Customer Experience Management

5 COMPETENCIES FOR CX SUCCESS

Executive Summary
Great customer experience is not only a tagline, it delivers better business
results. In fact, according to a study by Forrester, public companies
classified as CX Leaders outperformed CX Laggards by nearly 4x over
an 8 year period. A separate study by Bain & Co found that industry NPS
leaders experienced revenue growth nearly 2x that of their peers over a
comparable period of time.
Mature customer experience (CX) programs embed customer insight into
every decision and every level of the organization. The results are optimized
customer acquisition, decreased churn, and increased customer lifetime
value.
This guide provides a description of customer experience management and
the outcomes mature programs deliver, centered on five core competencies.

C U LT U R E & L E A D E R S H I P

Gain executive sponsorship, publish CX values, align

departments on common customer objectives, and
benchmark against competitors.

CXM

2.1

Continuous
Innovation

CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE MANAGEMENT

Culture and
Leadership
CUSTOMER
EXPERIENCE
MANAGEMENT

Connected
Employees

Deploy operationally integrated programs that capture

omni-channel feedback along the customer journey,
identify key satisfaction drivers, and use those insights to
improve the customer experience.

CUSTOMER INTELLIGENCE

Gather holistic, authoritative views of customers

and drive systematic, strategic initiatives to improve
their experience.

CX Mgmt
System
C O N N E CT E D E M P LOY E E S

Customer
Intelligence

Measure and act on employee engagement,

empowering employees and instilling customercentricity across the ranks.

C O N T I N U O U S I N N O VAT I O N

Build programs that scale quickly and test continuously

to drive continuous customer experience improvement.

Table of Contents
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

ORGANIZATIONAL & FINANCIAL IMPACT

4
Improve customer retention and loyalty
5
Increase customer share of wallet and lifetime value 6
Optimize customer acquisition 7
Reduce cost to serve
8
Improve brand awareness and equityy 9
THE MATURITY MODEL

11

SECTION 1 // CULTURE AND LEADERSHIP

12
Executive sponsorship
13
Organizational alignment 14
Common customer metrics 14
Published customer values
15
SECTION 2 // CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
16
Omnichannel measurement 17
Key Drivers and Root Cause Analysis
18
Role-specific management
19
Closing the loop at scale
20
Operational integration
21

SECTION 3 // CUSTOMER INTELLIGENCE

22
Journey measurement
23
Strategic research 25
Competitive benchmarking 25
Advanced customer analytics 27
Cross-functional collaboration 28
Dedication to continuous improvement 28
SECTION 4 // CONNECTED EMPLOYEES

29

SECTION 5 // CONTINUOUS INNOVATION

32
Dynamic collection 33
Dynamic reporting 33
Scalability 34
Culture of innovation 34
CONCLUSION 35
ABOUT QUALTRICS

36

Organizational &
Financial Impact
World-class customer experience programs are designed with business
results in mind. Embedding customer insight into each level of the
organization enhances strategic decision-making and enables front-line
teams to take tactical action in ways that influence both customer and
financial metrics.
Mature customer experience programs are designed to achieve these five
business outcomes:

1 Improve customer retention and loyalty

2 Increase customer share of wallet and lifetime value
3 Optimize customer acquisition
4 Reduce cost to serve
5 Improve brand awareness and equity
4

ONE

IMPROVE CUSTOMER RETENTION AND LOYALTY

Reducing customer churn and increasing loyalty are core objectives for most
organizations. Churn includes both attrition and defection, and typically results from
operational factors (poor service, defective product) and strategic factors (competitive

Leading global insurer and asset manager

75% OF BUSINESS GROUPS ACHIEVED #1
LOYALTY LEADERSHIP STATUS

pressure, wrong value proposition).

Continuous client feedback on a single

Customer experience management systems remediate operational failures by pushing

experience management issues across

customer feedback into the activities of front-line teams and enabling data-based
coaching. These programs include case management systems that provide early
alerts and ensure consistent responses to customer feedback. The result is a more
consistent, optimized customer experience that delivers efficient issue resolution.

platform allows Allianz to better address

the end-to-end customer journey. The
result: 75% of Allianz business groups have
achieved #1 loyalty leadership status.

