{"id":1128,"date":"2016-02-22T10:38:45","date_gmt":"2016-02-22T10:38:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/amydowns.wpengine.com\/?p=1128"},"modified":"2023-07-14T13:29:39","modified_gmt":"2023-07-14T13:29:39","slug":"the-chief-customer-officer-why-your-company-needs-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.customerobsessing.com\/de\/the-chief-customer-officer-why-your-company-needs-one\/","title":{"rendered":"The Chief Customer Officer: Why Your Company Needs One"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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The Chief Customer Officer: Why Your Company Needs One<\/h1>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Amy Downs
First Published: February 22, 2016<\/a><\/p>

We often highlight why Customer Obsession is critical for businesses to succeed<\/a>. I\u2019ve also talked about creating customer-centric core values<\/a> to serve as the bedrock of corporate culture. None of this is possible without a person whose primary mission is to create a team-of-one environment and to sustain it for the long term. And that direction has to come from the C Suite. Enter the CCO (Chief Customer Officer).<\/p>

In short, the Chief Customer Officer is responsible for:<\/p>

  1. Educating the rest of the C Suite on the importance of Customer Obsession to long term sustainable success<\/li>
  2. Putting customer focused metrics at the front end of business strategy<\/li>
  3. Helping each department to recognize, activate and cultivate a positive impact on customers, even if that impact is indirect<\/li><\/ol>

    1. Educating the rest of the C Suite on the importance of Customer Obsession to long term sustainable success<\/h2>

    First off, education is key. A Chief Customer Officer\u2019s top priority is to consistently educate the C Suite on the importance of keeping customers front and center. If a company hires a Chief Customer Officer to begin with, it\u2019s safe to say there\u2019s already a level of buy-in. However, that\u2019s only the beginning. A Chief Customer Officer then must work within leadership to re-architect strategy such that customer loyalty is a constantly measured and motivating force at the heart of every department\u2019s daily activities.<\/p><\/div>

    2. Putting customer focused metrics at the front end of business strategy<\/span><\/h3>

    As for metrics, at the outset of his or her tenure it\u2019s vital for a Chief Customer Officer to establish the methods by which the business will measure customer happiness. If we don\u2019t measure it, it doesn\u2019t exist. Many companies are so focused on financial performance that they forget all the steps that come between conceiving a product, making a sale and ensuring that product continues to work as promised. It\u2019s mandatory that we check-in with customers along the way and adjust our processes \u2013 not just to keep them happy, but to let them know they have a voice in the business and that we hold ourselves accountable for our services.<\/p>

    For Lifesize, that metric is the Net Promoter Score<\/b>; and the Net Promoter System<\/b> is an operational rhythm built into the fabric of our business, connecting our team-of-one to our customers. We then look at renewals, which are the life-blood of our business.\u00a0 In a SaaS driven world, retention and the customer lifetime value<\/b> (CLTV) is the ultimate key to success.\u00a0 We also measure cross-sell, upsell, referrals and word of mouth successes. \u00a0And we use these numbers to drive our business forward. A successful Chief Customer Officer is one who can strongly influence a cultural shift in the business to focus on customers.\u00a0 In order to do this, it\u2019s important to continually keep all employees connected to customers.\u00a0 One way we do this at Lifesize is by holding a weekly all employee meeting we call \u201cTown Hall\u201d.\u00a0 During this meeting, we share all good things going on in our business.\u00a0 We introduce our newbies (new employees), talk about customer wins, product launches, and more.\u00a0 While the financials are important, we don\u2019t put our primary focus on those.\u00a0 Ultimately, it\u2019s the way we run the business, keeping employees and customers happy, that will lead to positive financial results. Loyalty, retention, upgrades, referrals: this is what we focus on. All the time.<\/p>

    3. Helping each department to recognize, activate and cultivate a positive impact on customers, even if that impact is indirect<\/span><\/h2>

    Finally, the role of the Chief Customer Officer is about reversing a silo-driven and non-connected mindset in which seemingly non-customer facing departments \u2013 such as engineering, manufacturing or facilities management \u2013 acknowledge their impact on consumers. Even if a department doesn\u2019t directly interface with customers, if team members aren\u2019t customer-obsessed, process improvements will not come naturally to them. In fact, improvements won\u2019t materialize at all. The role of the Chief Customer Officer is to help everyone in an organization identify their value to customers and to keep that value top-of-mind every minute of every day.<\/p>

    In today\u2019s age, it\u2019s simply too easy for customers to switch vendors. Especially for a company like Lifesize with a cloud-based product, we must keep in mind that our customers can cancel at any time and move on. Landmark research from Bain & Co. found that even a 5 percent increase in retention translates to a 25-95 percent increase in profit. With this lens, it\u2019s hard not to see the CCO as vital to success.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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