Rise of the Customer Experience Executive

WRITTEN BY ANNETTE FRANZ, CCXP About Quadient PROBLEM STATEMENT: As more and more products become commoditized, the key brand differentiator is the customer experience. Given that, there’s a real need for companies to put forth an organized and aligned effort to focus, nay obsess, over customers and their experience. That focus does not happen on its own and requires a critical leadership role to drive and champion it throughout the organization.

What is Customer Experience?

We can’t even begin to explain this leadership role Many people confuse customer experience with custom- without having a clear understanding of how customer service, but they are not one and the same. Customer er experience is defined. experience is actually the “umbrella discipline,” so to speak. “Customer service is what happens when the customer expe- In its simplest definition, customer experience is (a) rience breaks down.” That’s how Chris Zane, owner of Zane’s the sum of all the interactions that a customer has Cycles, defines or differentiates the two. Customer service with a company over the course of the relationship is just one aspect, one touchpoint in the overall customer and includes (b) the customer’s feelings, emotions, experience; servicing customers is one action of many that and perceptions of the brand during the course of comprises the customer experience. those interactions. Examples of “interactions” include: making a purchase, using the product, viewing According to author Peter Drucker, the purpose of a business statements, reading correspondence, calling support, is to create and to nurture a customer. When companies visiting the company’s website, receiving an email focus on the customer and the experience rather than on from the company, receiving notifications on their maximizing shareholder value, magical things happen. The mobile app, and more. return on investment (ROI) is great, for all constituents. What is This Customer-Focused Leadership Role?

The customer-focused leadership role mentioned previously comes with a variety of different titles. In some organizations, the Chief Marketing Offi- cer (CMO) or the Chief Information Officer (CIO) takes on the role. In a perfect world, the role is a C-level position with “customer” in the name that reports to the CEO; some organizations appoint a Vice President of Customer Experience instead of a C-level person. For the purpose of this paper, let’s assume it’s a C-level role (though that absolutely doesn’t discount the VP title, role, or authority).

More specifically, the Chief Customer Officer The CXO must understand the customer, her needs You’ve probably heard or seen various titles even for Council defines the CCO as: and her tasks to be done, and then align performance the C-level position, including Chief Customer Officer toward those desired customer outcomes with business (CCO), Chief Customer Experience Officer (CCXO), “An executive who provides the comprehensive and outcomes. That’s all very high level to say that the CXO Chief Experience Officer or Customer Experience authoritative view of the customer and creates corpo- champions the customer throughout the organization, Officer (CXO), etc. Don’t be confused by the alphabet rate and customer strategy at the highest levels of the ensuring that she’s always at the center of all business soup; they all refer to the same role or position: the company to maximize customer acquisition, retention, decisions, that no products are designed, no processes C-level executive who champions, or advocates for the and profitability.” are outlined, and no policies are approved without think- customer and their needs throughout the organization. ing about the impact on the customer.

CCO IS: “AN EXECUTIVE WHO PROVIDES THE COMPREHENSIVE AND AUTHORITATIVE VIEW OF THE CUSTOMER AND CREATES CORPORATE AND CUSTOMER STRATEGY AT THE HIGHEST LEVELS OF THE COMPANY TO MAXIMIZE CUSTOMER ACQUISITION, RETENTION, AND PROFITABILITY.” Does Every Company Need a CXO?

For the purpose of this paper, we’ll refer to the C-level role as CXO, which encompasses any one of the title options mentioned in the previous section.

Why is this position necessary? Does every organization need a CXO? How do you know if your company needs a CXO? Quite simply, it’s time to create memorable customer That’s a tough question that we hate to answer with, experiences! And the customer needs a representative “No,” but some truly don’t. Oftentimes, larger organiza- Without even thinking twice, the answer seems obvious: in the executive suite who represents him and his needs. tions (probably even the more-complex companies) that every company needs one! But, we know that’s not the Without someone dedicated to shepherding the voice of need to break down silos or unite and coordinate siloed case; we need to consider where your company’s culture the customer and the needs of the customer throughout efforts to focus on the customer need this type of role to falls on the customer-focused continuum. If the CEO has the organization, it’s really difficult to transform the orga- ensure that that happens. Others? Perhaps not. Look at successfully focused the organization on the customer nization’s culture to one that is customer-obsessed or to Zappos. Tony Hsieh is a CEO who is customer obsessed and drives customer-centric behavior internally, then your redirect the focus onto the customer as opposed to solely and has achieved customer experience heaven. Same company is probably in solid standings when it comes on the business of creating shareholder value. goes for Amazon: Jeff Bezos is also a customer-obsessed to the customer. But if your CEO hasn’t, or if you’re not CEO. Think of The Ritz-Carlton. Starbucks. Nordstrom. sure what a customer-focused organization looks like, And more. These organizations have CEOs at the helm consider the following. who serve the role of uniting and aligning for the benefit of the customer. They built their companies with the customer in mind. Top of mind.

