Customer experience (CX) leaders can ensure that sustainability is more than just words and good intentions by weaving their firm’s sustainability goals into customer journeys as they unfold. But many CX pros miss the opportunity because they:

  • Fail to make sustainability real. In countries like France and Italy, a growing number of organizations are clarifying their purpose and adopting a new legal status to reflect their environmental or social mission. Globally, more than 3,000 firms have science-based targets for carbon reductions. However, only a small number of firms are translating their sustainability vision into pragmatic, real-life customer experiences. The result: Customer journeys aren’t differentiated; brand promises remain unfulfilled; brand trust weakens; and the risk of greenwashing increases. Marion Sanchez, CMO and CX lead at Oney, says, “Now that we have clearly defined how to leverage sustainability in our purpose and how it impacts our brand platform, we are at a stage where we identify tangible and pragmatic proof points to activate our brand promise — ‘the power of choice’ — in the user experience (UX) as well as in all relationships with clients across the customer journey.”
  • Take a superficial approach to embedding sustainability in customer journeys. Sustainability initiatives like planting trees to offset carbon emissions are a starting point, but customers demand a more robust and genuine approach to sustainability. To build trust, smart companies reconfirm their brand’s commitment to sustainability time and again by delivering on it consistently across multiple interactions and journeys.
  • Miss the mark by not lowering the barriers to sustainable action. Customers face five barriers to making green purchases: price, convenience, performance, knowledge, and trust. To identify and overcome these barriers to sustainability, CX pros must understand customer intent, context, and emotion.

Alongside my colleagues Joana de Quintanilha and Melissa Chaudet, I highlight examples of firms embedding sustainability at different stages in customer journeys in our new report, Best Practices To Activate Sustainability In Customer Journeys.

Feel free to contact us to discuss this more in depth through an inquiry or a guidance session.