The A to Z (Multiple Role) Model for Customer Experience Professionals

I do believe that for Customer experience professionals to deliver value-added CX practices; their focus (the y axis in the below figure) ranges from being strategic (long term focus) to operational  (day to day focus) and their activities (the X axis in the below figure) ranges from managing customer processes & policies to managing customer expectations.

Based on the focus and the nature of activity of CX professionals (as illustrated in the above figure); we have four quadrants:

1.    Strategic focus Vs the activity of managing customer processes (Top Left)

2.    Operational focus Vs the activity of managing customer processes (Down Left)

3.    Operational focus Vs the activity of managing customer expectations (Down Right)

4.    Strategic focus Vs the activity of managing change/Transformation (Top Right)

To be an enabler of  any business success, Customer Experience  professionals must play multiple roles, performing  specific activities,  wearing different hats (metaphor) , and delivering  specific outcomes!

As a Strategist (a metaphor), the role of CX professional is “management of strategic CX” by aligning CX & business strategy (the role) for successful execution of CX strategy (the deliverable/outcome)!

As an Optimizer, CXer’s (Customer Experience Professional’s) role is “Management of CX infrastructure” by redesigning customer processes, policies, and systems according to both organizational & customers’ needs (as customers not created equally); and the main deliverable/outcome of this quadrant is an efficient CX infrastructure.

As an Advocate, the role of CX professional is “Management of customer Expectations” by validating customers before and after launch of any product or service and getting customer insights using the different VoC (Voice of Customer) tools and methods (eg: focus groups, surveys, observations, …etc.) for the purpose of improving customer commitment and loyalty the (outcome/deliverable).

As a Transformer, the role is “Management of Transformation & Change” by showing leadership in transformation and change management for the purpose of building capacity for change inside an organization.

The multiple roles of customer Experience professionals summarized in the below table as follow:

Last but not least, the role of a customer experience professional is multiple and its not just a single role; therefore, a CX professional must be a strategist, optimizer, an advocate, and a transformer in order to drive business results and be a successful business leader.