Unprecedented Growth

Chief customer officers and chief experience officers were once a small community of visionaries and practitioners pioneering customer experience (CX) across industries. But we’ve seen more than 1,000% growth in the CX executive role in just five years, and in that time, many have turned that new frontier into an established practice and a successful career.

We see CX execs present across almost all industries, with strong showings in B2B technology firms and B2C financial institutions. And those who are successful in their roles are executives at their core — knowing how to build a compelling business case and collaborate at the very top to drive action.

Two Types Of CX Transformation Leaders

We found that CX execs vary in their approach to CX transformations. Broadly, they fall into two types, and both have been equally successful depending on the needs of the organization:

  • Some act like a ship pilot, who guides a vessel out of a harbor and into open water, where it continues its voyage. The pilot then leaves to guide the next vessel on the start of its journey. These are highly successful as companies with low CX maturity begin their culture-change journey.
  • Other execs act more like a ship captain, who manages the ongoing voyage of transformation for the indefinite future. Captains might take over from pilots or start the voyage themselves, but however they begin, they stay to assume ongoing operation of parts of the broader business and keep control for the long haul.

In “The Number Of CX Executives Grew More Than 1,000% Over Five Years,” we give a glimpse into the success stories of those who fall into these two categories. The best part of this research is that it is never-ending. In a follow-up report, I will be going deeper into how to gain executive alignment for a CX transformation.

In the meantime, I am looking forward to hearing more success stories from those of you attending CX NYC on June 11–12!