ROI models should be working, not perfect.
#NoBullshitCX
During a strategy workshop with the famous blue-and-yellow furniture giant, I introduced our simple ROI framework for CX (see Column 79.).
The reaction? Scepticism.
We asked if the company had data on purchase history per customer, margins, years of loyalty. People around the table were convinced they could never get the numbers. Too complicated, too inaccessible, too long. Desperate, I asked – you are a retailer, you run on numbers, is there ANYTHING we can use? We don’t have to get it perfect – we just have to start!
By the end of the day, I was almost giving up. But then I overheard a department lead calling a colleague from the back seat of a taxi:
“I’m trying to get these numbers for a business case, but I guess we don’t have them… Wait, we do? Oh wow… and they’re… oh wow.”
The next morning, we had numbers from every department.
How on earth did we go from “We don’t have any numbers” to “We have everything”? Apparently, the “not perfect, just working” was the right thing to say. That department head realised we were not chasing the perfect model – just credible, accessible data that everyone could agree on.
Since then, we stopped asking companies to create perfect, academic ROI models, because we know they will get stuck. Instead, we start with what we can get – and what people trust. Keep it simple, get agreement, build momentum. Perfection slows you down. Working models move you forward.
