Did you know that 'Jenga' is actually the Swahili word for 'build'? Or that the highest scoring word in scrabble is oxyphenbutazone? And Parker Brothers prints thirty times more Monopoly money every year than the United States prints real money? Okay, so board game trivia may not mean checkmate in the world of business, but there are some key customer experience lessons we can learn from our favourite games of yesteryear. Have a look at our 'Customer Experience Game Changer' infographic to see for yourself.

1. #1SCRABBLE
Scrabble is an official sport in
several African countries,
including Senegal and Mali.
USE SENTIMENT ANALYSIS - THE WORDS
OF YOUR CUSTOMERS CAN LEAD TO
VALUABLE INSIGHT
Give customers the tools to say what they want.
Let them use their own words to tell you what they
really think. Limiting customers to tick boxes and
pre-formulated sentences won’t produce real insight
about specific parts of their customer journey.
Even better, use Natural Language Processing to
understand every word your customers are saying,
in real-time.
#2GUESS WHO?
CREATE CUSTOMER PERSONAS AND
USE THESE TO TAILOR THE CUSTOMER
EXPERIENCE TO EACH INDIVIDUAL
Every customer is different. Using customer personas
helps us to understand these differences and relate
to our customers, seeing them as people rather than
just as numbers.
This approach can be the difference between an
average customer experience and a fantastic,
personal and relevant one. A one-size fits none
approach doesn’t work for anyone.
After confusion was caused by an
advertising campaign featuring the
cartoon cards talking to each other,
makers of the game were forced to
start printing the disclaimer,
“game cards do not actually talk”,
on each box.
#3CLUEDO
The game was originally called
'Murder', but was changed to
combine 'clue' and the Latin word
for play, 'ludo', in 1949.
ASK THE RIGHT QUESTIONS TO
GET THE RIGHT FEEDBACK
Allowing customers to say what they want, when they
want to, is one thing. But encouraging customers to
provide feedback at certain touchpoints means you’ll
not only build a better picture of their end to end
experience, but also encourage customers to give
more feedback than they may have originally, if left
unprompted.
#4BUCKAROO
DON’T BURDEN CUSTOMERS WITH
TOO MANY FEEDBACK REQUESTS
Make sure you don't overload your customers with
requests for feedback - remember your customers
are being asked for feedback by all the companies
that they deal with, not just from you.
Instead of asking over and over again, use Listening
Posts to capture feedback from customers whenever
they feel the need, at the moments you can't predict.
In 2006 Buckaroo was featured by
major American news channels being
deemed too dangerous for children
due to the amount of flying objects.
#5CONNECT FOUR
A traditional Connect Four board
has 4,531,985,219,092 possible
positions.
CONNECT THE DOTS OF YOUR
CUSTOMER TOUCHPOINTS TO MAKE
A GREAT OVERALL EXPERIENCE
If you’re offering a great experience at one
touchpoint, and a not so great experience at another,
which do you think will resonate more with your
customers?
Ensure great customer experiences are embedded
throughout the customer journey, as this will help
you to really stand out from your competitors.
Great touchpoints really do connect great customer
experiences.
#6TOP TRUMPS
The game is actually 35 years old,
but was reinvented in 1999, and sold
over 30 million packs in the ten years
following that reinvention.
UNDERSTAND THE STRENGTHS OF
YOUR TEAM AND YOUR COMPANY
TO TRUMP THE COMPETITION
We all have strengths and weaknesses. By finding out
where your customer experience strengths lie, you
can use these to your advantage.
Plus, if you identify and improve on any areas of
weakness, it will help you stand out from your
competitors as a company who takes customer
experience seriously.
#7MONOPOLY
The most expensive Monopoly set in
the world is worth $2 million.
It was crafted with 23-karat gold,
rubies, sapphires, and diamonds.
THROWING (MONOPOLY) MONEY
AT A PROBLEM ISN’T NECESSARILY
THE ANSWER
It's no good just pushing money in to a project if you
haven't worked out the underlying strategy. In fact,
without a genuine commitment to delivering a great
customer experience, money won’t necessarily make
a difference. Before spending a penny, ask yourself if
it will make a real difference to your customers.
#8PICTIONARY
The game was first invented by
a waiter called Mr Angel.
UNDERSTAND CX AS A WHOLE JOURNEY -
WHAT’S THE BIGGER PICTURE?
Individual moments of great customer experience
don’t necessarily paint the whole picture. If the overall
experience isn't cohesive and polished, then it can
leave the customer feeling disorientated.
Make a commitment to review how specific
touchpoints can affect the end-to-end customer
journey, so you’re not delivering a disjointed
experience.
10GAME CHANGERS
FOR CUSTOMER
EXPERIENCE
Do you remember those long, rainy afternoons spent playing board games? Family feuds started
over the Monopoly board? Or the physical injuries from stepping on LEGO®
bricks (ouch!)?
While it might just seem like fun and games, there’s actually a lot more to it. What you probably
haven’t realised is that these games can teach us all valuable lessons about customer experience.
To prove that you can put the fun back into CX, we’ve pulled 10 games out of the cupboard to
show you how.
#9OPERATION
Operation was invented by a second
year student at the University of
Illinois in 1962 as part of a class
project to invent a game or toy.
HAVE A HANDS ON APPROACH
TO CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
When it comes to your customers, don’t be afraid to
be proactive. Anything you can do to make life easier
for your customers has to be a good thing - especially
when it comes to communication. Your customers
want to be kept in the loop.
A simple update might not sound like much, but it will
help you go above and beyond in the eyes of your
customers.
#10LEGO
40 billion standard LEGO bricks
stacked in a vertical position would
be enough to reach the moon.
MAKE SURE YOU HAVE THE BUILDING
BLOCKS FOR A GREAT CX
Build a CX strategy with your customers in mind.
This starts with getting all the different parts,
all the building blocks you need, right. This includes
everything from engaging the frontline through to
embedding the Voice of your Brand into your
Voice of the Customer programme.
Leave behind a ‘good enough’ approach and build
experiences that will get your customers Raving.
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We're proud to have been chosen by the CXPA to host CX Day on the 6th of October at LEGOLAND®
Windsor.
We've an interactive day planned around teaching you how to build your perfect customer experience.
You’ll be in good company - over 180 CX leaders from around Europe are expected to attend, along with
a line-up of expert speakers and a LEGO®
SERIOUS PLAY®
Taster Session. With the last few spaces
remaining, this is an event you can’t afford to miss out on!
Find out more: www.cx-day.com