THE CUSTOMER NEEDS A REPRESENTATIVE IN THE EXECUTIVE SUITE WHO REPRESENTS HIM AND HIS NEEDS. Does Every Company Need a CXO? How do you know if your company needs a CXO?

• Is there an executive in your organization • Do employees understand how their work • Does your company have a customer expe- who represents, champions, or advocates matters and how it impacts the customer rience vision? for the customer every day, in every meet- and his experience? ing, for every decision? • Is the customer and his experience woven • Do employees know who the customer is deeply into the DNA of your company? Or • Do your executives focus on the financials and what it means to deliver a great cus- are they simply recognized and focused on and other metrics, as well as shareholder tomer experience? within individual departments or a single value, over customers and customer out- department? comes? • Are employees recognized and rewarded for delivering a great experience? • Is there an executive in your organization • Is there someone who provides that who ensures that the entire organization common definition or understanding for • Is there an executive in your organization is on the same page when it comes to the organization of what it means to be who spearheads customer listening efforts customer initiatives? customer focused? And how your organi- across the organization, across various zation will achieve customer-centricity? touchpoints?

• Is there someone who brings together dis- • Is there an executive in your organization parate data sources to create a single view who takes action or who develops action of customers and to deliver personalized plans based on customer listening and and proactive experiences for them? journey mapping efforts?

• Is there clear alignment between customer expectations and how your organization will achieve them?

• Have you defined performance metrics that everyone understands and has agreed to? When you think of the CXO role, think “change agent.” The CXO has a long roster of to-dos, but ultimately, she’s driving change within the organization, i.e., culture change, customer experience change, and more. What are the CXO’s Critical Success Factors?

The CXO role is an important one, but the individual in this role doesn’t oper- ate in a vacuum. At the same time, she can’t be set up for success without a few critical success factors in place:

1 2 3 4 5 6

The position must All executives must Similarly, they must under- There is a cross-func- The CXO must show Employees must report to the CEO, and be on board to trans- stand the importance of tional team in place the linkage between be engaged and the CEO must be 100% form the culture (and the customer to the busi- to ensure the work customer experience empowered: without committed to the work collaborate toward ness (and work together to gets done, organiza- improvement initiatives them, there is no cus- that lies ahead. that goal). improve the experience, i.e., tion-wide. and financial results tomer experience. silos must be broken down). (i.e., ROI).

Thinking about what it takes to transform the organization’s way of thinking and way of doing business, there are two key challenges to a CXO’s success in her role. Given the six critical success factors noted above, clearly, there are more than two challenges, but these two are critical:

Missing a customer-centric culture. Lacking alignment with peers. While this may sound like a circular argument because the CXO is supposed to be helping to create Just because you’re a customer champion doesn’t mean that everyone a customer-centric culture, sadly, it is not. Culture and the employee experience typically reside else- on the executive team is. There are often still a few executives who where. The CXO feeds into and facilitates cross-functional interaction, but culture is typically driven need to be sold on the concept of customer-centricity. Is your orga- at the top, by the CEO. And the employee experience typically resides at the HR and manager level. nization siloed? It may well be because your executives aren’t on the Again, the CXO can educate and support efforts to educate and empower employees, but ulti- same page. If they were, it should be a lot easier to communicate more mately, that ownership resides elsewhere. Ultimately, the better name for this particular challenge is efficiently, share data, and work together in a more-cohesive manner. probably lack of CEO commitment. While the customer experience executive needs to report to the In the interest of the customer. And that would then trickle down to CEO, when it’s not a C-level position, it often gets relegated to “still fighting for CEO commitment.” their employees and how they are managed and empowered.

JUST BECAUSE YOU’RE A CUSTOMER CHAMPION DOESN’T MEAN THAT EVERYONE ON THE EXECUTIVE TEAM IS. THERE ARE OFTEN STILL A FEW EXECUTIVES WHO NEED TO BE SOLD ON THE CONCEPT OF CUSTOMER-CENTRICITY. Why Does Your Company Need a CXO?

