Understanding the customer is a critical step to success. Organizations can do it most effectively by establishing customer experience divisions. A CX department analyzes customer experiences and data and disseminates the results to improve the organization's processes, products, and services. Furthermore, customers remember both good and bad experiences with a brand. Having the right customer experience strategy and the right people on the customer experience team is the most important aspect of customer experience management.  For this, CX leadership is crucial in the organization. To improve the digital customer experience, leaders need to create personalized experiences that resonate across all digital channels. 

Importance of CX

The concept of CX is not new, but its significance has evolved dramatically over the years. In the past, companies focused primarily on product-centric strategies, competing based on the features and price of their offerings. However, as markets saturated and products became commoditized, companies needed new ways to differentiate themselves and foster customer loyalty.

The digital revolution played a pivotal role in this transformation. The Internet and social media provide a platform for customers to inform and share their experiences. As a result, a single negative customer experience quickly damaged a brand's reputation, while a positive experience gained viral support. The shift in power from the company to the customer forced companies to reassess their priorities and put the customer at the center of their strategy.

Cross-functional Relationships in Teams

Organizations that are truly committed to putting the customer at the center will build (and reorganize) a governance structure that reflects that commitment. This means having a Customer Experience Executive, with all customer-facing departments under him or her, and funding this organization appropriately.

If that means funding from other parts of the organization, so be it. As a brand, this shows both investors and employees that a true shift in corporate mindset is taking place. By doing so, customers will feel the change and respond with loyalty. This is the way to deliver an exceptional customer experience.

Collaboration among team members across departments leads to a thriving team. For the team as a whole to succeed, members must learn to collaborate and rely on each other. But first, the team must respect each other's contributions and position within the team.

A good strategy for fostering these cross-functional relationships is for team members to regularly celebrate the successes of their colleagues. One approach is to use a communication platform that allows members to publicly honor each other.

How to Build a Customer-Centric Team?

In an Interaction with CEO Insights, Sreemoyee Dastidar, CoE Lead - Customer Experience, Philips says, “As a brand, customer centricity or customer obsession needs to be built into your organizational culture. Your team and smaller teams collectively represent your brand's value. When your CEO speaks at a global Town Hall, emphasizing the importance of keeping the customer in mind or outlining initiatives to improve customer experience, such messaging resonates and leaves a lasting impression across the organizational structure. Hence, I think the first step is to ensure that your company has a culture rooted in customer centricity. Then, as a leader, you can reinforce that message.”

Vindhya Shanmugam, Senior Director-CX Growth, Search & Payments, Myntra, says, “Leaders must anticipate risks by expecting the unexpected. Even the most promising features can result in unexpected outcomes during the A/B test, making it critical to test all the features rigorously before a full-scale rollout. We can iteratively measure success by configuring features under A/B, allowing for any changes based on the feedback. This minimizes the risk potential when the feature is deployed to the entire user base. Regularly monitoring the business metrics is also critical throughout the process. This can help detect even slight deviations from the expected performance and serve as a warning signal that something needs to be adjusted. This proactive approach ensures that potential issues are addressed before they escalate without impacting customer satisfaction and business outcomes.

“Leaders must also ensure that innovations not only meet functional demands but also scale effectively as customer expectations evolve. We can prevent operational bottlenecks by embedding the right engineering processes in the journey,” adds Vindhya.

Priya Chakravarthy, VP—Experience, BluSmart, says, “For leaders, aligning their company’s values with the demanded customer experience involves several strategic and cultural initiatives. The value system needs to be embedded in each employee. The values should have experience at the core, and how they are presented to the teams makes a huge difference. Defining core values and how they translate to customer experience has to be communicated through all communication segments both internal and external.”  

 

“You must also have policies and procedures that reflect your commitment to the desired customer experience. Analyzing customer data and close looping will significantly impact company values. Leaders play a crucial role in ensuring that the company’s values align with the demanded customer experience. By clearly communicating values, embedding them in the company culture, aligning policies and practices, providing training, developing aligned performance metrics, empowering employees, engaging in leadership, and ensuring consistency across channels, leaders can create a cohesive and value-driven customer experience. This alignment not only enhances customer satisfaction and loyalty but also reinforces the company’s reputation and success in the market,” adds Priya.

Customer experience departments are essential for companies that want to retain happy and loyal consumers. To develop and implement a customer experience strategy, companies need to understand their goals and current situation and build a customer experience department. As a result of investing in the customer experience, customers will develop brand loyalty, act as brand ambassadors, and become advocates for the company, increasing customer retention and overall business success. Finally, it is important to remember that it is important for companies to understand that investing in building a customer experience department is not just a cost, but an investment in long-term growth and success.