Customer research can help identify the sources of customer attrition that extend
beyond simple service failure. By understanding both the root causes behind customer
sentiment and competitive performance, leaders are able to separate superficial

Were creating a culture of

attrition factors from true cause. This intelligence can drive improvements that resolve

customer centricity within our

the underlying drivers of customer dissatisfaction.

organization. True Customer

Centricity is not a project. Its

REPURCHASE

not a program. Its a culture

Promoters have 3-12X*

and a way of doing business

more Customer Lifetime

that will help us grow and be

Value than Detractors

TEMKIN GROUP

successful for decades.

CHRIS FISHER, CEO, ALLIANZ AGCS

TWO

INCREASE CUSTOMER SHARE OF WALLET AND LIFETIME VALUE

Increased customer share of wallet, average revenue per user (ARPU), and overall
customer lifetime value (CLV) are objectives of most customer experience programs.
Segment-specific research into drivers of upsell and cross-sell can influence
investment priorities and identify the bundled offerings most relevant for each
customer. This research typically involves both customer feedback and operational data,
enabling a richer more actionable view of customer behavior.

// 86% of consumers are willing to pay more for a

The worlds largest contact lens store

better customer experience. BAIN AND CO.

Customer experience limitations often limit the frequency and size of individual
transactions. Post-transaction feedback serves as an ideal point to identify the barriers
to greater customer spending. Managers can leverage customer insights to improve
team performance and adjust service delivery in the ways that minimize required
customer effort. In addition, customer insight can be used by management systems
to provide automated recommendations and alerts, allowing customers to receive the
right offer at the right time. When service levels fall short, case management systems
ensure issues are resolved quickly, resulting in more satisfied customers and a greater
likelihood of repeat purchase.

3.8 PERCENT INCREASE IN PRODUCT REORDERS

Net Promoter Score has surged 13 points

since the companys customer experience
revamp. And the tangible business value?
Since installing a full-scale customer
experience management program, the
company has seen a 3.8 percent increase
in product reorders. That means more than
$135,000 in additional monthly revenue, or
$3.2 million since launch.

// Customers who give scores in the excellent category are 4.5

times more willing to pay a premium for the experience than
customers who have very poor experiences. FORRESTER

// Customers may be very satisfied with your brand and happily

recommend it to othersbut if they like your competitors just as

much (or more), youre losing sales. THE WALLET ALLOCATION RULE

Customer retention is what

drives us. The real value in
this business is the reputation
we build.
6

THREE

OPTIMIZE CUSTOMER ACQUISITION

Customer experience programs are built to accelerate customer
acquisition in ways that drive profitable growth and increase market
share. Critical steps include the following:
1 Identify priority customer segments: Comparing lifetime customer
value and segment size against a cost-to-acquire measurement
allows leaders to focus experience improvements on the customers
that matter.
2 Deliver the right experience: Customer research enables leaders
to determine which experiences, products, and services are most
important to customers.
3 Capture feedback: Capturing real-time feedback allows leaders
to identify both successes and shortcomings and the inhibitors to
improved customer purchase behavior.
4 Adjust what you deliver: Making strategic changes to the
experience and what is delivered can influence customer purchase

Leading international wholesale provider

of reinsurance

3-POINT MARKET SHARE GAIN

A robust customer experience management

program grew overall customer satisfaction
by 27% and boosted NPS +7 points in six
months. Even more important, the program
delivered insights that contributed to a 3
point increase in market share in a highly
competitive industry.

behavior and help better satisfy customer expectations.

Customer feedback is critical to evaluating the cost effectiveness
of acquisition methods. By understand the root underlying purchase
decisions, leaders are able to evaluate the effectiveness of sales
strategies at a segment level. This visibility helps direct spend and
attention to the efforts that result in profitable growth.