CX Leaders When it comes to the importance of focusing returns were on the customer and his experience, that’s 35 points higher probably a no-brainer for some folks; for oth- than the S&P 500 Index. ers, well, as W. Edwards Deming said, “In God we trust; all others must bring data.” So let’s CX Laggards returns were take a look at some data. While the sources 45 points Lower and the dates vary, we wanted to be sure to than the S&P incorporate global statistics about the impor- 500 Index. tance of customer experience to the business.

According to Watermark In 2005, Bain found that 80% of executives believed they tive or leader responsible for all customer Consulting’s The 2015 delivered a “superior experience” to their customers. experiences. Of those who did, it’s interest- Customer Experience ROI But when they then asked customers about their own ing to note the following ownership: Study, CX leaders outperform perceptions, they discovered that only 8% of companies CX laggards, as follows: were really delivering. While this is a longstanding stat • 36% reported that a Board and one that may have closed only slightly since 2005, it executive owns all of CX • Leaders outperformed the broader continues to be referred to as the “CX perception gap.” market, generating a total return And it’s real, as noted in this next statistic. • 28% reported that a non-Board that was 35 points higher than manager owns all of CX, and the S&P 500 Index. In Dimension Data’s 2017 Global Customer Experience Benchmarking Report , they report that 71% of respon- • 28% reported that a manager • Laggards trailed far behind, dents cite customer experience delivery as their top of each contact manager owns posting a total return that was strategic performance measure, but only one in 10 call their piece of the CX puzzle. 45 points lower than that of the their CX delivery performance a nine out of 10. They also broader market. found that one in three don’t have an appointed execu- As we know, silos are a serious problem for any organization. In her whitepaper, titled Why Silos Damage Customer Experience, Amy Sedelius cited that 41% of customer experience professionals believe oper- A $3 ROI is Financial ational silos are a significant barrier to providing a expected Services seamless customer experience. for every will see a $1 invested 5:1 ROI In 2014, Avaya conducted some global research to in the CX. identify the emphasis that companies were putting on the customer experience. At that time, they found Source: Avanade and Sitecore, Customer Experience and Your Bottom Line, 2016 out that China seemed to put the most emphasis on customer experience, with 84% of companies having 40% of companies who focused on the CX saw increased revenues a CEM (Customer Experience Management) solution 38% saw better financial performance than competitors (note: likely an Avaya solution). The US followed with 73%, India with 72%, and Brazil with 63%.

In addition, they found that there is a solid correla- A 2016 whitepaper by Avanade and Sitecore, titled Customer tion between a strong CEM program and increased Experience and Your Bottom Line, cites global research that profits. Of companies who have seen a significant uncovered the following: increase in profits, 81% have a CEM program in place; among those whose have seen profits remain • US $3 return on investment is expected for every $1 invested in the customer static, 46% have a CEM program, and among those experience; this varies by industry, with financial services, for example, seeing a who have seen a decline in profits, only 35% have a 5:1 return CEM program in place • Only 14% of respondents admitted that they are one step ahead of their We’ve seen similar statistics time and time again, customers’ changing expectations but Avaya uncovered that 88% of customers would rather spend their money with companies that make • The business benefits of focusing on customer experience are real. 40% of it easy for them to buy. respondents saw increased revenues, 38% saw better financial performance than competitors, and 37% experienced improved sales cycles. Another similar, commonly-cited statistic they verified • Among those who reaped these benefits, the average improvement was 18- is that, despite the fact that 95% of leaders said 21% over the past year, just by focusing on the customer experience! CEM would be important to their organization in 2014, only 59% had a comprehensive plan in place. Likelihood to repurchase: In 2014, McKinsey reported that maximizing satisfaction 13% 86% across customer journeys has the potential to increase customer satisfaction by 20% and to lift revenue by up to Likelihood to recommend : 15% while lowering the cost of serving customers by as 7% 77% much as 20%. Likelihood to trust : 11% 79% There are a ton more statistics out there to support the im- Likelihood to forgive: portance of focusing on the customer experience. The key 11% 62% to overcoming the challenges and to achieving customer Source: Temkin Group, ROI of Customer Experience, 2016 experience success within your organization lies in having a leader - and a leadership team - that obsesses over the customer and his experience every day. You can create some According to Temkin Group’s ROI of of your own quick wins to build the business case and to Customer Experience, 2016 report, establish the impact of a customer focus on your own orga- customers who have an excellent nization; those will be the most powerful statistics, without a doubt. experience are more loyal versus those who had a very poor experience. That’s a What’s the Typical Journey to a CXO Role? no-brainer, but the differences are stark: The customer experience profession is fairly young, and • Likelihood to repurchase: 86% (excellent CX) there are a lot of entry points into it. For the CXO leader- vs. 13% (very poor CX) ship role, there’s typically a requirement to have experience in various customer-facing/customer-impacting roles (mar- • Likelihood to recommend: 77% (excellent CX) keting, sales, services, operations, IT, etc.) throughout the vs. 7% (very poor CX) organization and to have been involved in change management initiatives that proved out their ROI. • Likelihood to trust: 79% (excellent CX) vs. 11% (very poor CX)

