Julie Tano-Lawson opened her consulting firm in 2019, just before the pandemic hit, a moment that could have been fateful. In her case, however, it allowed her to better target her services and clientele. We spoke with the businesswoman at the helm of Cabinet Conseil CX , or 3CX, who is passionate about putting customers at the heart of businesses.

Where does your concern for the customer come from?

“Customer satisfaction is my life!” says Julie Tano-Lawson. “It’s the engine of success. It’s what keeps customers coming back and buying. Building a healthy and solid customer experience has always made sense to me.” As soon as she finished her studies in business administration, Julie was offered a management position in a large company. “I seized the opportunity to make my contribution and share my vision of putting the customer at the center of operations. We had to set up a new French-speaking structure in Quebec, which had not existed until then. The call center was based in the United States at the time, with an English-only service. Innovating and implementing systems to ensure that customers are happy while ensuring better visibility and notoriety for the company is totally my cup of tea!”

Julie has worked with a variety of businesses, spending over a decade in leadership roles solving challenges to further the customer relationship. “People were coming to me for ideas and problems, so I thought, why not start my own consulting firm and help even more businesses?” she asked herself before launching 3CX in late 2019.

What has changed in the customer experience in recent years?

"The digitalization of the customer journey!" she names without hesitation. Websites, mobile applications, forums and online communities, social networks, videos, there are many ways to establish new business relationships, but they are also more indirect. "Companies that have just taken the digital turn are looking for a way to regain the connection they had with customers in person, which is not easy. At the beginning, my service was not seen as a priority, we first had to save the furniture with the closures and restrictions on customers in physical locations. Then, we realized the need to maintain ties with our customers, at all costs." Companies are establishing a connection differently. " Storytelling is very strong at the moment, the personalization of content, the attempt to find ourselves on a common basis."

“Consumers have also changed. They are more informed, more sensitive to the values associated with the brand, which transcend the products. The commitment of the companies they choose to endorse is much more important to them than before. They follow trends from one click to the next, more impatient. They therefore have a very low tolerance when they have not been satisfied. This is why it is no longer enough to target, we must go deeper into customer knowledge,” insists Julie.

For smaller companies, financial means do not always allow them to move towards innovative virtual tools or extraordinary experiences for their technology, or their marketing deployment. The expert has therefore chosen to encourage SMEs. If the fluidity, quality and security of purchasing journeys are necessary, truly listening to customers is what is essential.

Why is customer experience so important?

Today, companies do analyses, media monitoring and surveys. "Often, they are not followed by concrete actions, which demotivates everyone!" Julie laments. Opinions must count, respondents must be heard. The goal is for the customer to know that they are important to the company.

And we must not forget the group of people who do not comment, who remain passive. They are the most likely to go elsewhere and they form a mass of customers more likely to shift . Comments generally come either from very frustrated people, or from those who are simply amazed. Between the two, there is a whole world that we must know how to listen to.

The ability to know your customers and be able to meet their needs is fundamental, according to the entrepreneur. “In my opinion, it’s not the product itself that can make a difference, because the market is huge, the competition is global. What can differentiate is how you treat the customer. This is also what guarantees sustainability,” assures Julie. The customer experience goes beyond customer service. My vision is that it must be an integral part of the culture of companies. Every decision and every new project must be made based on customer needs. We should not have a meeting without talking about it. The voice of the customer is what aligns and directs the company.” For Julie, the customer listening strategy is undoubtedly the cornerstone of success. Small or large, it is important for any company to know how to listen…