In a recent discussion with Vinay Parmar, I was struck by his suggestion that the title of Chief Customer Officer should be changed to Chief Collaboration Officer. This point is particularly timely, as Beth Karawan 🍩, co-founder and EVP of ImprintCX, highlighted in a recent Women in CX ™ presentation, emphasizing the central role of collaboration in CX success.

Customer experience is often considered the cornerstone of a successful business strategy, but collaboration itself may be the keystone holding this strategy together. CX-led collaboration drives:

• Improved Customer Retention: Data from Forrester shows that CX-driven collaboration can improve customer retention rates by up to 50%. When CX leaders drive collaboration, they can ensure smoother customer journeys, which is essential to retaining customers over the long term.
• Revenue Impact: Deloitte research found that CX-led organizations that foster cross-functional collaboration achieve revenue growth 20% faster than non-collaborative companies. Effective collaboration means CX strategies are integrated into every department’s activities, making it easier to deliver on customer promises and boosting revenue.

Without collaboration, even the best-designed CX programs can falter and fail to achieve the desired impact. This is a reminder that creating exceptional CX requires more than frontline adjustments or customer-friendly policies—it demands a unified, organization-wide approach that centers on the customer and the goods and services provided.

Collaboration must be a CX priority, but it is often easier said than done.

Coaching the Organization: A Relay Race for CX Success

Imagine a CX leader as a coach preparing different departments for a relay race. Each department is an athlete with its own strengths and weaknesses, and the CX leader’s role is to analyze these strengths, optimize handoff techniques, and create training plans that strengthen customer knowledge and skills across the organization.

A successful relay team requires:

• Teamwork: Relay teams need to work well together, which includes knowing what each teammate is doing, cheering them on, and sharing ideas.
• Smooth Hand-offs: The departments need to work together to ensure the customer’s journey is smooth and consistent.
• Chemistry: Collaboration and common goals foster a closer bond between departments, leading to better teamwork and motivation.
• Resilience: Strong collaboration equips teams to navigate challenges and adapt to changes in customer needs or market conditions.
• Discipline: Departments must stay focused on executing their roles effectively, guided by the organization’s customer-centric vision.
• Practice: It takes repeated efforts to create and maintain interdepartmental cooperation.
• Rules: A great team has agreed-to rules and ways of working that everyone knows and obeys.

These qualities of a successful relay team mirror the requirements of a well-coordinated CX strategy. Just as in a race, departments must anticipate the handoffs and be ready to support each other. Each plays a critical role, and every handoff must be seamless for the organization to succeed.

Breaking Down Silos and Fostering Cross-Departmental Communication

To make collaboration a priority in CX, organizations must establish open communication channels that bridge the gaps between departments. This might mean implementing shared project management tools, creating cross-functional teams, or conducting regular, organization-wide CX strategy sessions.

The most effective strategy, though often the most challenging, is aligning common goals across individual, team, and organizational levels. When every employee, from the frontline to the back office to the executive suite, understands their role in delivering a unified CX vision, the organization can move cohesively toward its customer goals. By fostering a culture of shared goals and continuous collaboration, businesses can ensure that each department contributes to the bigger picture, collectively supporting their brand and their customer experience vision.

Final Thoughts: Why Customer Experience Is More Than a Function

When prioritized, customer experience is the keystone that unites and strengthens every aspect of the organization. By building a culture of collaboration, companies empower departments to work as a single unit, creating a cohesive, seamless customer experience. This unified approach creates a competitive advantage, fueling loyalty, revenue growth, and brand strength.

As CX leaders, our responsibility is to coach, strategize, and connect every part of the organization to this mission. Only through collaboration can we achieve a customer experience that isn’t just a function but a foundation for long-term success.