• Likelihood to forgive: 62% (excellent CX) vs. 11% (very poor CX) Interesting Facts

Increase The CCO has a about the CXO 1. profitable behavior three-fold The following facts are quoted from the mission : CCO Council website. The first Chief Customer Officer (CCO) was hired in 3. 2. 1999 at Texas Power and Light. Increase Drive • The first CCO was hired in 1999 customer Sustainable at Texas Power and Light. centricity growth The technology sector alone • There are now more than 500 accounts for There are now more than officially titled Chief Customer 26.7% of all 500 officially titled Chief CCO employment. Officers in the world and perhaps Customer Officers in the hundreds more serving the same world (and perhaps Fewer than 35 role but without the formal title. hundreds more serving the of the Fortune same role but without the (The roles is predominantly US- 500 companies formal title.) have a CCO. based, but other countries are now adopting this role.) The CCO role is the most fragile • Fewer than 35 of the Fortune Approximately 60% of CCOs are in the C-suite, 500 companies have a CCO. promoted from within, and the with an average remainder are hired from the outside. tenure of 29.4 • Approximately 60% of CCOs months. are promoted from within, and the remainder are hired from the outside.

• The CCO role is the most fragile Why? Because it takes at least two years for the CCO’s • The technology sector alone accounts for in the C-suite, with an average activities to flow through the company and make a 26.7% of all CCO employment. tenure of 29.4 months, with significant impact on top- and bottom-line results. some notable exceptions on • The CCO has a three-fold mission: 1) increase either side of the average. • The hallmark of the CCO is the ability to create and profitable behavior, 2) increase customer cen- drive customer strategy across the company. tricity, and 3) drive sustainable growth. What’s Next? DONNA PEEPLES, CCO, Pypestream CHRISTINE CORBETT, CCO, Australia Post As a CXO, there is no shortage of work to be done. Regardless if you’re new to the role and to the organization or simply new to the role, you’ll spend a lot of time initially doing your homework and setting a baseline on NICK FRUNZI, the company and on the customer CCO, Esri as well as learning how to navigate the waters throughout. In the coming months, we’ll be compiling a how-to ISABELLE CONNER, CMO/CCO, handbook on the critical pieces that Assicurazioni Generali Spa must be in place in order to achieve success in your new role.

In the meantime, we’ve interviewed several global CXOs and are excited to share their experiences and learn- INGRID LINDBERG, former 4-time CCO, ings with you. We’re grateful that the most recently with following executives were able to take Prime Therapeutics time out of their busy schedules to answer several questions for us. CX EXECUTIVE SPOTLIGHT #1

CHRISTINE CORBETT CHIEF CUSTOMER OFFICER, AUSTRALIA POST

REPORTS TO THE CEO

Is this your first CCO role? If not, how long has been reinventing its product and service offering to were you in the previous role? remain relevant to customers. It is now more of a parcels Yes, this is my first CCO role. This is the first CCO role for than a letters business. Australia Post. Was there a CCO in place before you? If How did you land in your current role? not, why now? What was the catalyst to What is your background? What were you hire you/fill this position? doing prior? No CCO prior to me. The catalyst was to move to more I have been at Australia Post for 25 years and have led all of an external focus and to drive innovation and value aspects of retail, product, delivery, and operations across creation by delivering greater convenience, choice, and the company as well as strategy and marketing roles. I control for our customers. have run one of the largest retail networks in the country, with over 4,400 stores for many years, so the customer experience has always been paramount to me.

In what state was the company’s customer focus when you took over the role? Australia Post is an organisation facing significant dis- SINCE 2010, THE ORGANISATION HAS BEEN CONTINUING ruption to its core business (letters) as a result of customers migrating to digital alternatives. Since 2010, the TO TRANSFORM – FROM A NETWORK TO A PRODUCT organisation has been continuing to transform – from a FOCUS, NOW TO A CUSTOMER-CENTRIC FOCUS. network to a product focus, now to a customer-centric focus. As part of this transformation, the organisation CHRISTINE CORBETT, CHIEF CUSTOMER OFFICER, AUSTRALIA POST

What was/has been your biggest challenge in the role? And how have you overcome it? The biggest challenge has been aligning customer priorities and focusing on the critical things that will make a demonstrable difference for our customers. Our customer priorities are:

