The Real Reason CX Programs Fail

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??Why do Customer Experience programs fail?

According to HBR issues such as lack of tangible metrics, a slow?? pace, and resistance to change and innovation are frequently cited. McKinsey underscores the prevalence of challenges like limited, reactive, ambiguous, and unfocused in how they utilize CX, often resulting in data overload and underutilization of tools.

Sure, I see these too. ?

But they’re symptoms. The root cause is ineffective leadership.

This is not an indictment of the CEO. To make CX effective, leadership must extend its influence beyond the CEO and permeate the organization.

When leadership is lacking, several critical issues emerge, including a dearth of vision and strategic direction, leading to confusion and aimlessness within the organization. Moreover, there may be a failure to recognize CX as a transformative initiative requiring organizational change. A customer-centric culture forms the heart of CX, and leadership must drive this cultural shift.

However, the most critical issue, often overlooked, is gaining employee involvement. Without effective leadership, securing buy-in from employees at all levels becomes challenging. Successful CX programs require a collective commitment, with every member of the organization actively contributing to the customer-focused mission.

What am I seeing out in the field? ??

• CX is often confined to a specific department or individual.
• Limited bandwidth results in slow progress on CX initiatives.
• There’s a lack of understanding across the company about CX, and it fails to generate enthusiasm, often being seen as just another short-lived initiative.
• Some view CX as exclusively a “marketing” or “service” concern, not everyone’s responsibility.
• CX is perceived as an isolated “initiative” rather than an integrated part of the organizational culture.
• The desire to accomplish everything at once can hinder progress and momentum.
• There’s uncertainty about what to do, when, and why, and a lack of a decision-making framework.

On the flip side, what everyone desires??:

• Speedier implementation of CX initiatives.
• A groundswell of energy and enthusiasm; a company-wide commitment to the customer experience.
• Alignment of the customer vision and a shared understanding across departments.
• A cohesive team that executes the roadmap while making necessary adjustments.

…ultimately resulting in direct, positive impacts on the customer.

The core issue at hand is the confinement of CX initiatives to single departments or small teams, which often results in limited progress. Furthermore, employees are sometimes "voluntold" to participate in CX efforts rather than being thoughtfully selected through a comprehensive assessment process that evaluates their suitability as customer advocates. This scenario is exacerbated by hastily assembling the CX team without a well-defined plan or robust leadership, leading to diminished energy and minimal momentum in the endeavor.

What we need: ??CX Champions??

Picture it as building a ?baseball team - an All-Star Team. You need your starting lineup, one that boasts the right mix of skills and shares the same guiding principle: "We do what we do for the customer."

This team embarks on rigorous practice together, learning to throw, catch, and hit home runs. While not every plate appearance results in a home run, with persistence, a substantial impact is achieved.

Once you’ve assembled a team of champions, your team’s objective is to “create a groundswell across the organization to support the mission of customer centricity.” Tips for the CX Champion Playbook can be found here.

Teams evolve. CX champions need to rotate in and out of the CX team once they've learned and made their contributions. Bringing in fresh players helps perpetuate the organizational groundswell of CX and ensures ongoing success.

In the world of Customer Experience, effective leadership is the linchpin. It goes beyond the CEO, weaving a customer-centric culture, guiding vision, and engaging every team member. To succeed, CX programs need this inclusive leadership. Just as in baseball, it's about assembling a winning team committed to the customer. Rotation keeps it fresh. The path to exceptional CX starts with a culture of leadership that inspires every interaction to be a home run for the customer.

Take Action: Embrace inclusive leadership for your CX program. Would you like help assembling your team of CX Champions and collaborating on a playbook? Let’s talk!

LoyaltyCraft?was built out of a passion for helping companies create meaningful customer experiences. Founded in 2016 by Lauren Feehrer CCXP, we focus on strategy, qualitative research, customer design, and employee engagement to help mid-market companies open the door to new customers and keep existing ones from leaving out the backdoor.