[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2020\/06\/12\/inclusion-and-customer-experience\/#BlogPosting","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2020\/06\/12\/inclusion-and-customer-experience\/","headline":"Asking the tough questions: Inclusion and customer experience","name":"Asking the tough questions: Inclusion and customer experience","description":"If we claim that customer experience is about the customers, then we must raise important questions around inclusion, diversity, and racism in customer experience leadership.","datePublished":"2020-06-12","dateModified":"2020-09-18","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/contributor\/jeannie-walters\/#Person","name":"Jeannie Walters","url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/contributor\/jeannie-walters\/","identifier":350,"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/65cb991d4ea0fed85125462b7a935b0afbaff965c0035a713c981a3bff7c81b8?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/65cb991d4ea0fed85125462b7a935b0afbaff965c0035a713c981a3bff7c81b8?s=96&d=mm&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"The Future of Commerce","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/logo-foc-schema-app-1.png","url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/logo-foc-schema-app-1.png","width":172,"height":60}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/inclusion-and-customer-experience.jpg","url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/inclusion-and-customer-experience.jpg","height":375,"width":1200},"url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2020\/06\/12\/inclusion-and-customer-experience\/","about":[{"@type":"Thing","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/customer-experience\/customer-experience-general\/","name":"Customer Experience","sameAs":["https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Customer_experience","http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q984142"]},{"@type":"Thing","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/purpose\/diversity\/","name":"Diversity and Inclusion","sameAs":["https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Diversity,_equity,_and_inclusion"]},{"@type":"Thing","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/purpose\/","name":"Purpose","sameAs":["https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Purpose"]}],"wordCount":800,"articleBody":"It\u2019s not business as usual in the United States. It hasn\u2019t been since the May 25th police killing of George Floyd, and the resulting days of protests in America \u2014 and increasingly, across the world \u2014 from people who demand change. It’s time to take stock of what we stand for – and what we’ve enabled – and that includes assessing inclusion in customer experience.Prior to these events, it had been shockingly easy to think of ourselves as empathetic to all. As CX leaders, we had believed that we certainly weren\u2019t helping to perpetuate systematic racism.We’re learning that we have so far to go before that\u2019s true.Inclusion and customer experience: Representation is needed, so CX leaders must respondI\u2019ve been reading and listening a lot, which has inspired me to grapple with questions that have floated around for a while:When I\u2019ve noticed evidence of ongoing inequity in CX, why haven\u2019t I spoken up about it?Why haven\u2019t I used my platform to raise important questions around inclusion, diversity, and racism in customer experience leadership?And one enormous question we should all be asking: How can we deliver for all customers if our leadership teams lack the representation they need?These statistics and stark reality should trouble all leaders. Customer experience is ultimately creating how people will spend their time with your brand and product. How will your customers feel about those experiences? Are all customers asked for feedback? Is that feedback heard?Without representation, how can CX leaders get all of that right?There are other big questions here:Are we asking for the right feedback and providing space for customers to share their stories?Are we addressing concerns that don\u2019t fit neatly into our metrics?If we claim that customer experience is about the customers, then we must accept we have a responsibility here.We must listen and learnAdmittedly, as a white person, I’m not the most qualified to speak from experience. But I’m trying to learn from those who are.On LinkedIn, I was particularly struck by a set of questions posed in the article\u00a0Black Lives Matter! Yes, Even in the Workplace\u00a0by\u00a0Siji Onabanjo.\u00a0He asks:How do your business policies affect racial equality for your employees, customers, suppliers?\u00a0As a company are you non-racist or actively anti-racist?What is the makeup of your leadership teams?\u00a0Are they diverse and representative?What are your policies around hiring?\u00a0Are there unconscious biases in place that disadvantage certain people?\u00a0How can those biases be removed?Do you have an environment where people can feel comfortable enough to report or call-out discrimination without feeling ostracized afterwards?https:\/\/twitter.com\/BrandiJeter\/status\/1267620135000436736?s=20This article,\u00a0Covert Acts of Racism Have Been Happening in Grocery Stores and Restaurants Forever\u00a0by\u00a0Alexis Morillo, mentions the literal \u201ctip of the iceberg\u201d about how things like product placement in grocery stores and hiring practices in restaurants are still creating a sense of \u201cother\u201d among us.She writes:Covert racism, or socially \u201cacceptable\u201d forms of racism, are subtle ways that bias and privilege are perpetuated every single day.\u00a0But things like racial profiling, police brutality, and \u201cAll Lives Matter\u201d rhetoric are just the tip of the chart\u2019s proverbial iceberg, and the subtle acts still perpetuate white dominance.The first step toward change is acknowledging the way that systems of oppression seep into activities that seem as mindless as grocery shopping or going out to eat\u2026\u00a0At the current moment, the most immediate steps that can be taken are self reflection and education.Customer experiences are human experiences. We are customers when we shop for our groceries, use the wifi, pay our utility bill, buy those cute shoes\u2026we\u2019re customers in our daily lives. This means the work we do impacts people\u2019s daily lives. We can\u2019t forget this.This is the human experience, and CX professionals have to recognize our role in it.We must use our voicesI want to support all customers and the best way I know how is to give a platform to those customer stories that are underrepresented or marginalized.If you\u2019re comfortable and willing to share your customer stories, I\u2019d like to hear them and amplify them.Where have you felt a lack of understanding or empathy?What do you see that I and other customer experience and business leaders might not?Email me with your stories, or send a video or audio message to\u00a0share@cxrepresentation.comLet\u2019s use our platforms to invite others to hear these stories directly.It\u2019s not business as usual. But hopefully, we\u2019re heading toward business as it should be.Here\u2019s what we\u2019re doing to level the playing field."},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"2020","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2020\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"06","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2020\/\/06\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"12","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2020\/\/06\/\/12\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Asking the tough questions: Inclusion and customer experience","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2020\/06\/12\/inclusion-and-customer-experience\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]