What does a Chief Customer Experience Officer actually do?

CEO, CTO, CFO and COO: In companies we encounter many leadership figures with a variety of tasks. But not everyone knows what a Chief Customer Experience Officer (CXO for short) is or what exactly they actually do.

The work of the customer experience officer is particularly important for the success of the company. It aligns the company more closely with its customers, puts their wishes and needs at the center of decision-making and ensures that management staff have a better understanding of customers.

Actually, every company benefits from a Chief Customer Experience Officer (CXO)

All important areas in the company have their chief. For IT, which is so important today, this is, for example, the Chief Information Officer or CIO. He ensures that the necessary IT infrastructure is available for daily work and that it is up to date.

The situation is similar in practically all other important areas of companies such as finance, compliance or marketing. But who actually represents the interests of the company’s customers? There was no chief for this in the past. But that changes with the CXO. It finally gives customer interest the importance it deserves.

Most companies still do without the Chief Customer Experience Officer

The starting signal for the development of this new position was an article in the Harvard Business Review in 2011. This new leadership figure was mentioned for the first time in the article The Rise of the Chief Customer Officer. But how did this development come about?

The authors noted at the time that increasingly demanding customers expect companies to be more responsive to their needs. With the increasing expectations on the customer side, it was clear that there had to be someone responsible in the company who was responsible for customer orientation. Because customer satisfaction and customer trust are a success factor for companies. The CXO was born.

Amazon is leading the way

Anyone who finds out about the spread of CXO in companies today will be surprised at first glance. In fact, there are only a few corresponding vacancies. But some heavyweights in the business world are leading by example and are already relying on the skills and advantages of the CXO. Amazon is the first to be mentioned here.

In e-commerce, no competitor can afford to ignore customer interests. Buyers here are particularly demanding; an alternative web shop from the competition is just a click away. Countless support requests are received every day and customers have many opportunities to express their satisfaction or dissatisfaction, for example in the form of comments.

Amazon relied on the CXO early on in order to accommodate customers as much as possible. The company is known in the industry for its customer focus and very good service and support. This is no coincidence, because with the CXO this important task is specifically assigned to a person in the company. This has given Amazon strong growth and the company is supported by high customer satisfaction.

Amazon itself claims to be the most customer-centric company in the world. It’s no surprise that there is a corresponding position in the form of the Chief Customer Experience Officer (CXO).

Colleagues from marketing and sales benefit

Marketing is one of the departments that has always pushed for greater customer focus. Data driven marketing, for example, uses customer data, analyzes it and aims to gain a better understanding of customer requirements. If you understand the customer better, you can target marketing measures more precisely.

It is therefore convenient for employees in marketing and sales when, as part of a corresponding transformation process, the customer returns to the company as the focus of consideration.

Some companies go one step further and combine the previous marketing and sales departments into the newly created customer experience area. Because of course there are overlaps in content. Customer experience does not always complement marketing and sales, but rather merges with them.

This concept is about real operational responsibility and not an insignificant staff position. This could also be one of the reasons why so far only a few companies have introduced the CXO. The changes are far-reaching, and decision-makers may shy away from tackling this transformation.

These are the tasks of the CXO

But what specific activities does the CXO take on in practice? His main task is to optimize the interaction between the brand and the customer base. The company wants to control how customers perceive the brand and the various products and services it offers.

Many of the CXO’s specific measures relate to the company’s website and the website in general. It optimizes the website and offers customers the most profitable interactive experience possible. He does a range of other media work and is present on social media, for example.

In some cases, the CXO himself is the figurehead at the center of the measures. This is often the case when the CEO takes on the role of CXO. A well-known example of this would be Elon Musk from Tesla. These CEOs actively care about the customer experience and continually work to improve the customer experience through channels like Twitter.

Your concern is that people perceive the brand in a certain desired way. This is an extremely demanding task that requires a lot of communication skills. It is important for the CXO or possibly the CEO to use social media confidently.

The general rule, however, is that another manager fills the role of Chief Customer Experience Officer (CXO). This makes sense simply because this distribution of roles relieves the burden on the CEO. Not many companies have the necessary charismatic figures who achieve a high level of public impact. However, the CXO can also work in the background and achieve and manage improvements in the customer experience.

Conclusion

The Chief Customer Experience Officer (CXO) fills an important gap in the leadership structure of companies. Customer experience is a crucial factor today, and successful companies are trying to manage it. This is best achieved with an additional position. Of course, the concept can only work if this new manager is given the appropriate decision-making authority and his own budget.

Especially in times of social media, companies cannot leave the customer experience to their own devices. Intervention is urgently required here, the CXO can take on this task and fulfill it excellently. Modern companies are therefore concerned with the advantages of the CXO.