This is one of several presentations that are part of the Future of the CMO/CXP Executive Education Series -- Hosted by OnMessage. Establishing Executive Alignment and Priorities 
Around Your Company’s Customer Experience. Securing executive alignment and clearly defined priorities in support of Customer Experience Management is crucial. Yet, so few companies have a game plan for making this happen. In most cases customer experience, as a priority within the business, originates and stagnates within customer service or call center departments. The initiative fails to gain traction in other customer-facing areas of the business. It never receives executive support and endorsement. As a result, the customer experience never delivers material business results. Why is this? For the customer experience to translate into improved financial performance and become a competitive advantage, it must be embraced enterprise-wide. It must be implemented in a cross-functional manner — and, it has to be a priority for the CEO and the entire C-suite. View entire presentation.

1. June 23, 2016

2. The customer experience has become the competitive battleground for
business. By delivering a consistent, memorable experience, companies can
create a competitive advantage that increases customer engagement,
conversion, loyalty and advocacy.
Over the next three-to-five years, 75 percent of marketers say they will be
responsible for the end-to-end customer experience.
This series will provide CMOs and business executives with a deeper
understanding of the strategies and tactics required to deliver a superior
end-to-end customer experience.
/ About the Series

3. James F. O’Gara, CEO and Founder, OnMessage
/ About me
1,000s
of Hours Working
with CMOs / CEOs
HUNDREDS
of Emerging
Companies
DOZENS
of Fortune 500
Companies
25+ Yrs
Experience
Leading
Brands
Expertise and Experience
/ Customer research
and analysis
/ Corporate messaging
strategy and execution
/ Customer-centric
culture development
/ Go-to-market
strategic planning

4. About the sponsor.
OnMessage specializes in helping executives align and
activate their entire organization around a corporate strategy
and story that dramatically improves the customer experience.
Leveraging our disciplined methodology — executive teams
are able to crystallize their go-to-market strategy, formulate a
strategically aligned corporate messaging platform and ensure
every stakeholder understands how to activate the strategy
and story throughout the customer journey.
www.itsonmessage.com

5. / Upcoming sessions: June - August

6. / Upcoming sessions: September - October

7. / Upcoming sessions: November - December
Download the complete curriculum guide and
register for the entire series:
www.cmoeducationseries.com

8. Quick Recap
May Education Session

9. Delivering a Corporate Story
that Strengthens Your
Customer Experience.
Learning Objective:
How messaging materially impacts
customer acquisition, retention,
advocacy and the customer experience.
MAY SESSION RECAP

10. Touchpoints, interactions and messages define your customer’s overall
“experience” with your company.
They also represent the new competitive environment that businesses
face today.
/ Deliver a consistent story … or else.

11. In the “customer experience” driven world — words and actions matter.
They establish perception. They define how customers perceive their
experience with your company.
Ultimately, your strategy drives the actions and your message drives the
storyline customers experience throughout their journey.
/ Deliver a consistent story … or else.

12. Constructed with
consistent building
blocks
Anchored in a
higher-purpose
Best practices for creating a story that is…
Aligned with your
go-to-market
strategy
Packaged and
comprehensive
Embraced and
activated by
employees
Connected throughout the customer experience

13. How is my messaging
developed and delivered?
Connecting the dots.
How does that align with
my customer’s journey?
You need to understand and paint a
picture of how your story is currently
developed and delivered. Where it’s
told, by whom and what messaging is
being utilized.
You need to understand the
touchpoints and moments in the
customer journey that matter. This
means you need to develop an
accurate customer journey map.

14. Materials from May Session.
Delivering a Corporate
Story That Strengthens
Your Customer Experience
— How messaging materially
impacts customer acquisition,
retention, advocacy and the
customer experience.
If you missed this session, be sure to pick up a copy of…

15. Today’s Executive
Education Series
Topic:
Establishing Executive
Alignment and Priorities
Around Your Company’s
Customer Experience.

16. For customer experience (CX) to translate into
improved financial performance and become a
competitive advantage it must be embraced
enterprise-wide. It must be implemented in a
cross-functional manner — and, it has to be a
priority for the CEO and the entire C-suite.

17. It requires …
Unwavering CEO
Commitment.

18. Without CEO commitment …
CX … fails to gain traction in customer-facing
areas of the business.
CX … never receives executive support and
endorsement.
CX … never delivers material business results.

19. Without CEO commitment …
CX … becomes another business fad.
CX … becomes something a few team members talk
about for a while before it quickly fades to black.

20. Without CEO commitment …
It’s never …
— Identified as a cornerstone of the business strategy
— Institutionalized and operationalized
— Infused into the company’s culture

21. For CX to be a difference maker …
A CEO … must commit to creating an experience
that will differentiate the company and grow the
business.
A CEO … must truly believe that
‘customer experience’ matters.

