MAL57:23 | Page 58

CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

The Whys And Wherefores And Woes Of CX Leadership

By Carolyne Gathuru

Why are Customer Experience professionals in a continual abyss of lamentation about CX strategy and initiatives not being given due recognition and due priority ?

Why is there a relatively well understood need for Customer Experience excellence for business success but an even bigger resistance to budget allocations for delivery ?

Why is Customer Experience excellence still not as entrenched in the boardroom as other business facets that take center stage for leadership and governance discussions ?

The CX battle still rages and the constant need for justification , rationalization and substantiation continues to wrinkle the brow and crease the foreheads of CX Leaders and Teams . There is thus need for a # CXLivesMatter movement that seeks to re-write the script , and re-wire the thinking around CX from a leadership and impact driven perspective , to enable a place at the proverbial corporate table . That being said , what petitions do CX leaders and practitioners need to bring to the ‘ CX

March to Freedom ’ to ensure the chants and placards communicate the need for a massive and transformative turn around ?

CX Leadership

There are three very famous sayings from acclaimed business and management consultants and gurus that are beautiful in their intent about Customer Experience , and not primarily what it is , but what it is not . These revolve around : CX not being a department , but an attitude ; CX not being a department but everyone ’ s job ; and CX not being a department but a philosophy .

Quite awesome in their positioning of CX and where it should be , and even more awesome when circulated and displayed on organizational walls , notice boards and training material . What ’ s not awesome is the general lack of uptake and implementation of the same ethos to move beyond words to works .

There are very many training and capacity building programmes for leaders dubbed ‘ X ’ for non ‘ X ’, key in point - Finance for

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The die is cast in favor of advocacy and activism for abolition of mediocre CX leadership and adoption of CX centered leadership . Is this a pipe dream ? Is it possible to deliver a turnround in both the public and private sector ? The compelling case for CX evangelism remains uncontested .

Non-Finance Managers , HR for Non-HR Managers and the list goes on … Isn ’ t it time that there was a must - undergo programme for anyone leading or managing teams on CX for Non CX Leaders ?

CX is culture driven and an organization ’ s culture is driven right from the top at board level , cascading down the organization structure to all parties up to and including outsourced third-party service personnel . It thus takes on naturally that the Board and CEO of every organization need to be the drivers and inculcators of CX excellence centrality company wide .

How would this be possible though if there are no mandatory programmes for leadership to undertake to ensure they live and breathe CX ? How would this drive for delightful customer experiences that reverberate through the entire organization come to pass when the key drivers lack the requisite CX driving licenses ?

In the CX March to freedom there needs to be a big placard demanding that Organizational Leadership take up CX learning programmes or go home !

CX Positioning

Customer experience excellence and the bedrock of customer service distinction on which it stands as an outcome , is continually being embraced as a business must-have and business must-do . There has been the gradual but consistent emergence of various CX roles and positions within business functions , and the clarity of deliverables keep being defined and redefined from business sector to sector .

The growth of CX professionals has been

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