Our NPS has risen every

year and closing the loop is
now a seamless process.
7

FOUR

REDUCE COST TO SERVE

Reducing costs and prioritizing investments are core benefits of customer experience
management. Managers can drive positive change when theyre informed by the drivers of
cost to serve by segment, types of service failures, and other factors.
Management systems incentivize optimal and consistent service delivery by providing
visibility to the real-time results of customer interactions. Team and competitive benchmarks
provide valuable context, enabling leaders to identify best practices and focus on
underperforming team members. The result is a greater likelihood of customer satisfaction
and initial task completion. Case management solutions can alert teams to issues before
they occur and ensure issues are resolved quickly and efficiently. In addition, leaders have the
customer and operational insights they need to evaluate which practices and approaches best

Full scale window and door manufacturer

result in customer success. The net result is decreased burden on support teams.
Customer feedback can be used in concert with operational data to measure and track the cost
to retain customers. This metric relates to the total marketing efforts essential to reinforce
loyalty in existing relationships. By identifying key drivers of marketing efficacy and evaluating
against cost to deliver, leaders can invest in the approaches that best deliver ROI. In a similar
manner, customer feedback and analytics can be used to anticipate ROI related to potential

RESOLUTION TIME FROM ONE DAY TO

ONE HOUR

Loyalty and cost savings go hand in hand.

Pella has lowered their overall customer
experience investment by 30% while also

marketing campaigns and experience investments, allowing leaders to plan effectively.

slashing customer resolution time from

Cross-industry research shows that happy customers are more than

responded: repeat purchases are up 5%, and

// 5x as likely to repurchase
// 6x as likely to forgive
// 8x as likely to try other products/services
// 3x as likely to spread positive WoM

Pella improves NPS,

one day to one hour. And customers have

NPS has risen +9 points.

employee engagement, and

case resolution time.

TEMKIN GROUP

Leading provider of smart home technology with

more than 900,000 customers in North America
STRENGTHENING LOOK, FEEL,
AND VOICE OF THE BRAND

FIVE

IMPROVE BRAND AWARENESS AND EQUITY

Customer experience programs seek to change brand detractors to promoters and
brand promoters to evangelists. By identifying the drivers of brand awareness, brand
equity, and share of mind, leaders can invest in the right places. Mature CX companies

System integrations with CRM and dynamic

dashboards are the core of customer
experience management. Streamlined
processes provides better responsiveness and
visibility, reducing overlap and strengthening
the look, feel, and voice of the Vivint brand.

combine analytics and comparative assessments to understand customer behavior and

brand performance in the context of competing options.

Qualtrics has helped

Programs drive brand awareness and improve perception by instilling a greater focus

unite our organization

on the customer at every level of the organization. With incentives and real-time
performance insights, teams can coach and drive service improvement. In addition,
systematic follow up systems encourage representatives to respond to dissatisfied
customers and resolve issues before they turn to public forums to vent their frustration.

and improve our total

customer experience.
9

The 5
Competencies
We encourage organizations to evaluate their
maturity against the five core competencies
discussed in this document, each of
which can be practiced at varying levels of
sophistication.
As organizations improve each of these
competencies, they reap the business
benefits mentioned above: improved loyalty
and retention, greater share of wallet, better
customer acquisition, lower costs to serve,
and improved brand awareness.

10

Program by Maturity Tier

BASIC

FOUNDATIONAL

ADVANCED

STATE OF THE ART

Basic executive
sponsorship for customer
experience measurement
and associated initiatives

Published CX metric goals for

organization, with basic executive
sponsorship for measurement
and associated initiatives

Published CX metric goals for

organization, with executive
sponsorship for measurement
and communication across
functional teams

Culture of CX based on executive

sponsorship and full cross-functional
alignment; values are regularly
communicated and embedded
in incentives

CUSTOMER
EXPERIENCE
MANAGEMENT
SYSTEM

Basic system of
real-time, transactional
customer feedback

Real-time customer feedback

capture, closed-loop follow up
at key touchpoints

Real-time customer feedback

capture, closed-loop follow up at key
touchpoints, with role-based
management across key teams

Systematic feedback capture and case

management across all touch points
with role-based management,
operational integration, and analytics

CUSTOMER
INTELLIGENCE

Basic alignment on need

to understand customer
relationships

Simple relational measurement and

ad-hoc research to identify
priorities; competitive
benchmarking to understand gaps

Relational and strategic customer

research, complemented with
operational benchmarking and
advanced customer analytics

Regular, strategic, sophisticated

research to drive cross-functional
improvements using advanced
customer segmentation and analytics

CONNECTED
EMPLOYEES

Basic alignment on need

to capture and respond
to employee feedback

Begin to capture and respond

to employee feedback

Employee engagement
measurement across key teams,
with reporting and communication
across the organization

