Who’s Job is it to Manage Customer Experience?

No matter what size, all businesses need to stay on top of their customers' experience. So, who is in charge?  Some say it’s the Chief Customer Officer’s job, while the CMO is currently considered to represent the voice of the customer at 18 percent of organizations, behind sales at 31 percent. These days, customer experience management (CEM) is becoming more and more of a priority, so businesses must get on the same page in order to move forward.

According to a recent study, “Voice of the Customer: Whose Job Is It, Anyway?" by the Intelligence Unit of The Economist, in the next three years, global organizations will make customer experience (CX) a top priority. However, the study shows that only 56 percent of respondents believe their companies understand customers. But, many companies find it challenging to restructure their businesses around the customer since they have traditionally focused it around product lines. In fact, only six in 10 people view their companies as customer-centric, and half report an understanding of customers' needs.

"A growing shift to digital marketing also provides a rich foundation for data-driven customer insight," Wilson Raj, Global Customer Intelligence Director for SAS sad. "CMOs are in a prime position to be champions for the voice of the customer -- if they shore up digital and customer analytics skills across the marketing organization."

The survey concludes whoever aspires to represent the voice of the customer must draw on customer insights to create an exceptional experience spanning physical and digital channels. The key to the CMO delivering an evolving customer-centric mandate is in the rise of Web, social and mobile channels that will take on greater significance in customer engagement.

Arjun Mitra, executive vice president at Firstsource, says it is critical for businesses to be on the front line of understanding CX in order to stay relevant in today's marketplace. "Differentiated CX builds confidence in the brand and strengthens the emotional connections with customers," he explained. "Companies that make the necessary investment in CEM will gain the strategic blueprint they need to help boost their bottom line."

Related articles

• "Customer Intelligence: A Data Driven Approach to the Customer Experience"
• What A Customer Experience Management Professional Does