CREATING SEAMLESS CUSTOMER KNOWING OUR CUSTOMERS EMPOWERING OUR PEOPLE EXPERIENCES • Our goal is to provide personalised experienc- • This is about how we equip all our people to • This is about removing customer pain points es for our customers – it’s about giving cus- be advocates for the customer experience, and how we bring consistency to the expe- tomers convenience and control when they regardless of whether they directly engage rience our customers have right across our want it, particularly for their parcel deliveries. with customers or not. channels – our post offices, contact centre, • We are continuing to enhance the feature set • Our new Snap It BBQ app is just the first tool and digital. for MyPost Deliveries, and we have recently to give everyone the tools to advocate for the • This means looking at the entire customer extended some of our great convenience customer in the palm of their hands. journey, not just at individual touch points. options that have up until now only been • They can log a customer issue for a family • Listening to our customers and taking action. available to MyPost customers, such as safe member or friend, a sales lead, or a safety/ • This is about how we better leverage all the drop and redirections to all customers. hazard with priority responses within 24 customer data and insights to make better hours decisions, and be more nimble to experiment and co-create new solutions. We have used these priorities to ensure that we • For example, our small business customers are aligning our investments accordingly told us that only providing support during standard business hours doesn’t work for them. As a result, we now offer 24/7 support via the customer contact centre for our My- Post business customers. CHRISTINE CORBETT, CHIEF CUSTOMER OFFICER, AUSTRALIA POST

What are critical success factors of the Against which KPIs are you measured? CCO role? In terms of key measures: Net Promot- We need to ensure that we are creating the experiences er Score and Staff Engagement that both our customers and our people love. If there is a pain point for our customers, it’s generally also a pain For Australia Post, the area that our custom- point for our people; so if we can ensure alignment and ers care most about is first-time delivery, so engagement, we can then make sure that our people we have a laser-like focus on this measure. continue to delight our customers.

Any advice for future CCOs? What has/have been your greatest ac- If it’s a pain point for your customers, it is complishment(s)? generally a pain point for your people, so it’s We have seen some great improvements across all important that you continue to stay close- our customer experience measures; however, I’m ly connected to your frontline teams and most proud of the customer being front of mind in take action based on their feedback. all decision making, i.e., he’s not an afterthought. I firmly believe in the importance of empowering This month, ahead of our new customer commit- your people and equipping them with the tools ment being released to the community, our whole they need to deliver great customer experiences. workforce will undertake a customer activity where After all happy people, deliver great customer they will talk about what commitments/actions they experiences, which drives great business outcomes can take at a local level to delight our customers.

At all levels of the organisation, the first question before enacting any change is: what does this mean for our customers? And we look at the customer experience from an end-to-end jour- IF IT’S A PAIN POINT FOR YOUR CUSTOMERS, IT ney, which drives much better decision making. IS GENERALLY A PAIN POINT FOR YOUR PEOPLE CX EXECUTIVE SPOTLIGHT #2

NICK FRUNZI CHIEF CUSTOMER OFFICER, ESRI.

REPORTS TO THE PRESIDENT AND OWNER OF ESRI

How did you land in your current role? What was/has been your biggest What has/have been your greatest What is your background? What were you challenge in the role? And how have accomplishment(s)? doing prior? you overcome it? My greatest accomplishment is enabling others to be successful I landed in the role when we determined we needed My biggest challenge is that I’m an intro- in serving our customers. I have been able to bring under- one. I had been managing Esri’s Customer Training and vert, so one of my natural tendencies is not standing of the Customer Experience discipline to staff across Technical Support operational units since 1999, so be- to consistently share what we’re doing as our organization, enabling them to put the customer first and coming the CCO was a natural role to add to my work. well as our successes. I would say I still have lead initiatives in their areas of business without my direction. not entirely overcome this. The way I’ve miti- In what state was the company’s customer gated it has, in fact, been one of my greatest Against which KPIs are you measured? focus when you took over the role? accomplishments which I’ll discuss below. In general, we’re using CSAT, CES (customer effort score), and We were very customer focused, but irregular in that NPS as quantitative measures. We’d like to add revenue and re- focus. I have often said that Esri is a company full What are critical success factors tention data alongside these, but that is still a work in progress. of heroes who want to help customers be success- of the CCO role? ful. What we lacked was repeatable processes. There are several factors that I believe are critical Any advice for future CCOs? to the success of this role. You must be part of the You can’t do it all yourself. You must teach and empower Was there a CCO in place before you? If executive team and have a direct line to your CEO. others to do this work with and for you. Don’t be afraid not, why now? What was the catalyst to You must get mindshare with your fellow execu- of that, if you get the executive mindshare, educate col- hire you/fill this position? tives so that when you want to move work forward leagues, and make the customer essential to the DNA of No, I’m the first. The catalyst was through conversa- you can have support and gather resources from your organization, you will work yourself out of a job. tions with a Digital Experience firm that made it clear their organization to design holistic solutions. You If you do, consider yourself a tremendous success, and that we would be better off as an organization if we must work across the silos, leveraging their com- don’t worry; there will be plenty of other organizations had a CCO to help unify customer experience. petitive advantages - and not try to destroy them. that still need your help and guidance on this journey. CX EXECUTIVE SPOTLIGHT #3