Culture of regular employee

engagement measurement, reporting,
and communication across teams, with
regular iniatives to drive improvement

LImited methodology
testing

Basic methodology testing;

report visualization adapts
to business needs

Regular methodology, sampling, and

distribution testing within central
team; visualization adapts to
management reporting

Culture of learning and innovation that

encourages regular enhancements
to methodology, sampling, and
distribution strategies across teams

CULTURE AND
LEADERSHIP

CONTINUOUS
INNOVATION

11

2.1

SECTION

ONE
Culture and Leadership

12

Culture and Leadership

Establishing a customer-centric culture requires executive leadership and cross-functional alignment. The values
and principles leaders communicate must be embedded at each level of the organization, reflect in performance
management targets, and influence strategic priorities. By embedding customer priorities into the organization,
leaders have an additional lever to drive profitability, employee retention, and revenue growth.

1.1

EXECUTIVE SPONSORSHIP
The customer agenda should be a priority at the highest
level. If it is, then executives are held accountable to CX
metrics and regularly communicate successes and account
for shortcomings widely to the company. They communicate
consistently in internal and external channels to keep the
organization accountable. They recognize CX as a key leverage
point for durable competitive advantage and routinely undertake
strategic initiatives to improve.

84%
1 5
of firms aspire to be a CX leader
B U T O N LY

OUT
OF

delivers good or great CX

FORRESTER

13

1.2

1.3

ORGANIZATIONAL ALIGNMENT

COMMON CUSTOMER METRICS

Leadership is visible in the way teams work together to

Organizational alignment requires common metric targets

improve CX metrics and objectives. In leading CX organizations,

that are accepted across the organization. The type of metric

departments share the same customer experience vision,

used matters less than the degree of consistency across

though each addresses different aspects of the challenge.

teams. Metric performance must be widely shared across the

These companies are aligned on common processes and data

organization and implemented in ways that are relevant to

sharing practices. They treat accountability to customer as a

individual team performance.

shared responsibility.
Strong alignment on common metrics allows organizations to
Organizations typically empower a team responsible for the

compare historically, across teams, and against competition.

central management of CX to ensure integrity of the system,

Leaders are able to easily and objectively identify over- and

standardized measurement, and robust goal setting. The team

underperforming teams, understand gaps in relation to peers,

receives sufficient resources and ultimately has the support of

and track progress over time.

executive leaders.

14

1.4

PUBLISHED CUSTOMER VALUES

Leading CX organizations communicate CX values at every
level of the organization. Values should be specific, with a
short vision statement that clearly conveys priorities and how
these priorities translate to action. Organizations may consider

CUSTOMER OBSESSION

Leaders start with the customer and work

backwards. They work vigorously to earn and keep
customer trust. Although leaders pay attention to
competitors, they obsess over customers.

publishing values to customers to communicate the vision and

increas accountability.

WE PURSUE EXCELLENCE

Our dedication to the customer shows in

everything we do.

PASSION FOR CUSTOMERS

We put our customers first in everything we do.

15

2.1

TWO

SECTION

Customer Experience
Management System

16

Customer Experience
Management System
Building a stable, repeatable process for capturing customer feedback at every customer touchpoint and
moment of truth is foundational to CX management. Best-in-class organizations build in mechanisms to
respond to feedback and close the loop at scale with customers. In addition, these organizations provide
teams the relevant, real-time metrics they need to coach their teams and improve how they operate.

2.1

OMNICHANNEL MEASUREMENT
Customers expect to be able to give feedback wherever they
interact with an organization. Capturing feedback at the time of

// WebsiteYour customer experience often begins on your

the experience and through the appropriate channel contributes

website. Digital measurement is critical to understanding the

to greater response rates and overall response quality. Below are

barriers to satisfaction and conversion on your digital sites.

several channels where feedback is critical:

// Contact CentersLeaders use customer feedback and

// Mobile & In-AppCustomer engagement is increasingly

becoming app-centric. Capturing feedback during the app

operational insights to provide data-based coaching and drive

experience and through SMS is particularly critical for younger

greater satisfaction and productivity. Agents have the case

demographics.

management tools they need to close the loop with customers.