22. Question
On a scale of 1-5 (1 being extremely low … 5 being extremely high)
how would you rank your CEO’s commitment to Customer
Experience Management across your business?

23. of companies reported much higher profitability than their
competitors when the CEO was in charge of customer
experience.
58%
59%
63%
SOURCE: The Economist Intelligence Unit
experienced better revenue growth as a result of prioritizing
strategic customer experience investments.
of executives who make customer experience a priority
actually deliver a better customer experience than
their competition.

24. Guess what?
There is a real and material link between
a CEO’s commitment to customer
experience and business profitability.

25. How do you lock in your
CEO’s commitment??

26. Help him or her determine if they truly
believe CX is a strategic priority … or not.

27. Talk about how …
Customer experience is changing the
competitive environment.
Customer acquisition, retention, loyalty
and advocacy will determine future
success.
People, processes and technologies have
to be centered on the customer for the
company to win.
”
“ Have difficult
and detailed
discussions
with your CEO.

28. Ask tough questions.
Do you feel our
leaders have a deep
understanding of
the customer?
Is our company’s go-to-
market strategy rooted
in deep, meaningful
customer insights?
Is our product / service
roadmap driven by
current / future customer
requirements?
Are C-suite discussions
and decisions
consistently anchored in
meeting or exceeding
customer expectations?
Is our company’s
culture driven by a
deep and genuine
desire to deliver a
superior experience?
Do we have the people,
processes and
technologies in place to
create a superior customer
experience?

29. Be prepared to handle the
objections and answers.
Does your CEO
acknowledge the
challenges your company
faces with respect to
delivering a superior
customer experience?
Does your CEO recognize
gaps that exist in your
people, processes and
technologies — and how
they negatively impact
the customer experience?
Does your CEO realize how
much the company’s
culture has to change if the
customer experience is
going to change for the
better?
Does he or she believe your customer experience can
become a competitive advantage in the marketplace?

30. You need to assess your CEO’s
commitment to customer experience
as a strategic business imperative.!

31. Customer
Centricity
1
You need your CEO to commit to 10 things
before you sign up and move out.
Experience
Ownership
C-Suite Reporting
Relationship
3
C-Suite Funding
& Involvement
42
Leadership
Accountability
5 Organizational
Change
Clear Performance
Metrics
7
Measurement &
Reporting Systems
86
Realistic Time
to Impact
9 Sustained
Cadence
10

32. CEO Commitment — Assessment Worksheet
This worksheet will help
you identify additional
commitment that may be
required from your CEO
and C-suite to
successfully
institutionalize and
operationalize Customer
Experience Management
at your company.
Select the number that
corresponds to the “level of
commitment and conviction”
you believe your CEO has on
that particular topic.
1 being “extremely low” and
5 being “extremely high.”

33. Rank CEO Commitment based on “Ask” and “Action”
The … Ask The … Action
Are they philosophically committed to
establishing the “enterprise mindset”
and “operating model” required to
deliver a superior customer experience?
Are they fully committed to taking
specific “actions” that are required to
“activate” changes and improvements
in the customer experience?

34. Commitment to
Customer Centricity1
“Understanding who your customers are, collectively and as
individuals, has never been more important. Companies that
prioritize customer experience report higher revenue, lower costs,
increased customer loyalty and more engaged employees.”
~ Fortune Knowledge Group

35. Commitment to
Customer Centricity1
Ask Action
Commit to making customer
centricity a cornerstone of the
company’s business strategy.
Commit to securing rich and
actionable insights about your
customer.
Commit to driving customer
knowledge deep into the fabric of
the company’s culture.
Align strategic business initiatives with
customer needs, desires, aspirations.
Invest in sustained customer research.
Deploy customer knowledge sharing
systems.
Reengineer roles, processes and
technologies around customer.
Tie employee performance to CX and
customer knowledge.

36. Commitment to
CX Ownership2
“To be successful, the chief customer professional in any
organization must simplify how the organization works together to
achieve customer-driven growth, engage the leadership team, and
connect the work to a return on investment. They develop
mechanisms to bring the voice of the customer to every department,
and find tangible ways for every job function to successfully rethink
the work from a customer-focused perspective.”
~ Jeanne Bliss, CCO at Lands End, Allstate, and Microsoft

37. Commitment to
CX Ownership2
Ask Action
Commit to appointing a sole leader of
CX management who can be fully
responsible for casting vision,
strategy, execution and optimizing the
experience.
Commit to giving this person authority
to manage across organizational and
political boundaries.
Clearly assign and communicate
ownership of this initiative across the
enterprise.
Make sure every leader understands
this individual owns the end-to-end
strategic planning, execution and
management process.
Empower this individual to reach into
every customer-facing area of the
business to influence or enact
change.

