How to stand out at your next CX manager job interview

How to prepare for (and succeed) at your next customer experience manager job interview

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CX Network
04/17/2023

Female candidate shaking hand of recruiter

Preparing for a job interview for a role as a customer experience manager requires similar levels of preparation as for jobs in other industries: research the company you are applying to, make sure you understand the skills required and prepare to talk about your relevant experience and achievements.

What makes CX unique is how fast and frequently it changes as an industry; with job roles, terminology and methodologies that are continuously evolving. This guide describes the most common roles in CX at a managerial level, typical questions you will be asked during an interview, and the questions you should ask to impress recruiters, along with advice from leading experts.

In this guide you will find:

The most common roles for CX managers

First, let’s take a look at the most common job titles ranging from managerial roles to senior leadership positions.

Customer experience manager: A customer experience manager oversees the entire customer lifecycle, making sure that all touchpoints between the customer and the organization are positive and as frictionless as possible.

Customer success manager: A customer success manager is responsible for ensuring that customers have a positive experience with the company's products or services. A big part of this role is around building brand loyalty, as well as onboarding and providing support where needed.

User experience designer (UX designer): A UX designer is responsible for designing the user experience of a product or service. The term is most often associated with the design of websites and apps, with the goal of making these intuitive and easy-to-use while meeting the needs of the user. Check out our article on inclusive UX and how CX leaders can design experiences for customers with disabilities.

Customer success operations manager: This role involves managing the processes and systems that support customer success. Day-to-day tasks can include overseeing customer service platforms, automation tools, video conferencing with clients, and training for employees.

Customer insights analyst: An analyst assesses data gathered directly from customer feedback (such as Voice of the Customer initiatives), behavioral data captured via apps and purchase history. They identify trends and provide recommendations to improve the customer experience.

Chief customer officer (CCO): In this senior management role, the CCO is responsible for leading the strategy for the customer-facing functions of an organization, such as customer service, sales, marketing, and product development. They also develop and lead strategies for customer acquisition and retention programs and monitoring customer satisfaction metrics.

Chief experience officer (CXO): The CXO designs the strategy for the end-to-end customer experience across all touchpoints and channels. This includes analyzing customer data to identify areas for improvement, designing and implementing new customer touchpoints, and working with internal teams to ensure customers have a positive experience across all channels. In this article, leading expert Annette Franz explains what the first 90 days on the job may look like for a CXO.

Research these CX tools and metrics

There are various tools, metrics, and technologies CX managers use regularly to improve the customer experience. Here is a run-down of some key terms and tools you may want to discuss at the interview, with examples of how you have successfully implemented them:

Metrics: These are key performance indicators (KPI) that help measure how effective a customer experience strategy is. The Net Promoter Score (NPS) is one of the most widely used, analyzing a customer's willingness to recommend your company to others. Another is the Customer Effort Score (CES), which uses a seven-point scale to ask customers about their level of satisfaction on how easy it was for their issue to be handled. There is further information on CX metrics in this guide.

Customer journey mapping and orchestration: A customer journey map is a visualization of the moments when customers come into contact with a company, both on and offline. It is an important tool for brands to better understand their customers and find out what their pain points are. The next step is customer journey orchestration, which is the process of using technology and data to keep the customer engaged.

Customer relationship management (CRM) systems: A CRM system acts as a repository for customer data, helping managers analyze customer interactions throughout the customer lifecycle. It can hold information including purchase history, feedback, contact info and support interactions.

Data analytics and personalization: Collecting and analyzing data is vital to gain an understanding of customers’ behaviors and preferences. Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) are arguably the two most important technologies in CX at present, simplifying and automating the process of collecting relevant data to help businesses create personalized recommendations and predict future preferences. There is more on why personalization is so important for the success of a company in this article.

Omnichannel: This is the term referring to the integrated, connected experience between a brand and the customer across a number of channels, including online, virtual agents, social media and third-party apps. Read our complete guide to omnichannel here.

Emphasize your achievements

CX roles often involve a lot of problem-solving, so it is a good idea to prepare examples of how you resolved complex issues, for both customers and colleagues.

Dan Gingiss, a customer experience coach for more than 20 years and one of our top CX influencers to follow in 2023, shared this advice from his first ever role in CX: "When I was hired to lead digital customer experience at Discover Card, the credit card company, I had never done anything in customer experience, so I didn't quite understand why they recruited me. I was an internal recruit, so I asked the chief digital officer, ‘why did you pick me?’

"He said, ‘because I have watched you in business meetings and you are always wearing the customer hat. You are always trying to solve business problems through the lens of the customer. And I really think we need to start doing that in the digital space.’

"This was great advice I now give to companies. Let's say, we have to make more revenue. We can do that and still do right by the customer. When that doesn't happen, you have things like airlines starting to charge people to check bags, even though they haven’t done that in 50 years. Then customers get angry and think the airline doesn't care about them. That's because that decision was made by someone in the finance department, without any regard for the customer."

Prepare for these typical interview questions

It is also a good idea to practice answering questions that highlight leadership you have demonstrated while leading customer experience teams, including your achievements and examples of times when you have handled difficult situations. Below are some of the most frequently asked questions during an interview for a CX manager role:

• What does good customer service mean to you?
• How would you handle an unreasonable customer?
• Have you ever received negative feedback from a customer and how did you address that feedback?
• How would you measure the success of a CX initiative?
• What measures would you put in place to prevent customer issues before they arise?

Ask these questions to impress recruiters

Here are some questions you may want to ask to gain a better understanding of the company's approach to CX, while also demonstrating your interest in the organization and what they do:

• What channels do you use to engage customers? Which ones have been most successful?
• What kind of data do you collect to measure CX success?
• How do you use metrics to improve the customer experience?
• What kind of training do employees receive to ensure they can deliver a great customer experience and report on its success? How do you measure the return on investment (ROI) of CX initiatives?

Career advice from customer experience experts

Clare Muscutt has worked as the head of customer experience at UK supermarket giant Sainsbury’s. She now runs Women in CX, a startup she founded to create more opportunities for women in CX leadership roles.

She recommends joining relevant networks, taking advantage of opportunities to develop your skills, and trying to surround yourself with people who support you.

“Look for opportunities to build your self-knowledge, skills and networks,” Muscutt says, “and never be afraid to leave a company or boss that doesn’t recognize your value and fully support your growth.”

If you are unsure what your next steps should be, Morgan Petty, founder of CX consultancy firm StratEdgeEyes, recommends rating the following aspects from most to least important to help you work out what you want from your career:

• Money
• Prestige/recognition
• Influence
• Work/life balance
• Making a difference
• Growing a team

Petty says: “I rank these items each week to make sure I am true to my career mission and myself.”