The Voice of the Community is a monthly blog recapping the Qualtrics XM Institute’s community, XM Pros, and celebrating our members.  Over the past two years, we’ve grown to nearly 6,000 members across the globe, connecting and sharing best practices in real-time and online. 

May was an incredibly busy month for the community! We held three Industry Network events and launched the latest XM Learning Lab on Creating Human Moments that Matter alongside our regular monthly offerings. It is so energizing to watch XM Pros come together across industries and disciplines to share their experiences and participate in thought-provoking discussions. I had the pleasure of listening in on a few of the XM Learning Lab discussions and was inspired by the “aha” moments and conversations that members shared with one another. I look forward to members connecting this month as we launch another cycle of our peer matching program, Pro-to-Pro!

Some online discussion highlights from members this month include:

 

XM Pros Member Highlight

Julie Parker, CCXP is the Senior Voice of the Customer Program Manager at AppFolio, and is based in San Diego, CA. Julie has always been interested in how to develop strategies and drive growth and focusing on customers makes good business sense! For most of her career, Julie was on the agency side helping her clients better understand their customers and improve their experiences. Julie now has the opportunity to bring her knowledge and expertise to drive customer experience at AppFolio, a growing, customer-obsessed SaaS business serving the real estate industry.

  • What is her current focus? Julie’s current focus is on Voice of the Customer, bringing customer insights to the business, and driving action and accountability.  She brings together multiple sources of customer feedback to identify the most important and impactful changes needed to grow the business.
  • What is a recent success she is proud of? Recently Julie was able to create a new process with the services and product teams for turning insights into action using a framework, referred to as ACT SMART.  She can now better link customer feedback to specific actions the business is taking.
  • What does she enjoy outside of work? Outside of work, Julie enjoys playing with her son, being outdoors, socializing with friends, and traveling. She’s looking forward to doing more traveling soon!
  • Why did she join the XM Pros? “I enjoy XM Pros and Virtual Meetups to continue to grow and learn about CX best practices and strategies, even more so now that I’m a CX practitioner.  I value hearing about how others have solved problems so I can learn from their experiences.  Also, connecting with others and expanding my network is a great benefit!”

 

Colby Allen is Customer Experience Manager at LWCC, a single-state, private mutual workers’ comp provider, and is based in Layfayette, LA. Like some, Colby somewhat fell into XM by accident as the discipline is gaining more awareness. Now that he’s here though, he is here to stay! Colby thought his career was fulfilling through accomplishing tasks or helping others make better decisions, but for the first time, he is able to intentionally make efforts to know his organization is creating space for customers to have a memorable experience.

  • What is his current focus? Colby’s team’s program is at the beginning of the mobilize stage of the XMI maturity model. They have a solid foundation for their relational measurements and are now planning to scale into interaction and truly understand the journeys that lead to and from their company. The next 6-12 months will consist of a combination to launch applying human-centered design research to understand their stakeholder journeys, and implementing transactional feedback across a few touchpoints.
  • What is a recent success he is proud of? Colby’s organization has gone through tremendous change over the last few years to rethink how they do business. The concept of customer experience has taken some time, but he is proud of everyone who has made his transition to a CX leader easy. From leadership down to (and even the most so) those who answer their front line phones have the goal of delivering a good experience for their customers. Although they still have a long way to go in terms of embedded XM, working with such an eager organization is a source of pride for Colby. He is super excited about what they are doing and what they will do in the future.
  • What does he enjoy outside of work? Colby enjoys spending time with his family. He has an almost one-year-old and every day is an adventure. Learning parenthood and connecting with his wife in a new way is joy and challenge wrapped up together. Inspired by XM, Colby has gotten back into wanting to use creative outlets in his [limited] spare time. Currently, he co-hosts a podcast with a few close friends, but very soon he plans to launch his own partnership with a local non-profit foundation. The goal is to bring awareness to their mission and provide a learning experience for their network of supporters.
  • Why did he join the XM Pros? “Being new to XM I was reading a few blog posts to learn which lead me to the XM Institute, which opened my eyes to so much more! I’m also a social-audible learner, so having a space to hear others share their wisdom has been invaluable to my XM learning journey.”

 

May Events Recap

The community held Industry Network events across Higher Education, Finance, and Healthcare groups:

  • Jeff Olsen, VP of Student Experience at Post University, led the discussion on preparing students for the current hybrid workforce and rethinking the traditional educational experience. 
  • Jignesh Shah, CEO of Rybbon, shared how his organization turns customer insights and market trends into new and innovative experiences for their customers and rapidly adapts in a highly regulated environment. 
  • Ethan O’Connor, Senior Manager, Voice of the Customer at Change Healthcare, shared how his organization’s focus on creating a positive employee experience impacts the customer experience and patient experience.

May’s virtual meetups focused on Maturity Assessments, which are critical for any XM professional. They provide insight into the strengths and weaknesses of XM programs and enable XM professionals to track progress to higher maturity levels. Katie Anthony, Sr. Manager, Global Experience Research, and Moira Dorsey, XM Catalyst, led the discussion on getting the most out of maturity assessments.

Log into the XM Pros Online to check out the Topic of the Month presentation, as well as the event recaps in the Industry Network groups. Not a member? Join us today.

 

Upcoming Events

The community has a robust set of ongoing activities. Join us for some of these upcoming events:

  • Pro to Pro: Connect 1:1 with an XM peer. Sign up today to be matched with a fellow XM Pro and connect on a 1:1 basis on all things XM and expand your network. Registration is open until Friday, June 17th.
  • Topic of the Month: Innovative Listening Practices in XM. Identifying innovative ways to listen to customers and employees can uncover new needs or trends, help prioritize initiatives, and provide deeper context on issues and how to best respond to them. Watch the brief presentation by James Scutt, XM Catalyst with XM Institute, who shares innovative listening practices in XM.  Not a member? Join us to access the full presentation.
  • Virtual Meetups, Innovative Listening Practices in XM. In order for organizations to continuously learn and improve the experiences they deliver, they must listen to their stakeholders. Join Gina Hancher, Director of Customer Success at Gigamon, and James Scutt, XM Catalyst, for an interactive discussion on innovative listening practices in XM. Learn more about the meetups and register here. 
  • Ask an expert: Q&A with Greg Chase. Join Greg Chase, XM Institute Catalyst, for a weeklong Q&A session from June 27th to July 1st in the XM Pros online forum. Learn more about Expert Q&A and the host’s expertise here. 

 

About XM Pros

Launched in April 2020, XM Pros is a free community for XM professionals who want to learn, connect, advance their careers, and shape the future of the XM profession. Members of XM Pros can participate in a variety of interactive offerings, such as the XM Pros online forum, Expert Q&A sessions, Topic of the Month discussions, Virtual Meetups, 1:1 Peer Matching, XM Learning Lab discussions, and, when safe, local in-person events.

 

JOIN XM PROS

 

The bottom line: Join XM Pros to connect with your peers and take advantage of a variety of community offerings!

Ashley Elder is the XM Pros Community Leader with the Qualtrics XM Institute

Categories : Competencies