The Year in Customer + Employee Experience

It makes sense during this time to take stock of where we ended the year and consider what we have learned from it.

This week, I offer a retrospective as 2024 comes to a close - and stay tuned next week for my article on 2025 trends to keep top of mind. We will look through the lens of Employee Experience (EX) and Customer Experience (CX) side by side, as they represent the continuum of business success.

Never forget that how you treat your team will be how they treat customers - and that will be the perception of your service and your brand.

Let's take a quick stroll through this past year. It is important to understand which brands are winning and which may be lagging a bit - as well as to look at some of the big news stories pertaining to customer service and employee engagement.

This is by no means everything that happened - it is what stood out to me as meaningful and impactful to anyone who wants to build customer loyalty and employee retention.

My Favorite Brands of the Year:

Hilton: In the interest of full transparency, I've been a Hilton Diamond Member for nearly 10 years, and from London to L.A. to Orlando they have taken great care of me this year. Do I think they could be a bit more deferential to their Diamond Members? Absolutely. But I was on the road 25 week this year, and most of those were great stays at Hilton properties. They offer a portfolio that has choices for every budget and a consistency that is reassuring for travelers.
Chewy: We adopted two adorable King Charles Cavalier Spaniels over the past 4 years and they are the center of our household. We also have very busy schedules, which makes Chewy's ease of use particularly handy - and their return policy and issue resolution is fantastic. They have a website that makes it easy to place a quick order, subscription services that show up on schedule, and free shipping. They also foster a community through their social media channels, blogs, and donating to pets in need.
Culvers: This brand may not be familiar to all, but it is one that I've known for a long time growing up in the Midwest. Known for their Butterburgers and Frozen Custard, this has been a favorite on mine for years. The service is always friendly, the food is fresh and delicious, and they do table visits better than most sit down restaurants. The locations are usually spotless and they take great pride in their hospitality regardless of how busy they are.

Honorable mentions here to Universal Studios, Disney, and Chick-fil-A.

The Brands I'm Worried About:

A quick word on this section - in most cases these brands are not broken. In fact, quite the opposite. Several are seen as top of the leaderboard - but that makes their position precarious as potential market changes, expansion, and complacency could erode their reputation.

Walt Disney World: I know how powerful the house of mouse is and how loyal a fan base they have created. That said, they may have lost a step in the past few years. Now, I am a bonified fan myself, living less than an hour from the parks and I have been an annual passholder for years. But when you look at the decline in cleanliness, increase in prices, and misses like Galaxies Edge and the overall mismanagement of the Star Wars brand, they need to check the rearview mirror. Brands like Universal Studios, who are opening a new park (Epic Universe) in 2025, have been upping their game in hospitality and theming recently. They are also testing price elasticity at a staggering rate with their annual passholders, while limiting their ability to visit spontaneously through the continuation of the arduous reservation system to visit parks. With a few small adjustments, they can regain some of their lost magic.
Chick-fil-A: The chicken giant is a force of nature and a fan favorite. Their hospitality and drive thru speed are legendary, and I am not here to say they are not losing any ground in the market. I love this brand. But the chicken wars are far from over and brands like KFC, Popeyes, Zaxbys, Raising Canes, and Slim Chickens are continuing to challenge for market share. I will even go so far as to say that there are better chicken sandwiches out there, but the hospitality, consistency, accuracy, cleanliness, and speed set this brand apart. Their Achilles heel could come in the form of too-rapid-expansion and the dilution of their brand through scale. They also must be mindful of their non-traditional markets such as airports and universities. They often contract with large food service companies for these and they are often poorly run and not as friendly in comparison to the mall and freestanding locations.
Southwest Airlines: Southwest has long been lauded for its hospitality and quality experience. They have a reputation of being friendly and even a little quirky in their approach to service, which has gained them a loyal fan base. This year they lost a bit of their shine with a widespread outage that impacted their customers. They also had a bit of a miss when they unveiled their new 2025 cabin design that made the seats look like uncomfortable "lawn chairs." That's an online observation, not mine personally. They have been reducing services at several airports and reducing their arrivals and departures in certain markets. Couple this with concerns that they have not kept pace with changing technology and a general feeling that they have lost something in their hospitality, and that could leave them in a tough position in 2025. They have proven their scrappy and resilient nature, however, so let's hope they find a way to bounce back.

