Editorial
A couple of years ago I wrote that the CX profession had reached its teenage years. I argued that the discipline had grown from infancy to its soul-searching teenager era, grappling with “coming of age” questions of identity and striving to find its place within organizations.
We’ve matured a bit since 2023, in large part spurred by steep layoffs in the field. Nothing like a crisis to force introspection and meaningful growth. Midway through 2025, we’ve grown out of adolescence and headed off to college.
Like many college students, we’re still trying to find our identity – where best to sit in organizations, what to call ourselves (Customer Experience vs Customer Success), and how to clearly define what we do.
But much like a college student away from home for the first time, the CX profession is learning four fundamental lessons that will help it mature to adulthood. To deliver the most value as a CX pro, you must incorporate them into your everyday practice.
Table of Contents
- 1. Focus on Business Results
- 2. Nurture Stakeholder Relationships
- 3. Be the Glue, Not Another Silo
- 4. Define the Function
- Learning to Adult
1. Focus on Business Results
How Customer Experience Leaders Prove Financial Value
As a CX pro, you must be able to show the financial impact you make to your organization’s top and bottom lines.
- How much incremental revenue is the CX function generating, via increased renewals, upsells and cross-sells?
- What is the impact to Net and Gross Renewal Rates?
- How much money is the function saving via reduced operational expenses, tech stack consolidation or by reducing customer support costs via implementing quality self-service options?
Engage finance and the relevant business teams to agree upon a formula for quantifying these savings, so that your results are adopted by the organization. The key is to measure what matters to your organization’s leaders and regularly report results to them.
Traditional CX metrics like Net Promoter Score (NPS), Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) and Customer Effort Score (CES) remain important for tactical optimization, much like marketers use open rates and click-throughs to improve campaigns. But to secure budgets and executive support, it’s essential to connect your work to business KPIs.
Related Article: Top Customer Experience Metrics That Matter Today
CX Metrics vs. Business KPIs
This table contrasts tactical CX measurements with the business outcomes executives care about most.
| CX Metric | Related Business KPI |
|---|---|
| Net Promoter Score (NPS) | Customer retention rate, referral revenue |
| Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) | Renewal rates, repeat purchase value |
| Customer Effort Score (CES) | Support cost reduction, churn decrease |
| Journey mapping insights | Sales conversion rates, upsell opportunities |
| Voice of the Customer data | Product adoption, feature utilization |
2. Nurture Stakeholder Relationships
Building Executive Alignment Around CX Priorities
Building strong relationships with the C-Suite and line of business stakeholders is essential. CX leaders need to regularly demonstrate how your work directly impacts the metrics that matter to each leader. If you’re not sure what your stakeholders care about, ask them.
Then identify how your work directly impacts the KPIs they’re compensated on. This way, the CX function becomes fundamental to each part of the business. Ideally, you’ll gain a seat on the functional leader’s extended leadership team, much like legal and HR often do.
3. Be the Glue, Not Another Silo
Connecting Teams and Technology for a Seamless Customer Experience
CX doesn’t need to own every customer touchpoint, but it must act as the glue that binds organizational siloes in order to create the connected experience customers expect. Your team will succeed by connecting data, processes, technology and teams across Product, Marketing, Support, IT and Sales.
Customers’ touchpoints with an organization cross all of these disparate and often siloed departments; connecting them internally is the only way to deliver customers personalized, proactive and multichannel experiences.
That experience — and thus CX’s remit — covers every interaction and touchpoint, both human and digital. CX doesn’t own every touchpoint; it owns the orchestration of the customer experience across interactions and may own some components. Additionally, building these alliances leads to improved financial results, cost sharing and stronger stakeholder support for your CX team.
4. Define the Function
Clarifying What CX Is—and Isn’t—for Long-Term Success
Perhaps the most persistent challenge CX faces as it matures is defining what the function is — and what it isn’t. Without being able to do so, CX departments have often failed to articulate why they’re important to organizations. This has made them vulnerable to cuts by CEOs looking to tighten their belts amid economic uncertainty.
As a CX pro, you must clarify your team’s role as a strategic business function focused on optimizing the totality of the end-to-end customer experience in order to drive business results.
Equally important is defining what CX is not. It is not just customer support rebranded. It isn’t post-sales marketing, seeking to create awareness of new features or drive webinar attendance. Your CX team focuses on driving adoption of those new features so that customers are more likely to get value from them and thus be more likely to renew their purchases. Similarly, although CX components such as journey mapping and voice of the customer programs are important, they are not the whole strategic CX function.
If CEOs and CFOs can’t clearly define the function, its strategic importance and the value it brings to organizations, they will hesitate to invest in it, especially as other clearly defined, organizations — Sales, IT, Finance, etc. — vie for the same dollars.
Related Article: How the New AI Math Challenges Customer Experience ROI
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Four Lessons for Customer Experience Maturity
Each lesson represents a step toward positioning CX as a core strategic business function.
| Lesson | Key Takeaway |
|---|---|
| Focus on Business Results | Connect CX work to revenue growth, cost savings and organizational KPIs. |
| Nurture Stakeholder Relationships | Align with C-Suite and line of business leaders to gain influence and support. |
| Be the Glue, Not Another Silo | Orchestrate cross-departmental efforts for a unified customer experience. |
| Define the Function | Clarify CX’s strategic role and boundaries to avoid redundancy and budget cuts. |
Learning to Adult
Why the Next Stage of Customer Experience Maturity Matters
CX has come a long way since its awkward adolescence. The profession is now in its college years: more confident while more aware of greater responsibility, more strategic while still vying to be taken as seriously as older disciplines.
Maturing to full adulthood will require even greater clarity, accountability and impact. For those willing to learn and grow, the opportunity to shape the future of business and the profession has never been greater.
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