Who is really responsible for the customer experience?

‍Definingthe customer experience

From the customer's point of view, customer experience (CX) is defined by the perception they have of their interactions with your company. From the company's point of view, CX can have several definitions. For example, the CX team may be the department responsible for ensuring customer-centric practices and delivering exceptional customer journeys. It can also be defined as a mindset (or culture) shared by all company employees, placing the customer at the center of their activities . Finally, it can also be seen as a framework or set of practices enabling the company to deliver on its promises to the customer.

Whatever definition a company chooses, a very common question generally arises: Who is truly responsible for the customer experience? In other words, who is responsible for governance, collecting and sharing customer information, applying CX frameworks and putting the right methodologies into practice, and finally, who is responsible for leading, participating in and executing all the transformation initiatives needed to elevate, optimize and differentiate the company from its competitors?

There is no universal answer to this question. Objectively, it all depends on each organization's level of maturity in customer experience management, which can be the result of a number of factors, such as: the existence and role of the CX team, existing corporate culture, organizational structure, corporate CX strategy, clarity of customer promise, ability to integrate the voice of the customer into decision-making, the role of management in promoting customer-centric culture, etc.

The importance of understanding your Customer Experience maturity level

As mentioned, assessing a company's CX maturity level is crucial for identifying improvement responsibilities, and enables companies to :

• Get an overview of their CX"cultural entropy" (the delta between existing and desired culture);
• Measure their levels of customer centricity, a sometimes abstract and qualitative subject, which can be difficult to discuss with executives without the appropriate data;
• Understand where they are and how fast they are progressing on the maturity curve, allowing you to track their improvements over time;
• Recognize weaknesses and areas for improvement, as well as the actions needed to develop maturity in a practical and tangible way;
• Identify the resources to be used and the priorities for achieving rapid gains and significant improvements;
• Clarify the need for an iterative process of defining, prioritizing, documenting, executing, measuring and communicating initiatives, so that everyone is systematically engaged in CX improvement;
• Determine a tailored governance model to organize their contributions (strategy, vision, values) in order to use CX as a tool to achieve better results, such as better products, routes, processes and services;
• Organize and measure strategic, tactical and operational efforts accordingly, so that there is no overlap, but rather clear roles and responsibilities for everyone in the organization, not just those with customer-facing tasks ;
• Create a sense of urgency to drive immediate action and commitment to improving the customer experience, ensuring that all employees understand their critical importance.

CX maturity assessment? We've done it.
So, who's really in charge of the customer experience?

Having different levels of CX maturity certainly requires varied action plans for developing customer-centric practices, as well as leading customer-centric initiatives. However, it's not just the overall level of CX maturity that plays a role in defining the best CX roadmap for a company, but also an understanding of who will be held accountable. The same applies to the choice of governance model, which enables decisions to be made and priorities to be set for this roadmap.

Oops! We don't have a CX team. What can we do?

Of course, in an ideal world, companies would have a dedicated CX department, reporting directly to senior management, enjoying buy-in from all stakeholders, and with the ability to lead, define and develop all customer initiatives . However, this is not the case for all companies, as many may not have the resources or strategic support to achieve this ideal. As a result, companies that don't yet have a dedicated CX team may struggle to know who is (or should be) responsible for ensuring a customer-centric approach in the company's day-to-day operations . So, who should be involved?

For a company to answer this question, it's important to understand what actions are needed to improve its customer experience. Depending on its level of maturity, it will need to think backwards, i.e. find out what it needs, and what its priorities are, to discover the necessary resources and thus determine which department would be best placed to act as interim CX champion.

What if it was the Marketing team? 

For example, for companies with a low level of CX maturity, it is very common for them to encounter difficulties in gathering customer feedback and/or integrating the Voice of the Customer and its insights into their processes, products and services. This results in negative experiences (for both customers and employees) at various stages of the customer journey. To improve its level of CX maturity, the company will need to start by identifying opportunities for improvement in these paths, in order to launch targeted initiatives that take into account the Voice of the Customer (VoC).

To coordinate efforts to implement these improvements, they will need to map their customer journeys. To do this, they need access to a wealth of qualitative and quantitative customer experience data. This enables the company to validate current journeys, as well as identify irritants, their moments of truth and priority opportunities.

Once this is done, they can develop an ideal customer journey to fill these gaps and define the target experience. To validate the desired journey, they also need to know their brand promise to ensure that all processes, products, people and systems truly embody it.

In the above example, most companies without a dedicated CX team would point to the Marketing department as the best choice to act as CX ambassador, since delivering good experiences is all about meeting and exceeding customer expectations of the brand promise. So, having the department responsible for the brand promise, itself, as well as the personas or customer segments, archetype and brand attributes, and owning most of the customer data (CRM, qualitative and quantitative research, awareness, focus groups, social media, etc.), seems like a natural choice. However, it may make sense to share this responsibility with other departments which, in addition to being directly involved in implementing improvements, also cultivate a customer-centric approach and demonstrate a strong commitment to improving the customer experience (CX).

What if it was the customer service delivery teams? 

