Demonstrating CX program ROI to leaders

The purpose of any customer experience (CX) management strategy is, of course, to create better experiences for consumers. But those efforts aren’t solely for the benefit of the customer.

The purpose of CX programs

Brands that prioritize CX initiatives are also focused on how improvements to the customer experience are impacting their bottom line.

Because when it’s done correctly, a CX program can reap some pretty promising results. For example, Emplifi reports 61% of consumers will pay at least 5% more if they know they’ll get a good customer experience.

Leaders want tangible metrics

Unfortunately, many retail leaders are skeptical of CX program investments and reluctant to act without knowing the impact. Because in today’s harsh economic conditions, any request that doesn’t increase revenue, profit, and shareholder value is quickly put on the back burner.

As a result, many CX professionals face internal demands for tangible performance metrics that demonstrate the value of their program. But obtaining ROI is not simple, especially if leaders demand results and are discouraged when their CX programs aren’t producing the metrics they initially expected.

Identifying the right metrics aligned with your brand’s goals enhances the customer experience and gains loyal customers; as a result, your competitiveness improves, and so does the ROI of the CX program. To demonstrate the value of your efforts, you need to agree with leaders on the ROI from the beginning. This way, when you launch your tactics, you will know what constitutes a positive customer experience and the areas you need to investigate.

6 ways to maximize CX program ROI

To help guide your efforts, follow these 6 steps to maximize return from your CX program:

1. Align with business goals

For organizations to work optimally, CX program goals must align with the brand’s vision and mission. If well aligned, such initiatives can even help generate additional revenue streams and create new business opportunities.

Ask your leaders about their vision of an ideal customer experience. What are the biggest opportunities and challenges in the coming months, and how is you CX program aligned? What financial drivers are impacting the decision-making? What metrics should you measure and need to improve? What is the biggest threat, and what would your customer do if your brand didn’t exist? Having answers to these questions provides valuable insight and manages expectations to how CX programs can best contribute

2. Deploy agile methodology

While many CX professionals have implemented agile methodologies for program deployment, those who haven’t are missing the ability to streamline their program and demonstrate a faster ROI.

An agile framework can break the program down into various small parts delivered through cycles or iterations. At the end of each sprint, CX professionals can view the metrics, analyze results, and use insight for subsequent iterations. This approach allows you to pivot, drive efficiencies, and ensure the ROI metrics are at the heart of every stage.

3. Implement scalable technology

When building a CX program, you should develop it in such a way that if your brand wants to offer a more diverse experience, the requirements should fit into the program from the start—or there could be a big dent in the ROI. Initially, building a scalable solution may look costly, but changing the CX program later will incur more costs.

4. Invest adequately in CX budget

CX program budgets are often low compared to other program investments. Therefore, it is essential to know how to use this investment in the best possible way. If a CX team can measure the critical ROI metrics of their campaigns, they can relay the insight gathered to their leaders and take action. ROI insight can improve your budget management and, with it, better results.

It’s important to keep in mind that customer experience related decisions are no different from any other business decisions: you need a positive business case to justify them.

5. Make budget decisions based on data  

No matter how many plans your brand wants to implement, investing in all of them at once is impossible. Understanding where your customers spend and predicting future trends gives you a competitive advantage. Based on exact numbers, ROI metrics allow you to know which parts of your CX program should receive the highest percentage of the budget.

Strategic decision-making based on data is increasingly necessary in today’s world. Therefore, ROI must be considered when deciding how to conduct a CX program. Thus, the CX team can choose the most appropriate strategies among all the options, investing the budget appropriately. Be prepared to answer questions like “So what?”, does it increase the brand’s revenue or profit, or will it positively impact our market share?

6. Demonstrate CX achievements

Clear objectives will always make CX professionals think about the best strategy to achieve them. Having the ability to demonstrate ROI can also provide job satisfaction, security, and stability. In addition to showing which plan has the best cost-benefit, the metric indicates which generates the best results.

It is possible to create CX programs using data and insight, which will undoubtedly lead to the results your brand wants. Tracking metrics with the help of suitable tools is essential to have increasingly accurate reports to make the best decisions.

Get help justifying your CX value

Delivering a CX program that can impact the overall profitability of your brand is just the beginning. In a nutshell, the importance of ROI is an indicator that allows you to assess whether your efforts generate incremental revenue for your brand. Every business has challenges, and you need to optimize your CX program over time accordingly.

The good news is you don’t have to do this on your own. With the ramp-up in CX investments continuing to accelerate, more and more brands are outsourcing their CX programs to trusted providers.

Consider outsourcing your program

For help determining if this type of partnership is right for you, check out the article: 5 elements of a strong CX team—and why outsourcing your program might makes sense.