keaney is a Husband, Dad, Coach, Mentor and Leader. With over 20 years of experience in the media industry and a wild ride in the world of tech start-up & social - Mark is helping brands deliver world class CX at Khoros, where he is the Vice President of Sales for North America. His mantra is - Brand Globally. Market Locally.
email: markkeaney8@gmail.com or twitter: @markkeaney2pt0
