Has the customer experience become a key strategic priority for businesses?
I often use the image of a pyramid. At the base is quality: the service must work, be reliable and meet expectations. Without that, nothing holds together. The second level is usability. We see this with Amazon: if so many people use the platform, it’s not just because of what it offers, but also because everything is designed to be seamless. And then, at the very top, there’s emotion. The feeling you’re left with after an interaction.
I often use the example of a restaurant. You might have a lovely meal there, and the setting might be pleasant, but if the welcome is cold or impersonal, you’re unlikely to go back. Ultimately, the customer experience is the sum of the emotions felt before, during and after every interaction with a business. And that’s often where it all comes down to.
Is customer experience now a must for all businesses, regardless of their sector?
“Yes, but certain sectors are naturally more vulnerable to this, starting with all service-based industries. A five-star hotel doesn’t just sell a room. It sells a complete experience: the welcome, the attention to detail, every little thing. This is also what justifies the price difference compared with a more standard establishment. If the experience isn’t up to scratch, the customer won’t return. The more a business operates in the service sector, the more crucial the customer experience becomes.
Customers expect Post Luxembourg to offer the same level of convenience as Amazon, without taking into account the difference in resources.
Have customer expectations changed significantly in recent years?
“The biggest change has been in terms of immediacy. In the mid-2000s, when the first waves of e-commerce parcels began to arrive, waiting five or six days for a delivery seemed perfectly normal.
Then the major platforms raised the bar. Companies such as Amazon have reassured customers with robust guarantees, straightforward refunds and ever-shorter delivery times. Ordering before midnight and receiving your delivery the next day has almost become the norm.
The other major change is the globalisation of service standards. A consumer in Luxembourg can shop on Alibaba, on an American platform or at a local retailer via Letzshop, and applies the same criteria across the board. As a result, customers expect Post Luxembourg to deliver the same level of efficiency as Amazon, without taking into account the difference in resources.
Is this shift in expectations also a generational issue?
“Consumer behaviour varies significantly from one generation to the next, and this is a real challenge for us. Younger people are very comfortable with digital technology and smartphones. They want to be able to do everything quickly and independently: open an account, manage a subscription or choose a delivery method directly via an app.
But we know that some people are still less familiar with these tools. And we mustn’t forget that. That is why we are trying to strike a balance between digitalisation and human connection. We are therefore developing increasingly seamless digital experiences, whilst maintaining a substantial physical network for customers who still prefer human contact.
Have Luxembourg-based companies really made customer experience a strategic priority, or is the issue still struggling to gain traction at the highest level?
“There is still some way to go. When I was head of marketing at Post Luxembourg, marketing events would attract several hundred people. Today, when we organise events focusing on the customer experience, the rooms are much less crowded. That said, there is a real awareness of the issue. Luxembourg boasts a high standard of service and consumers here are demanding, which drives companies to constantly improve.
Where the country really stands out is on the issue of languages. Here, communicating with very different communities is not an option – it is a daily reality. Here, our websites are available in several languages, and the teams dealing with customers often speak four or five. And this is no minor detail, because language is an integral part of the customer experience. If you don’t understand your customer, the relationship is already off to a bad start.
Conversely, in which areas is Luxembourg still lagging behind when it comes to customer experience?
“I’m thinking in particular of artificial intelligence. At the end of March, I was in Paris for a major conference on the customer experience: 16,000 attendees, 300 exhibitors and just as many presentations. AI was at the heart of it all.
Many companies are already using conversational tools and language models to improve customer relations. In Luxembourg, we face a specific challenge: there are as yet no truly effective models in Luxembourgish. We could make do with French- or English-language tools, but some customers would be left behind.
But is that really such a big problem? I’m not so sure. If you ask people whether they’d rather speak to a machine or a human, the majority would still choose a human.
When a customer journey becomes simpler for the customer, it often becomes more efficient for the business.
Post Luxembourg operates in a wide range of sectors (telecoms, logistics, finance, etc.). Are there any common fundamentals to a good customer experience?
“Despite the diversity of roles, the fundamentals remain the same. At Post Luxembourg, for example, we share the same goal of customer satisfaction, with a target NPS that applies to all our departments.
We also apply a consistent methodology across all projects: analysing pain points, ideation workshops, customer testing, followed by the development of a business case. The rationale is always the same: to improve the experience whilst increasing efficiency. Because when a customer journey becomes simpler, it often becomes more efficient for the business.
How can we foster a culture of customer experience beyond the teams who deal directly with the public?
“The customer experience isn’t just about the front office. Staff in direct contact with customers naturally receive in-depth training. In the call centre, for example, this involves several months’ work on tone of voice and active listening.
But the issue extends to far more cross-functional areas. Take human resources, for example. We have completely overhauled the onboarding process for new staff, because the way a company welcomes its employees influences their engagement and, indirectly, their relationship with customers.
The same approach applies in IT. When developers are working on the tools used by postmen or delivery drivers, we put them in direct contact with the teams on the ground so that they can explain the day-to-day challenges they face and what needs to be improved.
This makes a huge difference. Technical teams can see the tangible impact of their work and realise that they, too, are making a direct contribution to the customer experience.
The customer experience is often reduced to mere marketing talk. How do you respond to those who remain sceptical?
“The story of Blockbuster and Netflix sums up the issue perfectly. Blockbuster dominated the film rental market. But the experience was a hassle: having to go out, queue up, and pay late fees. Netflix, on the other hand, realised before anyone else that customers were looking for simplicity and flexibility.
In 2000, Netflix even offered Blockbuster a partnership. The company turned down the offer, convinced that the model would not work. We all know how the story ended. The difference is simple: Netflix focused on what customers wanted to experience, whilst Blockbuster focused on what it was selling. And the lesson is just as simple: when a company forgets its customers, its customers eventually forget it too.”
This article was written for the Customer Experience supplement from the July 2026 issue of Paperjam magazine, published on 17 June. The content is produced exclusively for the magazine. It is published on the website to contribute to Paperjam’s comprehensive archive.
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