Despite growing recognition of the value of customer experience (CX), many CX practitioners are struggling to turn ambition into action because of persistent challenges and obstacles.
Research for the latest Global State of CX report revealed the top five key challenges that are holding back progress. Tackling these issues is not only vital for enhancing customer satisfaction but also for driving tangible business outcomes.
Here, we break down each challenge, exploring why they are so persistent and what CX leaders can do to navigate them successfully.
1. Competing priorities
What the challenge is
It is not uncommon for CX practitioners to encounter obstacles when trying to elevate customer experience initiatives amid other strategic business goals, such as product development or sales.
Why it’s a challenge
When multiple stakeholders and departments have conflicting objectives, CX projects can be pushed to the bottom of the priority list. This leads to limited funding and reduced support, creating a gap between what CX initiatives aim to achieve and what is actually possible in the broader business context.
How to overcome it
In the Global State of CX report, Yvette Mihelic, director of CX for John Holland Group, emphasizes that establishing a clear link between CX and overall business strategy is essential. She notes: “Being able to clearly link investment in CX with the commerciality of the organization has always been a key driver of advocacy and the commitment of funding of CX-related initiatives.”
To overcome the challenge, CX leaders must clearly communicate how their initiatives contribute to strategic goals, such as increasing profit or growth. A unified mission statement and value-based metrics can help create this alignment, ensuring that CX gets sufficiently prioritized within the organization.
2. Aligning business objectives with CX initiatives
What the challenge is
Aligning business objectives with CX initiatives means ensuring that efforts to improve customer experience directly support broader company goals.
Why it’s a challenge
According to the Global State of CX report, many organizations are still in the early stages of integrating CX into their core operations and decision-making processes, leading to a disconnect between CX activities and business outcomes. This lack of alignment can make it difficult to justify CX investments and demonstrate tangible benefits.
How to overcome it
Mihelic advises that practitioners “educate, advise and demonstrate the interconnectivity of CX with overall organizational performance”. Practitioners should leverage customer data to support business cases, aligning CX initiatives with metrics that resonate with broader business goals, such as customer retention or revenue growth. This ensures that CX is seen not as a siloed function but as a driver of business success.
3. Building a customer-first culture
What the challenge is
Building a customer-first culture means ensuring that every part of the organization is committed to prioritizing the needs and expectations of customers in every decision they make.
Why it’s a challenge
Cultural change is inherently difficult, especially when it involves a shift in mindset across an entire organization. Establishing a customer-centric culture requires strong leadership to unify various departments under a single mission statement focused on customer outcomes. Without leadership buy-in and commitment, CX efforts can be inconsistent and fail to gain traction across the company.
How to overcome it
The key to overcoming this challenge is to ensure that cultural transformation begins from the top. Executives and department leaders must drive the change by consistently championing customer-focused strategies and aligning team goals with customer satisfaction. Additionally, reinforcing the value of CX through training, cross-department collaboration and visible support from leadership helps employees understand the impact they have on customer outcomes, which is proven to foster a unified customer-centric culture.
4. Creating actionable insights from data
What the challenge is
Creating actionable insights involves transforming vast amounts of customer data into meaningful strategies and actions that can directly enhance the customer experience.
Why it’s a challenge
The sheer volume of data can be overwhelming for CX teams, making it difficult to extract and act on key insights. This is true for organizations of all sizes. For example, Ritanbara Mundrey, global consumer and marketplace insights manager at Nestlé, found that the company was missing out on 84 percent of our customer insights before remedial action was taken.
How to overcome it
Mundrey reveals: “When we began to look into the way things were analyzed we realized that understanding the context and urgency of customer engagements is critical.”
Implementing robust data management tools and leveraging technologies like AI and machine learning can help CX teams sift through data more efficiently.
As noted in the CX Network Guide to customer insights, techniques such as predictive analytics, customer segmentation, and natural language processing (NLP) enable companies to gain deeper insights and identify actionable trends. By focusing on data that aligns with business goals, CX practitioners can ensure their insights are relevant and robust enough to be used to inform decision-making.
5. Linking CX initiatives to ROI
What the challenge is
Linking CX initiatives to ROI involves demonstrating how investments in customer experience contribute to tangible financial outcomes, such as increased revenue or reduced operational costs.
Why it’s a challenge
According to the 2024 Global State of CX report, many CX initiatives are seen as enablers of growth but do not have a direct one-to-one correlation with financial returns. This makes it difficult for CX practitioners to secure funding or executive support, as the financial impact is often not immediately apparent.
Gabrijela Juel, general manager of enterprise and government operations at TPG Telecom, notes that CX business cases frequently lack detail on targets and financial impact, making it hard to justify the investment.
How to overcome it
To overcome this, practitioners must build a compelling business case that clearly outlines how CX initiatives contribute to financial goals. Juel says: “It comes down to how the CX initiatives will help the business flourish from supporting customers and preventing unnecessary customer support, to taking cost out of the business and ensuring the business remains competitive.”
CX practitioners can cite a combination of metrics, including reductions in operational costs and improvements in customer retention. Incorporating traditional and non-traditional metrics can provide a more comprehensive view of CX’s financial impact, helping practitioners prove ROI and secure the necessary budget for future projects.
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