Let's take another example. In companies with low levels of CX maturity, it's also very common for them to be cost-saving oriented and prioritize efficiency, which usually has a significant impact on front-line employees. In this case, thought should be given to which team has information on the key performance indicators (KPIs), which impact productivity, and where they can see the potential for savings. For example, the customer service team would be an excellent starting point for developing CX practices, as they are the ones who already have access to and control over operational KPIs, customer data and lots of feedback . In this way, this team would be best placed to examine opportunities for prioritizing initiatives that would deliver both efficiency and customer excellence.

And the Product teams?

Another example concerns companies with low CX maturity and offering products that require the delivery of a high-quality experience (e.g. SAAS products for B2B customers). These companies need to improve their customer-centricity from development through to product launch, to avoid problems and reduce low-value customer interactions. To advance CX maturity without a dedicated team, it may be necessary to expand the roles of product managers to include customer-centric practices beyond feature development. The product team should continue to deliver value to customers while broadening its vision to include research, insights and improvements to other stages of the customer journey. In this way, they will be able to offer smooth and enjoyable experiences, be more proactive and identify problems at their source to solve them definitively, thus improving CX maturity levels. In this context, synergy between Product and Marketing teams could be the key to transforming the customer experience: companies where Product and Marketing teams collaborate closely record results 7 times higher than those where this collaboration is less developed(Leanplum). This collaboration helps ensure that the product roadmap reflects customer and market needs, thus improving customer engagement and satisfaction (Mind the Product).

Once again, there is no universal answer, and for different companies with different organizational structures, sizes, decision-making processes (e.g. vertical or horizontal organizational structures), speeds of adaptation, data models and change management capabilities, among other things, the answer can be far apart. One thing is certain: all companies must avoid the trap of making decisions based on siloed interests, or viewing CX as a short-term project.

Knowing what needs to be done and what resources are required is crucial to choosing the right team to improve CX. The ultimate goal is for everyone to understand their role as custodians of the customer-centric culture, and for all to be aligned with the company's mission to deliver an exceptional customer experience. Which department takes the lead in CX depends on its ability to partially withdraw from its current roles to coordinate efforts and engage other employees in the process.

We have a CX team and we're ready for action!
What exactly are our responsibilities?

We've already talked about companies interested in improving the customer experience, but not yet ready to invest in the creation of a dedicated CX team. On the other hand, companies that already have a CX team, or wish to create one, see many opportunities and often have questions about the role and responsibilities of this department.

CX experts can act in many ways under the direction of different departments, both as leaders of customer-centric initiatives and as facilitators, supporting teams in the development of solutions to close improvement opportunities. In other words, the centralized roles and responsibilities of CX can vary enormously from company to company, while the governance structure to be adopted can be very different for each.

In general, companies with a low level of CX maturity rely heavily on executive leadership and strategic vision to choose the right projects to drive customer experience improvement. They often adopt centralized models where CX efforts are led by a dedicated leader or team, with strong executive involvement to ensure that every department contributes to improving the customer experience. However, their specific role in this ecosystem sometimes remains unclear, which can make it difficult for CX experts to be heard by teams when making recommendations.

Conversely, companies with a higher level of CX maturity rely more on alignment and coordination between departments, and often use decentralized approaches to gain speed and facilitate decision-making. In these companies, customer experience is already integrated as a core discipline of corporate strategy, and every employee is aware of it in their day-to-day activities. However, in a fast-moving world, it seems appropriate to consider the hybrid model with a clear direction. While this approach is not without its challenges, it does encourage regular communication on the strategic role of customer experience (CX). This ensures employee involvement at all levels, and in all departments, as well as dedicated CX resources for tactical and operational tasks. Most companies at intermediate stages of CX maturity can benefit from this approach.

As mentioned in the previous section, an organization's level of CX maturity cannot be the only factor in defining the roles and responsibilities of a CX team. Other variables come into play, such as executive buy-in, initiative management (e.g. waterfall or agile methods, requiring different leadership roles), cross-departmental alignment capabilities, internal communication practices, openness to continuous improvement and change, and employee commitment. It is therefore crucial to understand the qualitative aspects of the organization, and to be open to iteratively testing what works at the role level of the CX team. This approach is not only recommended, it's essential to success.

Conclusion

Most companies recognize the importance of delivering a good customer experience. Unfortunately, many still regard customer experience as a mere outcome rather than a specific management practice, as essential as finance, human resources or marketing. It's crucial to understand that investing in the development of teams dedicated to customer experience management is essential to staying competitive.

When it comes to determining customer experience responsibilities, it's not enough to analyze your industry or your competitors. A comprehensive assessment of CX maturity is crucial. It has a direct influence on the company's maturation speed and expected return on investment. Companies that are more mature in CX benefit from higher customer engagement, better loyalty, more referrals, greater employee commitment and better business results. This assessment also identifies the skills and tools to be put in place to develop one's CX team and practice. 

Interface&co can help you assess your CX maturity in depth, gathering the right data and generating tangible learnings for your development. We'll provide you with a structured roadmap with customized recommendations. Contact us today! 

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