Newsworthy Items From 2024:

CrowdStrike Outage Creates Travel Nightmare (ABC News/CNN): We all hate updating our software, and cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike caused thousands of flight delays and outages when an update crashed many systems in July. Airlines were hit particularly hard and it took some, like Delta Airlines, days to return to normal operations. I was sitting at the Orlando International Airport when the systems crashed and I ended up renting a car to drive to a workshop I was hosting in South Carolina. Described as the largest IT outage in history, it cost Fortune 500 companies alone over $5 billion - not to mention the countless images of stranded travelers on every major newscast for days. This was not only bad for the bottom lines of companies in travel, healthcare, and banking, but for the end consumer who took the brunt of the inconveniences and delays.
Consumers Complain About Government Customer Service (Forbes): In a not-so-shocking revelation, 82% of consumers said that government customer service was lacking. Anyone visiting a government run office understands this and likely conjures up images of DMVs and Social Security offices. This is a head scratcher as we have heard much from the federal government about improving their customer service and the calls for more consumer protections against "junk fees" and airline nonsense. This has also been a hot button issue for the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), so let's see if anything changes in the new year.
Dell Employees Refuse to Return to the Office (The Street): In September, Dell informed their global sales team that remote work was ending for them with just a few day's notice. They were expected to be back in the office 5 days a week, regardless of their role. Reports say that about half of employees ignored the return to office mandate even though Dell reportedly told its employees that fully remote workers will note be eligible for promotions. This is a big swing in terms of limiting upward mobility for those who refuse to come back to the office. It could backfire and lead to talented employees departing for other companies. However, as more companies are mandating a full return to office, prospects could be limited. This is definitely a trend to watch.
U.S. Airlines Miss Top 10 Best Airlines (CNN Travel): Skytrax is the Oscars of aviation and this year Qatar Airways took the top spot over Singapore Airlines (last year's winner). They won based on their quality of service and their modern fleet. No American Airline made the top 10, but Delta did pick up the award for best airline in North America and best airline staff in the region. As a frequent traveler, there are so many lessons that could be learned by U.S. domestic carriers from their international counterparts. When it comes to providing a level of hospitality and experience, brands like Qatar, Singapore Airlines, Virgin, and Emirates have a distinct competitive advantage.
Welcome Generation Beta (NBC News / Fox News): We are just learning that January 1, 2025 will mark the beginning of a new generational cohort. Generation Alpha (Gen A) started in 2010 and now will hand over the youngest cohort status starting in January. You may still be thinking of Millennials or even Gen Z as the youngest, but to put it in perspective, the oldest Millennials (Gen Y) are in their forties and Gen Z is approaching 30. Our new Gen B cohort will live in a world shaped by the pandemic, but not experience it, and they will not know a world without A.I. Understanding Gen Z and Gen A will be crucial to delivering experiences that build loyalty with these digital natives.

Trends That Will Ripple Into the New Year

A.I. is Everywhere: The Time Person of the Year might as well have been Artificial Intelligence. With Chat GPT taking the world by storm, it creates unlimited opportunities to enhance the omnichannel and self-service landscape for customers. This will make chatbots even more powerful and allow for much more personalized recommendations, especially within e-commerce environments. This also allows for incredible leaps in understanding customer feedback, implementing new solutions, and using predictive analytics to enable data-driven decision making.
Empathy and Upskilling: Employees in the workplace are valuing empathy and understanding more than ever. This comes at a time when several generational cohorts are struggling with empathy and listening skills in the workplace. Also employees continue to value development opportunities that enable them both in current and future roles. These portable skills are seen as opportunities for the future as organizations look beyond education to experience in the hiring process.
Convenience and Personalization: Customers want a personalized experience that has a "just for me" flavor. As mentioned earlier, AI will continue to dial that in within the virtual environment, but there are continuing opportunities to remove friction from in-person experiences as well. Simple things like eliminating duplicate forms in the doctor's office or sales associates who can understand your needs and deliver individualized solutions will drive customer loyalty. Customers value time above all and see value in brands that deliver on efficiency with consistency. If that sounds like a simple concept, it certainly is. If it sounds difficult to deliver - taking a high level of discipline and process - you are right there as well.
Return to Office Mandates: This year saw a continued push from leadership to return their teams to the office. Most vocal among the CEOs weighing in has been Jamie Dimon of JP Morgan Chase, but the sentiment has been echoed from Amazon, Walmart, and Goldman Sachs. Even Federal Government workers may be pushed to return by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). This will certainly continue to be a tug of war in the quest for the best talent. Studies from organizations like Stanford University show that productivity by work from home employees may be down 8% - 20%. So while it has a high level of satisfaction with employees, employers are pushing to fill real estate that is sitting unused and boost productivity. Likely we will end up with a hybrid approach where no one fully wins.