// LocationsPost-transaction feedback, site-specific

// SocialCustomers often give valuable feedback over social

channels that would otherwise be unavailable to you. Capturing

measurement, and mystery shopping insights enable retail

feedback over social channels ensures what is expressed

locations to understand and accelerate purchase behavior.

externally can be quickly understood and addressed.

17

2.2

KEY DRIVERS AND ROOT CAUSE ANALYSIS

FROM PAIN TO DELIGHT

Ensuring efficient resolution of individual customer issues is necessary

but not sufficient for long-term improvement. Rather, organizations must
be dedicated to understanding and resolving the root causes of customer
dissatisfaction.
Customer experience measurement, whether it is conducted after a transaction
or simply at a key moment, typically allows customers to indicate their satisfaction,
what is influencing that sentiment, and what can be done to improve. When
merged with operational and transaction-specific data, organizations have
full context into the drivers of customer behavior and sentiment and can take
appropriate action.
Customers often provide valuable feedback in free-form text. Text analysis
tools parse the data to identify common themes and priorities. Sentiment
analysis provides an additional layer of understanding to customer feedback.
One approach to root cause improvement relies on identifying the underlying
drivers of customer pain and delight across the experience as a whole. When
drivers are combined in a 2x2 matrix, this construct allows leaders to prioritize

HYGIENE

improvements in areas that drive the greatest impact to customer satisfaction.

These make or break areas of improvement boost customer delight and
minimize customer pain. Other improvements may be deemed more hygienic,
because they simply reduce customer pain. Improvements that increase customer
delight but fail to remediate pain are also of secondary importance in comparison
to the top right quadrant. Of course, satisfaction drivers that fail to significantly
influence customer delight or pain fall to the bottom of the priority list.
The increasing volume and dispersion of data mean that organizations
increasingly have to rely on statistical analysis to get to the root of customer
issues. Advanced tools make it easy to identify correlations, explain variables,
and gauge statistical significance.
18

2.3

ROLE-SPECIFIC MANAGEMENT
Customer experience programs embed relevant customer and
operational metrics into each level of the organization. Flexible

Dashboard

Executive Dashboard
Summary

Jay Lundeen

Region : Global

role-based dashboards ensure real-time insights and operational

metrics are displayed to the right teams and individuals. With relevant

Integrated Co.

Global

customer information, teams can optimize how they operate in ways

Alerts

that improve customer and business outcomes.

Company NPS

Average Customer Spend

52

For example, executives have access to high-level business and

operational metrics and key drivers at a geography and business

3% QoQ

level. Managers view how their team is performing and provide

Company

60

Q2
2015

Q3
2015

Products

and real-time feedback.

Role-based management means tailored views for each function,
specific to the business objectives of each team. For example, sales
and account level, with insight into the key drivers of win rate.
In contrast, contact center organizations benefit from customer
satisfaction metrics side by side with first call resolution and other

Benchmark

$25.0K
Q1
2015

Q2
2015

Q3
2015

Q4
2015

Avg Customer Spend by Product ($K)

