Should tech comm students prepare for CXM?

Amanda S. Horn
Boise State University
Idaho State University

• First year MATC student at Boise State
• Works at Idaho State University
• Worked in craft beer industry
2

1. What opportunities exist for technical
communicators within CXM?
2. Are there any accreditation requirements relating to
keeping up with new trends and technologies in
technical communication degrees?
3. Are technical communication students taught about
CXM?
4. Should technical communication students prepare
for CXM?
3

 Customer Relationship Management
 Interrelated with marketing
 Formerly product/service driven
 Now customer driven
 What will the customer’s experience
be?
4

5
CXM
Customer
Driven
Technical
Skills
Constantly
Evolving
Emerging
Opportunity

• Manage electronic interactions through:
• Podcasts
• Blogs
• Facebook
• Twitter
• RSS feeds
• YouTube
• Monitor each step of the organization’s contact
• Grow and retain customers
• Foster positive interactions
• Examples include “WCM”: SDL Customer Analytics,
HootSuite, Adobe, Oracle, Ektron
6

 Google search for “customer
experience manager” + job = 5 million
results
 Customer service content writer
 Forum manager
 Content Strategist
 Editor
7

8
1. Audience analysis and use case
development
2. Creating visuals that clarify text
3. Organizing information for maximum
comprehension

• The Certified Customer Experience
Professional (CXXP) program offers
certification
• Post-secondary education
• Join professional groups such as the CXPA
• On-the-job training
9

10
Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission

11
Arizona State Montana Tech UC Berkeley
Carnegie Mellon North Carolina State UC San Diego
Eastern Washington Purdue Engineering
Univ. of Central
Florida
Indiana Univ. East
Rensselaer
Polytechnic Univ. of Houston
Mercer University
Southern New
Hampshire
Univ. of
Massachusetts
Metropolitan State -
Denver
Southern Polytechnic
State Univ. of Minnesota
Michigan Tech
Texas Community
College Univ. of N. Texas
Milwaukee SOE Texas State Univ. of Wisconsin
Minnesota State Texas Tech Utah State

12
What is your current role in Tech. Comm.
education?
How familiar are you with Customer Experience
Management (CXM)?
On a scale of 1 to 5
Where did you first learn about CXM?
Do you think Tech Comm students should study
CXM?
If you checked undergraduate/graduate
coursework above, which university did you
attend?

Faculty
92%
Student
8%
What is your current
role in tech comm?
13
1
5
2
2
0
0 2 4 6
Not familiar at all 1
2
3
4
Highly
Knowledgeable 5
How Familiar are you with
CXM?

3
0
0
1
2
4
Professional Tech Comm Forum or
Publication
Undergraduate Coursework
Graduate Coursework
Current or Former Job Experience
This is the first I've heard of it
Other
Where did you first learn about CXM?
14

75%
25%
Do you think tech comm students
should study CXM?
Yes No
15

• “I selected NO, but I really mean not by itself as an isolated
topic, but yes, if CXM is discussed in context with its
relationship to the field of tech comm. It's more in alignment
with business comm than actual tech comm, in my opinion, but
it would be valuable for students to know about in the context
of how technical communicators in global workplaces fit in the
CXM big picture.”
• “I do think student should study this, but not in a holistic way –
perhaps as part of a class. It’s almost dipping too much into a
graduate business degree if it becomes a whole course or a
thread of courses.”
• “I’ve worked in the field for over 30 years – and I’ve been
teaching technical communication for 19, in a professional
certificate program. I’ve only begun to hear the term
“Customer Experience Management” in the last couple – and it
is not well defined.”
16

Baker, Pamela. (n.d.) The transition from CRM to Customer Experience Management. [Web log
comment]. Retrieved from http://www.crmsearch.com/customer- experience-management.php
Business Dictionary Online. “CXM” Retrieved from
http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/customer-relationship-management-
CRM.html#ixzz316N8unW1
Davenport, Daniel. (2012, January 31). Digital channels move at the speed of social: thinking about
CXM. [Web log comment]. Retrieved from http://www.thinkinc.com/blog/digital-channels-move-at-the-
speed-of-social/
Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. (2013). Accreditation handbook, 2013 Edition.
Retrieved from
http://www.nwccu.org/Pubs%20Forms%20and%20Updates/Publications/Accreditation%20Handbook,
%202013%20Edition.pdf
Powers, S. & Walker, B. (2011, August 22). The emergence of CXM solutions. Forbes online.
Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/forrester/2011/08/22/the- emergence-of-cxm-
solutions/
TechWhirl. (2012, July 10). Technical communication poll: roles in customer service. Retrieved from
http://techwhirl.com/technical-communication-poll-roles-in-customer-service/
TechWhirl. (2014, May 5). Transferring Skills Between Tech Comm and CXM (poll). Retrieved from
http://techwhirl.com/transferring-skills-tech-comm-cxm-poll/
Texas Tech University. (n.d.) MA in Technical Communication. Retrieved from
http://www.depts.ttu.edu/english/tcr/MATC/ 19

Should tech comm students prepare for CXM?

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