Five Books Every CX Leader Should Read in this Time of Social Distancing

One of the positives of the life changing impact we are all experiencing with the COVID-19 crisis is that with all the cancelations of concerts, sporting events, kids activities, etc., we have more time to catch up on professional reading. Check out this curated reading list of books on customer experience. From updated classics to new research and insights into how large enterprises can drive business outcomes from a CX initiative. Happy reading!
 
Mapping Experiences: A Complete Guide to Creating Value through Journeys, Blueprints, and Diagrams, by Jim Kalbach
 
Customers who have inconsistent, broken experiences with products and services are understandably frustrated. But it’s worse when people inside these companies can’t pinpoint the problem because they’re too focused on business processes. This practical book shows your company how to use alignment diagrams to turn valuable customer observations into actionable insight. With this unique tool, you can visually map your existing customer experience and envision future solutions.
 
“We live in an age where images are more powerful than words.  Everyone working in the areas of customer experience and strategy will benefit from learning how to express ideas visually, and Mapping Experiences is a great place to start.” —Victor Lombardi, author of Why We Fail:  Learning from Experience Design Failures
 
The Experience Economy, by B. Joseph Pine II and James H. Gilmore 
 
Now with a brand-new preface, Pine and Gilmore make an even stronger case for experiences as the critical link between a company and its customers in an increasingly distractible and time-starved world. Filled with detailed examples and actionable advice, The Experience Economy helps companies create personal, dramatic, and even transformative experiences, offering the script from which managers can generate value in ways aligned with a strong customer-centric strategy.
 
"A brilliant, absolutely original book." —Tom Peters, coauthor, In Search of Excellence
 
Achieving Real Business Outcomes from Artificial Intelligence, by Atif Kureishy, Chad Meley, and Ben Mackenzie
 
Artificial intelligence is already changing the CX landscape, with early adopters reporting benefits in high-value business cases. Yet working on an AI initiative is demanding for many enterprises, whether you’re in the middle of the process or just getting started. This ebook provides advice to help your company complete your AI journey.  You’ll learn countermeasures for common AI challenges that arise when creating a strategy to operationalizing an AI initiative.
 
"A useful guide to help executives understand the promise of AI, with concrete examples of how it is being applied now in business, that will leave you with an urge to get started.” —Mike Janes, Former GM of Worldwide Apple Store and CMO at StubHub
 
The Power of Moments: Why Certain Experiences Have Extraordinary Impact, by Chip Heath and Dan Heath 
 
Explore why certain brief experiences can jolt us and elevate us and change us—and how we can learn to create such extraordinary moments in our life and work.  While human lives are endlessly variable, our most memorable positive moments are dominated by four elements: elevation, insight, pride, and connection. If we embrace these elements, we can conjure more moments that matter.
 
“The most interesting, immediately actionable book I’ve read in quite a while. I walked away with new ideas for motivating employees, delighting customers, engaging students, and even planning family vacations. If life is a series of moments, the Heath brothers have transformed how I plan to spend mine.”—Adam Grant, New York Times bestselling author of Give and Take, Originals, and Option B with Sheryl Sandberg
 
Friction: Passion Brands in the Age of Disruption, by Jeff Rosenblum and Jordan Berg
 
Every industry around the globe is being completely disrupted. Brands know a new approach is needed. But most don’t realize the strategic underpinnings need to change. Friction argues that brands don't simply need clever messages or new, shiny technologies. They need a fundamental change in strategy. Friction provides a system for embracing transparency, engaging audiences, creating evangelists, and unleashing unprecedented growth.
 
“Written by the leaders of the experiential movement, Experiential Marketing documents the failure of traditional marketing techniques in reaching today's changing customers and lays out a blueprint for exploiting a new marketing paradigm. With more consumers avoiding or ignoring ads, marketers need a new way to reach them―and companies such as Nike, HP, Anheuser-Busch, and Procter & Gamble that have turned to face-to-face "experiences" are generating billions in sales, expanding customer reach, and building stronger relationships with consumers who buy more, buy quicker… and buy forever.”