Current

Past 90

Change

Trend

Current

Past 90

Change

Core Product

55

53

+3%

Core Product

15.2

14.8

+3%

Enhanced

54

50

+8%

Enhanced

44.4

44.0

+1%

Consulting

52

51

+2%

Consulting

15.7

16.5

-5%

Services

47

46

-2%

Services

10.0

9.9

-1%

NPS by Region

organizations might display customer feedback at a representative

Company

$30.0K

Q4
2015

NPS by Product

account-level detail and take action based on automated alerts

28.1

0.3k QoQ

50
Q1
2015

data-based coaching, while customer-facing employees can see

Benchmark

Products

Trend

Key Drivers of Dissatisfaction

NPS

Past 90

Change

North America

53

51

+3%

Onboarding
Pricing

LATAM

47

51

-8%

EMEA

52

50

+4%

APAC

51

50

+2%

Trend

Speed of
Implementation

Products

Scalability
On-call Support

productivity metrics, allowing leaders to coach teams and make

decisions with full context.
EXECUTIVES

SALES

RESEARCH AND INSIGHTS

CALL CENTER

Have a unified view of the business,

understand key drivers, and track goals

Improve customer outcomes and

provide data-based coaching

Execute and modify customer

research without vendor approval

Improve productivity and resolution

rates via driver data and scorecards

CX MANAGEMENT

DIGITAL

SERVICES

PRODUCT

Monitor, understand, and report customer

metrics by type and touchpoint

Easily capture feedback, drive conversion,

and resolve customer issues online

Improve customer outcomes and

understand drivers by team and rep

Incorporate customer feedback into

product design and delivery

19

2.4

CLOSING THE LOOP AT SCALE

Mature programs close the loop with all customers, not just detractors.
Typical case management systems provide both managers and
agents the tools they need to track open tickets and take efficient
action to respond to individual customers. Managers are able to
track ticket metrics by team and representative to ensure customer
feedback is resolved efficiently and effectively. With the ability to
track performance vs. target and trend, combined with automated
alerts and reports, managers are empowered to drive performance
and coach with data. At the individual level, employees can view open
tickets and easily take appropriate action. System integrations and
mobile interfaces allow staff to be productive in any setting.
Front-line team adoption is largely influenced by how well case
management systems are embedded in existing processes and tools.
Integration with CRM systems in particular helps merge customer
follow up with standard account management practices and enriches
customer data. Employees should be able to easily view customer
tickets and account information, and then make updates that translate
across systems.

20

2.5

OPERATIONAL INTEGRATION
Operational integration is key to driving adoption across the
organization and ensuring customer measurement results in tactical
action. Critical integrations include CRM systems, communication
tools, and analytics applications.
CRM integrations ensure customer feedback automatically syncs
with customer account detail and transaction history, and that
data modifications made in one program are reflected in the other.
Automated alerts and surveys can be triggered based on customer
account conditions, resulting in greater front-line responsiveness.
Communication tool integrations provide an additional incentive
for organizational adoption. By connecting customer tickets with
standard message channels and allowing relevant users to easily view
and discuss customer data, teams are able to collaborate and take
action in ways that are natural.
Analytics applications allow programs to integrate data with customer
feedback in ways that provide rich context. Digital teams can engage
online customers based on behavioral and profile based criteria, while
these same fields are available to build segment specific profiles and
explain the relationship between variables.

21

2.1

THREE

SECTION

Customer Intelligence

22

Customer Intelligence
Mature organizations cultivate a deep understanding of core customer segments and all
elements of the customer relationship. In addition, they add a competitive layer to provide
context. Advanced customer analytics are critical to deriving the insights that can lead to
strategic, cross-functional improvement.

3.1

JOURNEY MEASUREMENT
Customer satisfaction is more than a summation of touchpoints. It
is also a reflection of key moments across the customer experience.
Mapping customer journeys by segment allows organizations to
understand the unique paths customers take. These views provide a
basis for measuring the following:
Barriers customers face to accomplishing the tasks they undertake
Drivers of satisfaction or dissatisfaction overall and at each
key moment
Drivers of customer acquisition, retention, and upsell/cross-sell
Relative importance of each key stage of the customer journey
Relative importance and customer volume for each journey
Leading CX organizations tie journey performance metrics to actions,
ensuring that teams optimize the experiences that matter. Central
measurement teams form partnerships with functional teams that
allow journey performance to become real and impactful.

23

MEASURE JOURNEYS, NOT JUST INTERACTIONS

Measuring satisfaction on customer journeys is 30 percent more predictive of overall customer

satisfaction than measuring happiness for each individual interaction. In addition, maximizing
satisfaction with customer journeys has the potential not only to increase customer satisfaction by 20
percent but also to lift revenue by up to 15 percent while lowering the cost of serving customers by as
much as 20 percent.
MCKINSEY & COMPANY

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3.2

3.3

STRATEGIC RESEARCH

COMPETITIVE BENCHMARKING

Deep research on core customer topics is critical to

Performance improvement must be measured against

understanding customer feedback. Mature organizations are

competitive benchmarks if improvements are to translate into

able to tie transactional customer feedback and insights to

market gains. Organizations that capture specific, operational

research that seeks to clarify root causes of satisfaction and

level benchmarks empower leaders to beat the competition

loyalty, and create the level of intelligence necessary to support

where it matters to customers.

action. This alignment often requires close collaboration and

data sharing across research and functional teams, which must
work in concert to identify topics, launch meaningful research,
and enact relevant research findings.

