Next-level experience
When it comes to retaining customers and staff, experience management is the next frontier for businesses, says SAP Australia and New Zealand’s Damien Bueno.
The rise of the “experience economy” has fundamentally changed the business landscape. Offering great products or services is no longer enough to retain customers – their experience must also be frictionless, fast and reliable.
“Customers are significantly more powerful, informed and savvy about what they expect and what alternatives exist,” says Damien Bueno, managing director of SAP Australia and New Zealand, the market leader in enterprise application software. “To remain competitive, businesses must provide customers with the right experience and that’s all about feelings and emotions.”
The key, says Bueno, is to measure – at scale – how your customers feel then combine that “experience data” with traditional operational data, such as revenue and costs, to gain a deep understanding of the customer experience and how it can be improved.
“Experience management is the next frontier for contemporary organisations,” says Bueno, adding that it is also a crucial tool for motivating and retaining employees. “The world has moved beyond customer relationship management to the emotional element and what aspects customers and staff value the most.”
SAP’s Qualtrics CX platform, for example, uses data from sources such as social media, customer ratings and feedback and – through artificial intelligence – combines it with operational data like sales statistics to understand how customers are feeling and behaving. These customer experience insights can then be used to improve operations across organisations.
“Operational data shows you what happened; experiential data is about why it happened,” explains Bueno. “Why does one centre outperform another? Why didn’t the customer complete the purchase? How do customers feel about a product recall?”
Australian pharmaceutical wholesaler Sigma Healthcare used SAP’s Qualtrics solution to overhaul its online ordering system for customers by working out the statistically significant changes needed for an easier, faster user experience. Its net promoter score jumped 49 points and revenue share from the portal increased 30 per cent.
“Changes that drive a better result are highlighted as soon as possible so they can be built into the supply chain,” says Bueno. “Experience management really needs to become a part of the fabric of all organisations.”
What sort of support have you had?
I would not be where I am without my husband, who has supported me every step of the way, never tried to limit me and never put his career ahead of mine. When young people ask me what’s the key to success, I say, “Number one: pick a great partner in life.”
It makes all the difference.
I don’t have the statistics but if I take a look around our firm, the most successful women and the women who are rising to the highest levels of the organisation have strong, supportive husbands. And that’s no different for men – men’s careers are also enhanced when their spouse is supportive.
Is there such a thing as work-life balance for you?
I don’t really like the term work-life balance because I think in this day and age work and life are integrated so much. My career is a big part of my life but I don’t want it to control everything in my life. My family is super-important but if I only had my family and I didn’t have the intellectual challenge and the opportunities I have for work, I wouldn’t have as rich a life as I do.
You’re good about making time for your mental and physical wellbeing, aren’t you?
I’m better at the physical health but that drives my mental health. I keep saying, “I’ve got to learn to meditate” [laughs]. I’m hopeless at that but I’m very good at saying I need to exercise every day. A big part of exercise is that it’s mindclearing mental strength for me.
What’s your approach to difficult conversations?
Talk straight. Talk straight with empathy.
And how do you prepare? Do you practise beforehand?
I rehearse conversations in my head. I even rehearse them with another person. Too often we shy away from difficult conversations and it only makes the situation worse, particularly if you’re frustrated with a situation and you don’t deal with it.
And what sort of person do you find the most difficult to manage?
Negative people. People who can always find a reason why something is not possible. They just draw the energy out of the room and shoot you down on everything.
Can you turn them around?
[Laughs] I think I’m pretty persuasive.
Have you had to learn the art of persuasion?
Absolutely. My role is very much one of influence versus real power. I had more direct power in Australia than I do in my role here. I have to be able to say, “Here’s the direction I think we should take, here’s why and here’s what’s in it for you.”
What advice would you give a brand-new CEO?
Being CEO isn’t about you, it’s about everybody else. The days of rockstar CEOs are over. There’s now so much change, so much complexity that one person can’t know it all and be it all. It’s about what you bring out in others and getting the most out of your team. When every employee is the best they can be in their organisation, that drives success.