Apple Harvesting & CX: Reflections from My Fall Harvesting Trip

Apple Harvesting & CX: Reflections from My Fall Harvesting Trip

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Kelly Morrison
Senior Vice President, HumanTouch LLC
November 10, 2024

For the last few years, I’ve headed home to Michigan to pick the apples from my parents’ orchard. Unlike in years past, this year I was the sole picker and had a week in the trees pondering the similarities with Customer Experience (CX) solutions.

On the surface, the worlds of apple orchards and customer experience (CX) may seem worlds apart. One deals with nature, soil, and seasonal harvests, while the other revolves around technology, human interaction, and delivering service excellence. However, the process of tending to an apple orchard offers surprising parallels to the work of a CX service provider. From nurturing relationships to gathering feedback, both endeavors focus on growth, attention to detail, and customer satisfaction.

Join my reflections, exploring some key parallels between these two seemingly unrelated fields.

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Nurturing from the Ground Up: Soil and Foundation

In an apple orchard, everything starts with the soil. Healthy, well-nourished soil is essential for trees to grow and bear fruit. Similarly, in CX, success is rooted in a strong foundation of core values, processes, and company culture.

Service providers must cultivate a customer-first approach, investing in the tools and training needed to ensure their teams are equipped to deliver top-tier service. Both endeavors require careful preparation.

In the orchard, it's about planting the right trees, tending to the soil, and ensuring optimal growing conditions. In CX, this means understanding the market, the customer base, and creating a service model that responds to evolving customer needs.

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Consistency and Care: Tending to Growth

Orchards require year-round attention. Apple trees need pruning, pest control, and regular maintenance to thrive. A CX provider, in much the same way, must invest in ongoing training and development, staying attuned to industry trends, customer feedback, and service improvements.

Both involve anticipating issues before they arise. Just as orchard workers monitor for disease or weather changes, CX teams must be proactive in preventing customer pain points. Listening to customer feedback, analyzing trends, and implementing preventive measures are key to both.

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Customization: Understanding Varieties

In an orchard, not all apples are the same. Different varieties have different needs and mature at different times. A successful grower understands which varieties require specific care and how to cater to these differences.

Similarly, CX service providers must recognize that no two customers are the same. Understanding the nuances of customer preferences and needs—be it through data analytics, personalized communication, or targeted solutions—is key to ensuring satisfaction. Just as different apple varieties command different market demands, different customers demand unique service experiences.

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Harvest Time: Delivering Quality at the Right Moment

The harvest is the most critical time in an apple orchard. Harvesting apples too early or too late can lead to poor-quality fruit – thus the 1 to 5-day heads-up call I get from my parents.

The same holds true for CX. The timing of responses, resolution of customer issues, and delivery of services all play a critical role in customer satisfaction. Immediate responses may be too rushed and incomplete, while delayed responses risk losing customer loyalty.

Attention to timing is crucial. For CX providers, this involves delivering timely responses, resolving issues quickly, and following up with customers at the right moment to ensure long-term satisfaction and retention.

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Feedback and Renewal: Learning from Every Season

After the harvest, an orchard farmer assesses the season: What worked? What didn’t? What can be improved next year? Similarly, CX service providers must continuously assess their performance through customer feedback, reviews, and metrics like Net Promoter Scores (NPS).

Gathering insights from customer interactions allows providers to refine their services, much like an orchard farmer refines cultivation practices.

In both endeavors, the ability to learn, adapt, and improve is key to long-term success. A farmer knows that every season brings new challenges and opportunities, just as a CX provider knows that customer expectations evolve over time.

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Conclusion: Cultivating Success

While apple orchards and CX service provision are clearly different in many respects, the parallels between the two are striking. Both require careful planning, consistent care, and a commitment to excellence.

Whether you're harvesting apples or providing exceptional service, the ultimate goal is the same: delivering a high-quality product that satisfies your customers.

Just as a healthy orchard yields abundant fruit, a well-managed CX team delivers customer satisfaction and loyalty, creating lasting success for both the customer and the company. And, as in an orchard, continuous improvement and attention to detail ensure the future harvests remain plentiful.

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Appreciation Shoutouts!

• Grateful to the team at HumanTouch, LLC for covering the bases while I was away and for the fun, custom shirts for orchard work!
• Grateful to our clients—it's an honor and privilege to deliver CX-focused solutions with a ‘human touch’!
• Grateful to my parents for unexpected lessons learned in the orchard!