In addition to industry benchmarks, internal comparisons

versus historical performance allow organizations to isolate
which performance gaps originate from internal competency,
and which result from pure competitive differences. Leaders

A second component of strategic research is relational

are able to identify sources of best practice and focus

measurement, which enables organizations to have a holistic

improvement on the appropriate individuals.

view of key account health and satisfaction. Most relevant for

B2B companies, regular assessments of relational satisfaction
provides customers an opportunity to indicate their likelihood
to renew or increase spending, and key drivers of satisfaction.
Relational surveys also provide an important opportunity for
account managers to capture feedback and have an early alert
for at-risk customers.

25

Organizations that capture specific, operational

level benchmarks empower leaders to beat the
competition where it matters to customers.

3.4

ADVANCED CUSTOMER ANALYTICS

Sophisticated customer intelligence requires advanced
customer analytics. From regression-based driver analysis to
cluster and factor analysis, analytics can help identify the key
insights necessary to take strategic action.
A significant portion of customer feedback exists in open-form

Income is very subtly positively correlated with Satisfaction

text. Topic analysis tools allow organizations to connect related

Show statistical test results

issues to better understand root causes, while sentiment

analysis tools allow for an additional dimension of understanding

10

from verbatim responses. Success depends on the ability of

leaders to translate and display these results in ways that help

Statistical analysis plays a similar role with quantified data,

allowing organizations to identify drivers of satisfaction through
regression analysis. Organizations can explore relationships, test
statistical significance, and interpret results.

// Success depends on the ability of leaders to

translate and display topic analysis results in ways

that help front-line teams take tactical action.

SATISFACTION (NPS )

front-line teams take tactical action.

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

200

220

240

INCOME

Pattern recognition and predictive analytics enable leaders to

be proactive on the issues that matter for customers. When
paired with management systems, predictive tools provide
real time alerts for teams. These alerts can be configured to
identify cross-sell or upsell opportunities, or they can provide
an early warning for at-risk customers.

27

3.5

3.6

CROSS-FUNCTIONAL COLLABORATION

DEDICATION TO CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT

Regular cross-functional collaboration is a hallmark of superior

A culture of continuous, cross-functional improvement ensures

CX organizations. This alignment is a product of integrated

strategic research leads to action. Improvement mandates must

systems, common processes, and a commitment to an open

be embedded in incentives and supported by leadership, creating

culture. Data is readily available and shared across teams to

an environment that encourages innovation.

encourage joint participation in program and research efforts.

Regular benchmarking often provides the context and incentive
Enhanced data sharing results in a more nuanced view of the

organizations need to direct investments for customer experience

customer and customer interactions. Teams are able to address

improvement. Mature organizations also recognize the need to

common challenges, better identify research topics, and more

see beyond benchmarks to the financial targets and business

readily collaborate on improvement opportunities.

objectives that provide the ultimate goal of research activities.

28

2.1

FOUR

SECTION

Connected Employees

29

Connected Employees
An engaged workforce is vital for the long-term success of any customer-centric company. CX
leaders create an environment that builds customer centricity through the employee lifecycle
-- from recruitment to exit. As employees become more engaged, they naturally produce the
customer experiences critical to loyalty and retention. Managing employee engagement allows
leaders to understand and reomove the barriers to improved customer experience delivery.

EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT LEADS TO SUPERIOR CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE AND FINANCIAL RESULTS

Operating Strategy and

Service Delivery System

Employee
Retention
Internal
Service
Quality

Revenue
Growth
External
Service
Value

EMPLOYEE
SATISFACTION

Employee
Productivity

Customer
Satisfaction

Customer
Loyalty

Profitability

30

4.1

Mature organizations measure the engagement of their teams with

The best employee engagement programs systematically diagnose

regular company-wide surveys and periodic pulse measurement. Senior

key drivers of employee engagementboth at a company level and

leaders can see engagement drivers across the company, and watch

a group level. These programs capitalize on company strengths and

them change in near real-time. Employee feedback becomes particularly

flag areas of opportunity that the company can then act on, resulting

relevant when compared side-by-side to customer feedback.

in a more engaged workforce that buys into the company culture

and direction.