INGRID LINDBERG CX CONSULTANT (FORMERLY CXO, PRIME THERAPEUTICS, CMO AT CERIDIAN AND CXO AT CIGNA)

REPORTED TO THE CEO

Was Prime Therapeutics your first CXO How did you land in the role at Prime role? If not, how long were you in the Therapeutics? What is your background? previous role? And why did you leave that What were you doing prior? CXO position/company? I was recruited because of the success of the turnaround This was my fourth official CXO role, although I’ve only at Cigna. My background is all design, with a smattering had the title two times. I was a CMO at Ceridian, and the of marketing, product, operations, and IT, but in all my head of “member engagement” at a start up, but all 4 roles, I was always designing solutions for consumers times I was accountable for how we treated the custom- based on what they wanted and how that could differen- er through all channels and for creating and driving the tiate my company. customer strategy. I was CXO at Cigna for 5 years. I left because we’d taken the scores from the bottom to the In what state was the company’s customer Was there a CCO in place before you? If top, and I’d literally done everything I’d set out to do. I focus when you took over the role? not, why now? What was the catalyst to like the transformation side, the big, hairy nasty transfor- I’ll never say that a place was a mess, or anything like hire you/fill this position? mations, not the maintenance stuff. that. What I will say is that every firm had a different Not once have I filled an existing role. In most cases, and focus other than customer when I arrived. And when I especially now as a consultant, I’m hired by a CEO who left, they were definitely customer focused. is aware of what I have done at other companies. In one case, I was hired to come in and do some petty significant customer work and, literally, the statement of work was, “Go do what you do.” INGRID LINDBERG I’VE ALWAYS SAID, IF MY STRATEGY IS RIGHT AND WE’RE CX CONSULTANT EXECUTING ON IT, IT WILL ONLY HELP THE REVENUE. CLAIM IT EARLY, SO YOU DON’T HAVE TO CHASE IT LATER.

What was/has been your biggest chal- What has/have been your greatest accom- Against which KPIs are you measured? lenge in the role? And how have you over- plishment(s)? I’ve always first identified the metric that mattered, come it? The teams I’ve built. When I started doing this CX tied that to my customer lifetime value, and actually At every transformation I’ve led, there have been derail- thing in companies years and years ago (18! oy!), signed up for that revenue number. Own it, don’t run ers, i.e., people who say “Yes” to the CEO’s face but then there were no job descriptions; there weren’t CX pros. away from it. I’ve always said, if my strategy is right actually are subversive in their behaviors. I wish I could We were literally building the airplane in the sky. I’d and we’re executing on it, it will only help the revenue. tell you that there is a one-size-fits-all answer, but there hire a really smart UX designer and then teach him/ Claim it early, so you don’t have to chase it later. isn’t. The reality is, you have to figure out what they her to do omni-channel design. The first VOC pro- care about and show them how driving the customer grams I ran were on spreadsheets; there weren’t Any advice for future CCOs? experience strategy will help them get to their goal. And any companies with software to aggregate it all. Always: heart of a lion, patience of a saint, frankly, sometimes you just have to fire people. and tenacity of a street fighter. The people who have come along with me for What are critical success factors of the these rides, they get recruited by places like Am- CCO role? azon, Starbucks, and Facebook. They took a leap I think you have to work hard to listen in the begin- of faith coming to work with me, and I’m so ning. I’ve found that employee buy-in takes me farther proud to see them being recruited by the best of than executive buy-in (as long as I have the CEO). I’ve the CX brands to lead their own initiatives. learned you have to clearly and repeatedly articulate the future and the path to get there. And frankly, you have to ask the employees to help change the company. HEART OF A LION, PATIENCE OF A SAINT, AND TENACITY OF A STREET FIGHTER. CX EXECUTIVE SPOTLIGHT #4

