Brand Builders: Leading CX Design Company Expands to Dallas

Scottsdale, Arizona-based Tallwave, a design company that focuses on customer experience services, is opening a new Dallas location to broaden its presence as growth accelerates.

Tallwave provides full-scale customer experience (CX) solutions to change agents that are interested in strengthening their brand and products, customer acquisition, and retention. That includes recent collaborations with the likes of Algolia, Banner Health, Pet Supplies Plus, and Cox Media.

Its suite of services includes strategy, product, and marketing solutions that are “laser-focused on customer engagement.” Though Tallwave has a roster of both business strategists and UI/UX designers, it wants to differentiate its services—CX tends to look more broadly at all interactions a person has with a brand, which encompasses all channels.

Tallwave’s goal is to align its clients’ business objectives and strategies—brand reputation, repeat customers, retention, et cetera—with the entire experience of a customer when they interact with its brand.

“CX and UX are related but definitely not the same. User experience is a component of the customer experience, but CX is broader and includes things that are outside of the product,” Robert Wallace, partner and vice president of corporate development, told Dallas Innovates. “UX relates to the experience a person has when they actually use and interact with a brand’s product.”

Locally, Tallwave’s office will be staffed with a team of senior employees from the area. Additional hires are expected, as the region is home to an exceptional pool of talent, Wallace says.

“We currently have four full-time employees stationed in Dallas. Our goal is to grow the team to about 15 by the end of the year,” he says. “We’ll be looking primarily for consultants and strategists, and we are also open to hiring for design, performance marketing, and branding.”

Wallace also points to Dallas’ robust and diverse business environment, growing tech ecosystem, quality of life and culture, and university system as motivation for the expansion. He says the Tallwave team is thrilled to be part of such an innovative community—and the existing UX presence in Dallas “definitely helps.”

Tallwave’s southern expansion is its latest in a number of other milestones. The team placed fifth on the Inc. 5000 list of the fastest growing companies, and went through a rebrand to accentuate its growth and dedication to clients, innovation, and CX.

It plans to build on a demand from organizations wanting to deepen customer engagement, grow revenue, and improve customer loyalty.

“Our goal, first and foremost, has been to help companies embrace the human side of business by helping them connect to their customers,” Jeffrey Pruitt, Tallwave’s co-founder and CEO, said in a statement. “Our expansion in Dallas will enable us to work side-by-side with our clients in the region so that together we can help build stellar customer experiences for their brand.”

Wallace notes a Salesforce report that shows 80 percent of customers list the “experience” businesses provide as just as important as services and products. But, 51 percent of customers say most businesses fall short of their expectations for a great customer experience.

“In general, the fast pace of innovation has been a big driver for companies to evaluate their customer experience,” Wallace says. “With low barriers for customers to switch to alternative options, customer expectations are driven higher and higher.”

Last year, this trend went into overdrive, according to Wallace. The COVID-19 pandemic only accelerated the need for digital applications and contactless services.

The Tallwave team thinks one factor needs to be a company’s top priority: how the customer interacts with your brand.

“Think of things like ‘buy online, pick up in store,’ curbside service, or even how a B2B company builds relationships without a face-to-face interaction. These are all touchpoints with the customer that were fundamentally changed (or accelerated) based on having empathy for the situation people were in,” Wallace says. “While we’re slowly getting back to normal, many of these changes are likely to stay in place. Certainly how people interact with brands has changed, to some degree, permanently.”

Aspects of CX like contactless interactions, self-service, and digital access aren’t going anywhere, according to Wallace. 2021 is bringing a new set of expectations for brands, with digital transformation becoming a “must-have.”

Looking ahead, Wallace sees CX and EX (employee experience) overlapping more and more. He suggests companies find new ways to keep culture and engagement alive, especially given today’s virtual and disrupted workforce.

The road to how a company designs, builds, and delivers on a great customer experience runs through digital transformation. This will transform industries, operational workflows, and marketing,” Wallace says. “Further, the purpose of a brand—what it stands for, why it exists—is critical to retain customers and employees. The messaging and delivery of those promises at each touchpoint will be critical.”