These leaders then regularly communicate aggregated engagement

drivers to their teams and take appropriate action. This process forms a
virtuous cycle that ultimately results in improved employee, customer,
and business outcomes:

1
Customers
interact with the
organization and
offer feedback

Improved employee
engagement results in
improved customer
experience

Employees serve
customers and
offer feedback

Companies with the highest

engagement scores had average
one-year operating margins of more
than 27%, while companies with low

Leaders take action

to improve
engagement with
their respective
teams

Leaders synthesize
feedback from both
groups to optimize
the interactions

engagement scores had average

operating margins of less than 10%.
WILLIS TOWERS WATSON

31

2.1

FIVE

SECTION

Continuous Innovation

32

Continuous Innovation
Mature programs are built to evolve with the needs of the business and changing market
conditions. As an organization adds new employees, launches new products, enters new
markets, and faces changing strategic situations, CX programs must be built to adapt.
In addition, these organizations encourage a culture of research methodology rigor that
optimizes data quality and encourages internal thought leadership.

5.1

5.2

DYNAMIC SAMPLING

DYNAMIC REPORTING

Mature CX organizations are thought leaders; they are

As leadership and business priorities change, reporting and

committed to data quality and research methodology rigor.

dashboards must be able to respond. Users must be able to

Distribution methods, samples, and methodologies are

adjust reporting easily and ensure the appropriate views are never

constantly tested with an eye toward optimizing data quality.

offline. Viewing and interacting with reports should be intuitive,

Adding new channels and making changes to methodology is

flexible, and able to drill-down to the insights that matter.

simple and intuitive. Collection and measurement programs

progress, learn, and adjustwithout required vendor involvement.

// Program improvements should be driven by internal

priorities and not vendor timelines.

In sum, leading CX organizations leverage reporting and analysis

tools to accelerate innovation. Users are able to easily modify
the analysis necessary to make critical business decisions. Their
tools allow them to share and collaborate on findings in ways that
garner organizational support.

33

5.3

5.4

SCALABILITY

CULTURE OF INNOVATION

Mature CX programs scale easily and quickly to capture

Leading CX organizations are built on a foundation of testing,

new products, expand to new geographies, and incorporate

innovation, and research expertise. They create a culture that values

new teams. The intuitive nature of the tools and dashboards

learning, iteration, and a commitment to continuous improvement.

encourages adoption and makes implementation natural.

// Leading CX programs never limit themselves

These organizations constantly seek to improve how they use

customer insights and analytics, not just for their own sake

only to operations. They drive strategic

discussions about the business.

but to improve business and financial performance. This drive

The net result is a program that is in demand across the

analytics to advanced data integrations, the program is never

organization based on its ability to incorporate new data,

complete. Likewise, customer experience is never perfected, it

integrate with existing systems, and expand to new channels.

is simply enhanced one step at a time.

influences how they invest in customer experience management

and the capabilities they seek to build. From cross-vertical

Security and controls are robust and easy to use.

34

Conclusion
Customer experience management is a business
imperative. Companies that prioritize customer

CXM

experience outperform customer experience laggards

in stock returns by an average of nearly 80%. Satisfied
customers have significantly higher lifetime value and
freely promote their favorite brands. In fact, promoters are
81% more likely to repurchase compared with passives
(44%) and detractors (16%), according to the Temkin
Group. Unhappy customers, on the other hand, churn
heavily and, according to Dimensional Research, 95% of
these unhappy customers will tell others about their bad

Continuous
Innovation

experience, causing additional attrition.

Culture and
Leadership
CUSTOMER
EXPERIENCE
MANAGEMENT

The competencies outlined in this document show

organizations large and small how to focus on customer
needs, inject that view into the company, and use those
customer insights to drive business results. Each of these
competencies strengthens the others, and together
they build a reinforcing culture. Done right, customer
experience management drives financial results through

Connected
Employee

CX Mgmt
System

better customer acquisition, improved customer retention

and loyalty, reduced costs to serve, increased share of
wallet, and better brand awareness.
Many companies pay lip service to these principles. Few

Customer
Intelligence

commit fully and reap the rewards of an authentic focus

on customer experience.

35

Qualtrics offers the worlds leading

Customer Experience Management
Platform. More than 8,500 enterprises
worldwide, including half of the Fortune
100 and all of the top 100 business
schools, rely on Qualtrics.

333 W River Park Drive

Provo, UT 84604
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