3 Ways to Beat the CX Slump

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In 2019, 62% of brands are delivering just an “ok” customer experience (CX) – certainly not what CX practitioners have been striving for! These staggering results beg the question: has CX stalled? Confirmit’s global survey of over 800 CX professionals revealed many teams are failing to gain traction in the race to make CX a true competitive advantage. The State of Customer Experience 2019 report found that the number of CX teams receiving significantly increased investment is declining.

Since CX is no longer just a niche offshoot of marketing or customer service, teams are feeling the pressure to prove business value. But driving real business change based on customer insight takes serious planning, a range of diverse skills and evidence of financial success. So, how can teams avoid the CX slump and boost investment in the program? Simply put – pointing to an increase in Net Promoter Score is not enough. Business outcomes are where the focus should be!

To make CX a true catalyst for action across the business, consider the below three factors:

1. Raise One Rallying Cry

CX often lacks a single voice to clearly articulate strategy and results across the business. Data and organizational silos are threatening to finally swallow CX. While organizations are awash in data, it’s not falling into the hands of the right people, at the right time, in the right format to drive action. Creating that “single source of truth” must be the goal – but the clock is ticking. Focus on the people you want to make decisions and identify critical data points to drive understanding. Use technology as an enabler to provide insights in a way that creates an understanding of the behavior that needs to change to make things happen.

Tip: Create clear, useful CX dashboards, but don’t expect graphs to do all the work! Use your storytelling skills to bring insights to life and coach the rest of the business into action.

2. Focus on Better Decisions

While the right technology to capture, analyze and share insights is essential, you need to empower people across the company to make better decisions that directly impact business outcomes. The challenge is often more cultural than technological. CX professionals and senior and executive teams are making decisions about CX, but what about your middle managers and frontline teams? According to survey results – not so much! All people need to be empowered to make their own choices based on the insight available to them. Don’t fear – you can monitor results to avoid repeated mistakes and promote successes. 

Tip: Focus on building trust by monitoring the outcomes of decisions and using the results to define outcomes. See what boosted revenue or reduced costs as a first step in demonstrating ROI.

3. Prove Your Worth

You must show a return on your current program to gain investment for the future. Don’t just focus on intimidating strategic challenges – look at tactical activities too. Map back to the decisions you’re enabling that reduce costs, increase revenue and retention and improve employee engagement. The State of Customer Experience 2019 report outlines the four most effective areas in demonstrating ROI: reduced complaints, lower customer churn, increased spend and more new customers. You can’t just focus on improving CX. You need to identify the root causes of problems and solve them.

Tip: Use some serious business acumen to identify one or two areas where you can most effectively prove ROI and focus on them.

While creating a CX program that has a direct impact on business outcomes isn’t easy, CX teams must drive real business change to survive. Those CX professionals who can create a “single source of truth,” empower people across the organization and demonstrate ROI will be able to secure investments in the 2020 and beyond.

Claire Sporton
Claire Sporton is SVP, Customer Experience Innovation for Confirmit, the world’s leading SaaS vendor for multi-channel Customer Experience, Employee Engagement, and Market Research solutions. Claire is responsible for ensuring Confirmit delivers the market-leading expertise and technology that businesses need.

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