The struggle to convince your senior leadership team to invest in customer experience has always been there for decades, and several CX experts have struggled in this endeavor.

Many company leaders say that customers come first, but they get more worried about tapping into new markets, sales, talent management, or process optimization when it comes to implementation.

According to a Pegasystems study, a mere 35% of businesses have a C-level sponsor for CX, and in 36% of companies, director level or below executive leads them.

So, what is the best way to convince the core leadership to invest in customer experience? This article will cover why getting buy-in is challenging, how to get leadership on board with investing in CX, and more.

The reasons that make getting buy-in so tough 

The importance of CX continues to increase in the market, with more companies now competing on price and customer experience. While there are multiple ways to capitalize on customer experience for better growth, getting buy-in from the C-suite can be challenging. This difficulty can be due to a lack of information, education, the company’s current strategy, and financial concerns.

Quantifying returns on CX investments 

1. Create a CX value framework 

A CX value framework will help define value on and across different stakeholder groups, build connections, ensure aligned teams, and more. CX professionals who are part of CX initiatives will more efficiently connect business and operational goals.

2. Establish an iterative transformation program 

Creating and designing CX transformation programs will help customers adopt a data-driven and customer-centric change method. A change in CX transformation will help align values, operations, structures, technology, and culture to meet CX requirements.

3. Explicitly clarify KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) that enable you to measure improvements 

The key performance indicators (KPIs) for CX can be based on acquisition, customer retention, and efficiency. The KPIs can generate more opportunities, drive loyalty, increase productivity, increase brand equity, drive advocacy, increase market share, and decrease operations costs.

Steps to convince senior leadership team to invest more in customer experience 

1. Vary your pitch based on the decision-makers’ perspectives

Your pitch is everything. Tailoring your pitch to meet the decision-makers’ concerns and perspectives is critical. Familiarize yourself with their values, goals, knowledge, and interests and shape your pitch accordingly. Misaligned expectations and incentives can lead to a poor CX pitch.

2. Frame the issue in the best manner possible in front of the decision-makers

A strategic role with extraordinary clarity will help frame the situation best. You’ll need to create a sense of urgency among the C-suite decision-making. And this should be based on drive and skills to ensure the idea is presented in the best manner.

3. Take their emotional investment into consideration

Your decision-makers might have some emotional investment in the topic you’re discussing. If you believe that your pitch might clash with some of the leadership’s beliefs, make the necessary changes while considering this.

4. Find the right moment to raise your ideas

Timing is everything. It’s essential to find the right moment to put your ideas forward. So, do your research and ask around to ensure that your pitch won’t be placed on the back burner solely because of timing.

5. Involve others

You need to bring others into the buy-in efforts rather than being alone. In that sense, a coalition increases the chances for buy-in on a larger scale. One person may be in charge of technical aspects of your pitch, while another is over essential data. These advantages and points can help create a clear, strong, and trusted pitch.

6. Adhere to norms

Most organizational leaders use specific data to make decisions. Become familiar with their decision-making norms. Find out what data they use, how they prefer to get that information, etc.

7. Speak up about the problems and suggest thoughtful solutions

If you speak up about the situation, you’ll potentially get some valuable suggestions. These suggestions can lead to solutions for those problems.

Conclusion 

Getting a CX buy-in from the leadership team can become one of the toughest challenges for a customer success manager. However, while challenging, it’s not impossible.

Ultimately, when it comes to creating loyal customers, your pricing is not the key differentiator; instead, it’s customer experience that can have a tangible impact on your CS strategies. 

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