ISABELLE CONNER CCO & CMO, GENERALI INSURANCE

REPORTED TO THE CEO

Is this your first CCO role? What was the catalyst to hire you? What was/has been your biggest It’s the first time I have CCO as a title; however, I cannot The need to transform a 185-year old brand into challenge in the role? And how have imagine being CMO absent the Customer piece. So it’s a more dynamic, 21st century, customer-centric you overcome it? my third Group CMO role with CX visibly embedded in organization. While Generali is a successful group Starting the movement was relatively easy; we now have the role (ING, Zurich, and now Generali). with a likeable brand, it prioritized product sophis- 28 business units on board. Sustaining the momentum tication and technical excellence. The CEO wanted (keeping it fresh) across 28 units spanning the globe is How did you land in your current role? to drive profound internal and external change and more challenging. It means keeping customers top of Mario Greco, Generali’s Group CEO until a year ago, make Generali a simpler, smarter brand for clients, mind at all meetings, calling back detractor clients con- knew me from Zurich and asked me to join Generali distributors, and employees. Over the past two and sistently within 24 hours and, most importantly, eliminat- three years ago. a half years, we have brought the customer’s voice ing pain points. Driving this continuous change across deep inside the organization. numerous markets, channels, touchpoints, and functions In what state was the company’s customer is hard work but immensely gratifying, especially when focus when you took over the role? we see the retention numbers rise! I was the first Group CMO in the 185-year history of the company! “Customer” was not on the agenda. Like most large insurance groups, we have an intermediated distri- bution model, which means that our customers/clients are managed by our agents and brokers. DRIVING THIS CONTINUOUS CHANGE ACROSS NUMEROUS MARKETS, CHANNELS, TOUCHPOINTS, AND FUNCTIONS IS HARD WORK BUT IMMENSELY GRATIFYING ISABELLE CONNER, CCO & CMO, GENERALI INSURANCE

What are critical success factors of the Customer heroes are featured monthly on the CCO role? Group Intranet. Here are my top three: 3. Investor Day in London in November 2016, where 1. Securing CEO support and ensuring he/she is visi- I showed that working hard on CX has a signifi- Against which KPIs bly engaged is critical (i.e., he/she makes customer cant impact on the bottom line. Spain was one of are you measured? an agenda item at all management meetings and our first NPS countries, and we were able to show town halls, calls back detractor clients, recognizes that in just 18 months, they grew their existing We recently announced two KPIs: employees for service excellence behaviours, etc.). client base by 7% and their premiums by €36.5 Retention and Preference. Two sides million. This is the result of having less detractors of the same coin. We need to move 2. Enthusing broad teams in the markets. Making and many more promoters who stay longer and the needle on both, hence, the im- customers accessible to people who don’t have refer. Spain is one of our best CX countries. They direct contact with clients. have been diligently eliminating their pain points portance of eliminating pain points to and have results to prove it. delight clients. We track the behaviour 3. Linking customer experience with financials to of promoters over time. According to show the economic value of the work. Any advice for future CCOs? our data, promoters are less price sen- What has/have been your greatest ac- sitive, exit 70% less, buy 67% more, complishment(s)? 1. Start small. Find one or two CEOs in your network and recommend four times more. And who understand the benefits of customer centrici- positive word of mouth also drives 1. Generali’s customer program is not a research ty. Pilot with those CEOs and their management project or score gazing; it’s a new way of working, teams. They will happily share their successes with Preference. a profound cultural transformation and mindset their peers and bring you more converts. change movement across 28 units, reaching 90% of our 55M clients. It really has changed the way 2. Insist that NPS is NOT about the score, it’s about we work. understanding the root cause of customer dissat- isfaction and taking action to remove pain points. 2. Customer is now on the agenda. They are part of the Quarterly Business Reviews. Every coun- 3. In a tight budget environment, the faster you can try knows its key pain points, and action plans link CX to economic value, the better. Your CFO are in place to eliminate them. Senior Managers needs to tangibly see the value of investing in CX. recognize employees who go above and beyond. CX EXECUTIVE SPOTLIGHT #5

DONNA PEEPLES CHIEF CUSTOMER OFFICER, PYPESTREAM (FORMERLY CXO AT AIG).

