Why do so many customer experience initiatives fail to gain traction? Often, the challenge isn’t the strategy itself, but how we build bridges with skeptical leaders.
CX leadership requires empathy, strategy, and communication. Stepping into a CX role means asking colleagues to embrace change, which can feel like added pressure. The most successful CX leaders recognize this challenge and approach it with empathy, connecting the dots between customer satisfaction and departmental goals—whether that’s showing finance how retention boosts revenue or demonstrating to operations how journey improvements reduce costs.
Effective CX leaders also make abstract ideas tangible through tools like journey mapping, customer feedback videos, and direct quotes. These bring the customer experience to life, helping leaders understand how their decisions affect the customer. By inviting participation early, you turn resistance into collaboration.
Customer experience is a commitment, not a department. As your initiatives grow, position yourself as a bridge—helping others see how CX can align with their goals—and watch them adopt customer-focused projects on their own.
Curious about where to focus your CX leadership efforts? Visit cxicompass.com to answer 11 simple questions and receive personalized guidance on your next steps. Your journey to organizational alignment starts with understanding that change happens with people, not to them.
Resources Mentioned:
Ultimate Guide to Customer Journey Maps
CX Success Statement Workbook
Take the CXI Compass™ assessment
Explore our Learning Center
Want to ask a question about this episode – or another CX issue? Leave Jeannie a voicemail at askjeannie.vip – and remember to follow her on LinkedIn!
Curious about how Jeannie Walters, CCXP, and the Experience Investigators team can help you Create Fewer Ruined Days for Your Customers™? Let’s talk!
Jeannie is an award-winning customer experience expert, international keynote speaker, and sought-after business coach who is trailblazing the movement from “Reactive Customer Service” to “Proactive Customer and Employee Experience.” More than 500,000 people have learned from her CX courses on LinkedIn Learning, and her insights have been featured in Forbes, The Chicago Tribune, The Wall Street Journal and NPR.
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