What it takes for CX leaders to build effective stakeholder relationships
About a year and a half ago, the Harvard Business Review published an article that tried to explain why every company should have a chief experience officer. What may need explaining now is how every company can ensure that sort of leader will get the support they need from their peers in order to be successful.
While many organizations recognize the importance of delivering the best possible CX, for example, the economic impact of the pandemic and competing priorities mean they may not have the budget they would like to empower those developing a strategy. According to recent research from SuperOffice, only 44 per cent out of 1,900 business professionals surveyed said they will increase the investment in their CX initiatives.
That means CX leaders will need to be compelling and persuasive as they work with their allies at the line of business level to commit resources towards meaningful changes that benefit customers.
It’s not an easy task. In September, Qualtrics published the results of a study conducted by IDC in which close to a quarter (21 per cent), cited lack of strategic vision as a cultural barrier to improving CX. Qualtrics has even called out the most common personas of the various stakeholders, from “champions” that support the vision to “bystanders” and “gatekeepers” who can get in in the way.
Subscribe to 360 Magazine Pro or log in if you’re already a member to learn:
- How longtime CX practitioner and consultant Stephanie Thum has witnessed stakeholder buy-in first hand
- Research from Empathy Inc. that identifies the friction between those in marketing and finance that could create CX challenges
- Advice from Vince Molinaro, author of The Leadership Contract, on finding common ground among many different players
Rules of Thum
For Stephanie Thum, the physical evidence her success as a CX leader was 
