11 Statements to Help Assess if Your Company Needs a Chief Customer Officer

Does your company need a CCO? You may have seen in the news recently that Walmart hired its first CCO, Janey Whiteside, who managed benefits and services – which also included customer engagement, at American Express. Like many other retailers, Walmart is facing serious competition from Amazon and is aiming to improve its customer experience both online and in-stores.

Good customer service and experience can be that key differentiator between a consumer picking one brand over the other. According to a recent PwC report, “customers also said they were more likely to try additional services or products from brands that provide superior customer experience,” which means that customers are more likely to be loyal and spend even more money when they feel you have their interest in mind. So, what can you do about these insights? You need a CEO who will be on board with hiring a CCO who can unite and lead the organization to customer-driven success.

To help you assess whether or not your company needs a CCO, I’ve put together a set of tactical statements to help you accomplish two things. First, the explicit statements give you a platform to define the scope of work and specific work that a customer leadership executive would take on. This takes the mystery out of the role. Second, if many of the responses to these statements are “no,” it also provides you with a mandate to advance the exploration of the role.

11 Statements to Assess if Your Company Needs a Chief Customer Officer

1. There is someone in our company who clarifies what we are to accomplish with customers.
   • Yes, there is
   • No, there is not
     Implementation tip: These agreements need to be established in partnership with the functional owners across the organization. It’s important to make sure that the CCO or executive leadership does not do this in a vacuum and then try to “throw the brick over the wall” to the leaders to rubber-stamp.
     It's important to make sure that the #CCO or executive leadership does not do customer-oriented work in a vacuum and then try to blindly pass along to the leaders to rubber-stamp. You need team work! Share on X
2. There is a clear process to drive alignment for what will be accomplished.
   • Yes, there is
   • No, there is not
     Implementation tip: Alignment is tricky. The best leaders I’ve worked with drive people into discussion by going around the table and asking each to state his or her commitment or dissent. These leaders make it okay to disagree if someone is not comfortable with what’s being proposed. Think of alignment as requiring three steps: propose, put the idea out there for what will be accomplished, and don’t suppose. Seek out dissenters and their reasons. Work out the solution and alternatives, and then ask for consensus again.
     Is your company aligned with how to approach #CX work? Alignment requires three steps: propose, put the idea out there for what will be accomplished, and don't suppose. Share on X
3. We have a road map for the customer work and know where progress will be measured.
   1. Yes, there is
   2. No, there is not
      Implementation tip: This needs to be a group effort. Bring together a team of people with at least one person from every operational area. This group needs to get into the ramifications and work involved in getting the priorities done.
      Do you have a roadmap for CX? Bring together a team of people with at least one person from every operational area; they need to get into the ramifications and work involved in getting the priorities done. Share on X
4. Clear metrics exist for measuring progress that everyone agrees to use.
   1. Yes, there is
   2. No, there is not
      Implementation tip: Start with customer-asset metrics. Remember that simple is good and repetition works. Start here. Get everyone counting customer metrics consistently throughout the organization.
      You need clear metrics to measure your #CX progress. Get everyone counting customer metrics consistently throughout the organization. Remember, simple is good and repetition works. Share on X
5. There is real clarity of everyone’s roles and responsibilities.
   1. Yes, there is
   2. No, there is not
      Implementation tip: This is about the hand-offs between the silos. Make sure that there is clarity for which parts of the organization must come together to get the priorities accomplished. Too often these goals are kept lofty and high, and people aren’t made accountable for their completion.
      Make sure that there is clarity for which parts of the organization must come together to get the priorities of your #CX work accomplished. Share on X
6. People really participate and care about the customer work.
   1. Yes, there is
   2. No, there is not
      Implementation tip: To make participation stick requires the commitment of the senior leadership to whom these people report and to create a partnership with them. Make participation in the customer work a privilege. Practice capacity management.
      Do people really participate and care about the customer work? Making participation stick requires the commitment of the senior leadership to whom employees report to. Share on X
7. Appropriate resources are allocated to make a real difference to customers.
   1. Yes, there is
   2. No, there is not
      Implementation tip: Hand waving without investment won’t get you anywhere. The key here is to have an organized annual planning approach that dedicates time to the customer objectives and customer investment. The chief executive needs to be personally involved. To achieve success, specific actions with defined parameters of what needs to be accomplished must be identified. Investments that drive partial improvements in each area but don’t connect in a real and meaningful way at the customer contact point have limited return on investment.
      Make a real difference to your customers. Have an organized annual planning approach that dedicates time to the customer objectives and customer investment. #CX #CustExp Share on X
8. There is an understandable process for people to work together.
   1. Yes, there is
   2. No, there is not
      Implementation tip: This work is as clear as mud. It starts with a high-level frenzy that in the blink of an eye has people going back to business as usual. The process of how the work will be defined, reviewed, executed, and rewarded has got to be laid out clearly.
      The process of how your customer-driven work will be defined, reviewed, executed, and rewarded has got to be laid out clearly. #CX #CustExp Share on X
9. The work is considered attainable.
   1. Yes, there is
   2. No, there is not
      Implementation tip: There’s a term that people used a lot at Microsft, “boiling the ocean.” What I learned is not to abandon strategy but to dole it out in bite-size pieces. You need to know the end game. But then you need to bridge the gap between strategy and execution so people can work it into budgets, priorities, and planning.
      Dole out your #CX strategy in bite-size pieces and be sure to bridge the gap between strategy and execution so people can work it into budgets, priorities, and planning. #CustExp Share on X
10. A process exists for marketing achievements to customers and internally.
    1. Yes, there is
    2. No, there is not
       Implementation tip: What I’ve come to refer to as “marketing back” is often overlooked. When you don’t tell people internally what’s going on with the customer, it’s all white noise to them. No report equals no action. You must make a point of marketing back to both your customers and internally inside the organization. I call this “marketing hope.”
       You must make a point of marketing back to both your customers and internally inside the organization. Create a process for sharing customer achievements, internally and externally. #CX #CustExp Share on X
11. Recognition and reward are wired to motivate customer work.
    1. Yes, there is
    2. No, there is not
       Implementation tip: The customer work is not going to seem important until people start to be publicly commended and rewarded for it. Make every company gathering an opportunity to call out customer achievements and reward people for them.
       The customer work is not going to seem important until people start to be publicly commended and rewarded for it. Make every company gathering an opportunity to call out customer achievements and reward people for them. Share on X

Don’t just ask these questions, stew over them. Debate them with your leadership and board. Is it realistic in your organization to divide and conquer these tasks without a customer leadership executive uniting them? If you can, your organization is well adjusted. It’s the pushing and prodding part of the work that most companies need someone to spearhead. That becomes the role of the CCO.

If you decide to proceed with a CCO exploration, make sure that you have consensus to proceed with the role. The people whose sandbox the CCO will be in frequently, had better agree up front to the company and the discomfort that’s to come as a result of the work. Think hard about your appetite and aptitude for the work and temper this with the fact that this is at minimum a five-year journey. Pace yourself.

If you need some help defining what the CCO role should be, then I encourage you to download the Chief Customer Officer job description manual below!