It’s clear that being a truly customer-first business brings tremendous benefits in terms of customer loyalty, retention and market share. As a result, the transition towards customer-centric cultures has been one of the biggest business trends of recent years.

In order to successfully manage that transition (and to maintain and nurture it on the other side), the role of Chief Experience Officer has emerged.

But what is a CXO, and should your company hire one?

What is a Chief Experience Officer?

Businesses used to spend a lot of time making decisions and investments in the name of the customer. You’ve probably heard phrases like, “We are a customer-centric business,” and, “This decision is about benefiting out customers!”

But in reality, the decisions mostly served to benefit directors or investors. That’s not what being customer-centric really means. What it actually means is personalized service; thoughtful processes which put the customer first; control over their personal data; acting with integrity; and building the most valuable products (not necessarily the most profitable).

And according to the most recent edition of the State of the Connected Customer report by Salesforce, this is exactly what customers are demanding.

The Chief Customer Officer is an executive role that directly manages this customer-centric transition.

This is a seasoned professional that understands consumer needs and behaviors, and can help deliver a truly customer-first culture and service. In the coming years, the CXO will be essential for retaining customers, capturing leads and growing the bottom line.

Chief experience officer? Customer experience officer? Chief customer officer?

Given the relative youth of the position, there is some confusion over the terminology. Here’s a quick clarification:

• The Chief Experience Officer (CXO) is a C-suite position of significant strategic importance
• The Chief Customer Officer is virtually interchangeable with the CXO. It’s a younger word that describes the same role: ownership of customer experience
• Customer Experience Officers report to the CXO. They are equivalent to an accountant working under the CFO

Responsibilities of a CXO

While the remit and scope of the CXO will vary significantly between companies, a snapshot of likely responsibilities includes:

• Optimizing the customer experience—The CXO will work with support representatives, UX designers, developers and everyone else involved in the digital (and in-store) customer experience to improve CX at every touchpoint.
• Educating teams on ideal customer personas—​​​​​​​The core characteristics of customer personas (motivations, pain points, buyer’s journey, the customer life cycle) may be iterated to employees and teams by the CXO.
• Advising on product development—With their ear to the ground, the CXO will learn the features or products that are most important to customers or which prevent leads from converting. They can work with product development to make valuable changes.
• Championing customer-centric culture—The customer-first philosophy isn’t a viral trend, it’s in the DNA of the organization. Increasing awareness of this mindset, encouraging customer-first decision making and working with leadership to improve company culture can all fall within the CXO remit.
• Collaborating on marketing & sales activities—​​​​​​​CXOs will work to influence campaigns such that the customer’s actual needs and desires are incorporated into the strategy. Such campaigns have a root focus on improving customer satisfaction, loyalty and conversion.
• Tracking customer satisfaction—​​​​​Establishing and tracking KPIs such as customer satisfaction and NPS will help determine the success of customer success efforts over time. In cases of customer dissatisfaction, the CXO must uncover the root cause and work to change it.
• ​​​​​​​Actively managing support channels—​​​​​​​​​​​​Working with customer support across social media, live online chat, website design, email and phone to deliver the most coherent, on-brand messaging and support possible. Monitoring real customer interactions can also provide powerful insights that lead to new opportunities for the business.

Is employee experience the CXO’s responsibility?

There is some debate over how much influence the Chief Experience Officer should have over employee actions. At the end of the day, employee attitudes and actions directly affect customer experience… which the CXO is expected to manage and improve.

Employee success is pivotal for many reasons, and it’s likely that the CXO would work with another member of the leadership team to address any employee issues.

How to make your CXO appointment a success

According to Gartner, almost 90% of organizations in 2020 reported that they have a chief experience officer or equivalent. Despite this positive sign, the CXO still feels like a raw and relatively untested role.

Probably the biggest challenge facing a new CXO in your business is resistance from other departments or business units. Some departments might not understand the role or appreciate their influence over “their” people and processes. However, there are ways to make their introduction gentler and more successful.

Tips for hiring a new CXO

If there is one non-negotiable step to take before hiring, it’s getting the entire leadership to buy in to the concept of customer-centric business. Without a commitment to this culture, the role of CXO is redundant. It would be beneficial to begin the transition to customer-centricity before their arrival.

You should also have a firm idea of what you view as the responsibilities and remit of the CXO. While the actual role description will follow discussion, you should be clear on how their success will be measured.

In terms of personality, the CXO should be an established and proven leader, with considerable experience in UX, CX, operations, sales, marketing or customer service. CXOs are typically excellent communicators and can be promoted internally or recruited.

Should you hire a CXO?

While it might seem like a big question, in reality it answers itself.

The majority of businesses are exempted from hiring a CXO because they lack any existing executive leadership team.

Organizations with an established C-Suite that have no intention to pivot their company culture to be customer-centric are also exempt—​​​​​the role simply can’t exist in that environment.

But if your organization does have a C-Suite and is pushing for customer centricity, then it is essential that you create or hire the CXO role. Otherwise your game-changing efforts will be left rudderless, stranded in the ocean between good intentions and meaningful change. ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

The Sogolytics customer experience management platform is agile and robust enough to help your CXO be more effective in their role. Automation, rules and alerts, and thousands of integrations options can support your organization with actionable data to inform smart decisions for the best ROI for your business and improve customer experiences across touchpoints.