REPORTED TO THE CEO

How did you land in your current role? What was/has been your biggest chal- What is your background? What were you lenge in the role? And how have you over- doing prior? come it? I have a diverse background across many functions Alignment & Navigating the politics of change. (Operations, Customer Care, Regulatory, Communica- tions, Marketing, Sales, Biz Dev, etc.) within a variety of CCO’s have to be a bit of a salesman (influencer), a industries. politician (it’s a campaign you’re running; it takes shaking hands and kissing babies), a technologist, a customer In what state was the company’s custom- advocate - all with a complete understanding of the busi- er-focus when you took over the role? ness model. You have to be able to zoom-in and zoom- At Pypestream, a start-up, it was built as part of the out quickly, to see the “white space” and fill the gaps. culture from the ground up.

Was there a CCO in place before you? If not, why now? What was the catalyst to hire you/fill this position? CCO’S HAVE TO BE A BIT OF A SALESMAN, A POLITICIAN No. I was the first at AIG, as well as at Pypestream. A TECHNOLOGIST, A CUSTOMER ADVOCATE—ALL WITH A COMPLETE UNDERSTANDING OF THE BUSINESS MODEL. DONNA PEEPLES, CHIEF CUSTOMER OFFICER, PYPESTREAM

What are critical success factors of the CCO role? Ensure that you have the following strategies in place

LISTENING Business Strategy: Gather and analyze qualitative and quantitative data, including • Services - definition of products and services provided complaints, to learn more about Customer wants and needs; track • Customers - strategy for identifying and prioritizing internal and exter- outcomes and evaluate how Customers are being served currently. nal users of services provided • Engagement and Delivery - methods by which relationships with cus- ALIGNING tomers are formed and services delivered (e.g., engagement through Help leaders to collaborate and create processes to enable Custom- cross-functional forums) er-focused outcomes, share best practices, and create governance structures to ensure accountability. Operating Strategy: • Operating processes - definition of inputs, outputs and activities need- ENGAGING ed to provide services and support Improve employee engagement and inspire enterprise-wide com- Governance - decision authorities (which decisions need to be made • mitment by empowering people with a clear Customer Experience and by whom), financial stewardship, oversight strategy. • Organization - roles and responsibilities, reporting relationships, organization structure DRIVING • Technology - systems and infrastructure required to provide services Use insights to take a more Customer-centric view of business processes, make operational improvements, change the conversation, People Strategy: create profitable new opportunities, and scale for efficiencies. • Development and deployment - required skills and competencies, talent development strategy (on the job training, instructor led training), talent staffing strategy (hire, redeploy, shared resources) • Performance management - how will performance be measured, what will be incentivized; focused on four key areas that lived by this mantra: Customers First, Employees Always. DONNA PEEPLES, CHIEF CUSTOMER OFFICER, PYPESTREAM

Against which KPIs are you measured? Any advice for future CCOs? Define a portfolio of services offered to the Enterprise. Customer Perception Metrics: Measure Customer views on delivery to meet their expectations CX Strategy • Net Promoter Score • Customer Satisfaction (Employee Satisfaction, UI, Productivity Ratios) • Develop and refresh the enterprise CX vision and customer strategy • Customer Effort Score • Lead strategy and planning phases for CX initiatives • Customer Retention/Acquisition/Churn • Prioritize CX initiatives and provide advice on capability development and execution • Conversion Rates • Complaints/Commendations CX Insights and Delivery

Channel Metrics: Measure interactions with the • Uncover existing and emerging customer insights to inform organizational focus Customer within and across channels. • Deliver actionable customer insights to regions, functions, and programs • Evolve maturity of customer management / CX capabilities • Average Resolution Time • Average Time on Hold Education and Change Management • Internal Call Quality Monitoring Score • Identify, collect, and share internal and external CX leading practices • Encourage and support collaboration between groups Business Performance Metrics: Measure the activities and associated • Educate on ways to engage customers and track performance business outcomes that identify impacts on Customer experience.

• Top-line Growth Impact Performance Management • Middle-line Cost Management • Define and measure key customer performance metrics • Profitability (Customer Segments, Cost to Acquire, Cost to Serve, etc.) • Perform required analysis on metrics, including variation and root cause analysis • Synthesize findings and deliver insights to business leaders ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Annette Franz is CEO of CX Journey Inc, a boutique consulting firm specializing in helping clients ground and frame their customer experience strategies in/via customer understanding. Her passion lies in teaching companies about customer experience and helping them understand the importance of the employee experience to a great customer experience. She has 25 years of experience in the CX space and has been recognized as one of “The 100 Most Influential Tech Women on Twitter” by Business Insider and by several other organizations as a top influencer in Customer Experience. She is an active CXPA member, as a CX Expert, CX Mentor, and a SoCal Local Networking Team Lead; she also serves as an executive officer on the association’s Board of Directors.

Connect: Google+ | @annettefranz | @cxjourney | LinkedIn | Facebook

About Quadient

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