Recently Daniel Newman, contributing writer for Forbes, agreed with me. That was probably not his intention, but his 1/13/15 op-ed, “CCO: Tying Together Technology, Marketing and Advocacy,” makes many of the same points I made in my “Transformational Marketing” blog last week.
For example, Dan and I agree that, “…the marketing department’s job has shifted from promoting what customers should buy to a much broader role: interacting with customers, engaging them, listening to them, creating better experiences for them, earning their trust, and building a relationship that leads to advocacy.“
Dan goes further, saying, “Someone (a Chief Customer Officer) needs to be responsible for making sure that customers and employees are engaged in the organization and connected to communities and areas of the business where the goals of customer satisfaction and retention can be met.”
We diverge on who is best suited for the role of Chief Customer Officer. My belief is that Marketing has been leading the CXP charge, already uses tools that capture the most comprehensive view of customer interactions, and is in the strongest position to affect corporate messages and practices. In many cases CMO’s are essentially serving as CCOs. Corporations don’t need another C-level executive – they need to recognize and support the CXP efforts being led by Marketing. Let that evolution continue!
