A chief experience officer (CXO) looks after the experience of the company’s products and services. The CXOs, in essence, are the customer’s voice at the enterprise’s decision-making level. They define the value propositions the business offers its customers. 

Customer-focused companies value the customer’s voice over anything else. Today, most businesses operate in a hyper-competitive environment. Sustaining a competitive advantage depends on delivering positive customer experiences. Customers, pampered with choices, move to competitors if they receive less-than-satisfactory experiences. 

Post-pandemic, most enterprises have embraced the digital way of working. The customer experience becomes more critical than before in such an environment. Many forward-looking companies have dedicated CXOs who bring experience design to the boardroom. Gartner estimates 90% of enterprises now have a CXO, who could also assume the title of Chief Customer Officer.

But the relevance of a CXOs role is still open. Many CXOs have vague responsibilities that transcend functional roles. Often, the CXO has to step into turfs handled by someone else. Here is what CXOs seeking relevance and success should focus on in 2023.

1. Position experience as a source of competitive differentiation 

In Industry 4.0, technology has become a level playing field. Any business can access the most advanced technology through the cloud or by leveraging open source. In such a scenario, enterprises strive for competitive differentiation by providing unique experiences. In 2023, the onus is on the CXO to:

• Encourage innovation to deliver top-notch user experience (UX) for customers.
• Track metrics such as CX performance metrics, the voice of the customer (VoC) initiatives, and more. Regular evaluation of metrics pin-points the degradation of customer experience at various points. Small changes at the right points often impact the experience and performance significantly.
• Embrace the latest technology such as Artificial Intelligence, and use it to enhance the customer and employee experience.

2. Make systems and processes simple

Enterprises often face crisis flashpoints from time to time. Examples include declining customer engagement, increased customer churn, or too much negative feedback. Throwing more money into marketing will not solve such issues. The underlying reason is often suboptimal or out-of-date experiences that drive customers away. As such instances become commonplace, a key CXO role is to snuff out such issues. 

CXOs have to take up corporate leadership of the UX strategy and take the issue of declining customer experiences head-on. Successful CXOs:

• Take the lead in software and hardware design management. Often, programmers and developers focus on what is most visible rather than what matters. Simplifying this process often speeds up things and has a cascading effect on a much better CX.
• Make the UX simple. Many enterprises get carried away with digital transformation and make things too complex for users. For instance, the tech team packs in features and functionality while ignoring the user experience. Users end up with a cluttered interface. Bloated backend slows down access at a time when a delay of one second in loading the websites reduces conversions by 7%. Make sure users have a simple and neat interface. 
• Develop dedicated apps for user groups. For instance, a field technician’s app features notifications and access to information repositories. The supervisor gets another app to manage schedules and track field technician locations. 
• Identify pain points by scanning the customer journey beyond the touch points. Evaluate processes based on the company’s strategic intent. Identify what works well and does not, and probe the underlying reasons for both cases. Assessing the gap makes it easy to expedite a solution. 

3. Understand customer expectations

In today’s business environment, too many businesses chase a finite number of customers. Business success depends on understanding customer preferences and delivering positive customer experiences.

Successful CXOs study what it takes for a positive experience. They:

• Align priorities to meet customer needs.
• Adopts an omni-channel strategy to engage with customers through their channels. Relentless digitization has reduced the attention span of most people. As such, today’s customers are impatient and fickle. They expect instant results. They also expect the business to engage with them through the channel of choice. 
• Conduct customer feedback surveys through email, social media, and other appropriate forums. Interacting with customers may include direct outreach, surveys, and more. 
• Walk the talk. CXOs architect action plans to drive new processes or services based on customer expectations. A good example is L’Oréal, which responded to the increasing inquiries on hair colour during the pandemic by launching a 24/7 “Hair Colour Platform.”
• Create personalised experiences for high-value clients.

4. Manage change proactively

The CXO is often the change agent in the enterprise. The C-suite looks to the CXO to change the customer experience, which requires a shift in the enterprise culture. Smart CXOs:

• Remain on the constant lookout for signs of change and remain proactive to take early measures to cope with such changes. They become the in-house evangelists of new techniques, channels, and best practices. 
• Give a customer-centric focus to any change initiative. Consider customer support. Providing live agent support only during office hours may not suffice. A change in approach to offer 24/7 support through a customer contact centre may be the way to go.
• Focus on the company culture. Measure the extent to which the company focuses on the customer in the systems and processes. A customer-focused culture can deliver top-notch customer experience. Competitors may copy a product or service. But they cannot easily copy a high-performance, customer-focused company culture.
• Empower employees and raise the bar on personal accountability. Adopt a servant leadership strategy. The enterprise offers all the resources for employees to work at their productive best. The knowledgeable worker, free of obstacles and assured of a positive work experience, delivers at their effective best.
• Raise the bar on transparency. A culture of openness and transparency fosters a positive employee experience. Employees become motivated to do their best work and delight the end customer.
• Set up systems to sustain the change. Revise and review content, practices, and processes. Measure your company’s performance against KPIs. 

5. Take care of the internal customer experience 

Employees are the internal customers of the business. Good experiences motivate employees to put in their best effort, ensuring a good customer experience.

• Communicate to the workforce. Successful CXOs are effective communicators. They convey ideas and concepts to the workforce and unite everyone around a customer-focused strategy. In today’s digital age, most employees face various distractions. Assertive communication keeps them focused.
• Take regular feedback from employees. Fine-tune systems to ensure employees have a good experience. Strike a balance between end-customer-focused systems and a good experience for internal customers.
• Facilitate remote work and flexi-work, to motivate employees. If the enterprise already has a running remote work policy, work proactively to solve underlying friction and inefficiencies.
• Work with HR to motivate the rank-and-file employees to put the customer first. Effective CXOs have good people skills. They understand human behaviour and appeal to human desires. They talk to employees yet to deliver on expected lines. For instance, a customer-facing agent may take longer than the benchmark when engaging with a customer. Help such employees with expertise and resources. 
• Frame conversations to make sure there is clarity around expectations.
• Pay special attention to derailers or team members who say “Yes” to the change but then subvert. Identify what motivates them, and cater to the same. But sometimes, the enterprise may have to shed some subversive employees.

The best CXOs ensure rank-and-file employees remain obsessed with delivering superior customer experiences. Enterprises that empower their CXOs with clear responsibilities and authority reap competitive advantages.