38. Commitment to
C-Suite Reporting
Relationship
3
“Knowing what’s working, where there’s room for improvement, and
why specific allocations can improve a company’s customer
experience allows for smarter investment decisions from all
stakeholders in the C-suite.”
~ CX Report

39. Commitment to
C-Suite Reporting Relationship3
Ask Action
Commit to creating a direct
reporting relationship with the
C-suite.
Formalize a direct reporting
relationship with CEO or a C-level
executive.
Ensure this leader has consistent
access to the entire C-suite.
Vet strategic business decisions with
customer requirements and vice
versa.

40. Commitment to
C-Suite Funding
and Involvement
4
“With a solid game plan to gather support from every corner of the
C-level from CEO to CMO, customer experience strategists will be
much better positioned for success.”
~ Duff Anderson, Voice of the Customer Expert

41. Commitment to
C-Suite Funding and Involvement4
Ask Action
Commit to assigning CX
responsibilities to every C-suite team
member.
Commit to ensuring every C-suite
member plays an active role in
shaping the customer experience
strategy.
Commit to driving a “customer-
centric” decision making and
budgeting process across the C-suite.
Hold every C-suite member
accountable for actively managing
customer experience initiatives that
pertain to their area of the business.
Assign performance metrics and
budget dollars to every member of
the C-suite.

42. Commitment to
Cross-Functional
Leadership Accountability
5
“It can be tempting to think the appointment of a customer
experience officer means the voice of the customer has found a
home. The customer-centric journey is, in fact, one that everyone in
the company must take, with shared understanding and
commitment, and accountability across leadership and every job
function. Everyone is responsible for the customer.”
~ Fortune Knowledge Group

43. Commitment to
Cross-Functional Leadership Accountability5
Ask Action
Commit to holding the C-suite
accountable for leading
initiatives across their respective
areas of the organization.
Commit to managing customer
experience expectations and
accountability at every level of
the company.
Define and communicate specific CX
expectations for every level of the
organization (C-suite, Leaders,
Managers, Front-line)
Ensure every leader understands the
strategic nature of customer
experience initiatives that pertain to
their area of the business.
Hold leaders responsible for ensuring
direct reports know how customer
experience is being measured and
how it impacts daily work activities.

44. Commitment to
Organizational Change
(People, Process, Technology)
6
“Recognizing that employees are the driving force that can make or
break a great customer experience is the first step. An effective
change management initiative is the second step necessary to
ensure that employees have the knowledge and structure to deliver.”
~ JG Staal, Head of Customer Experience Management at Tahzoo

45. Commitment to
Organizational Change
(People, Process, Technology)6
Ask Action
Commit to ensuring everyone in the
organization embraces change that is
essential in delivering a superior
customer experience.
Commit to making it clear that there
are no sacred cows, political
motivations are outlawed and
functional barriers are being torn down.
Form a cross-functional CX
leadership team tasked with driving
change deep into the organization.
Provide the CX leader with complete
autonomy and authority to inject
change into customer-facing areas of
the business.
Reward functional leaders for keeping
their eye on the prize (CX success)
and not on their pride.

46. Commitment to
Clear Performance Metrics7
“62 percent of companies globally that measure their customer
experience initiatives are more likely to deliver better customer
experience.” ~ Genesis Consulting
“But … they have to be metrics that matter to the C-suite and
impact business performance.” ~ OnMessage

47. Commitment to
Clear Performance Metrics7
Ask Action
Commit to defining CX metrics
that matter to the C-suite.
Commit to getting every member
of the C-suite to lock arms and
communicate those metrics to
leaders across the organization.
Identify the key performance
indicators the company is going to
focus on.
Communicate to every leader the
data set the company will monitor.
Define incentives and penalties for
meeting or falling short of CX
performance metrics at every level of
the organization.

48. Commitment to
Measurement and
Reporting Systems
8
“Smart companies use customer-focused measurements and
analytics to redesign their products, processes, services, and
employee positions and responsibilities. Smart leaders make sure
employees are given access to the tools, skills, and information they
need to grow and be accountable in a customer-centric
environment.”
~ Fortune Knowledge Group

49. Commitment to
Measurement and Reporting Systems8
Ask Action
Commit to putting data collection,
measurement systems and reporting
processes in place to capture and
share key performance metrics.
Deploy systems that provide
employees, managers and leaders
with actionable insights they need to
improve the customer experience in
daily work activities.
Provide leaders with consistent
performance metrics and reports for
each area of the business.
Review performance reports with
leaders on a regular basis.

50. Commitment to
Realistic Timeline
for Business Impact
9
“A 2% increase in retention or a 20% increase in average sale or
order size doesn’t happen in a few months; it takes time, and that’s
why it’s so crucial to forecast eventual increases, set longer-term
strategies, and execute hard while taking heart in quick wins.”
~ Lori Carr, Former Chief Customer Officer, Bombardier Flexjet

51. Commitment to
Realistic Timeline for Business Impact9
Ask Action
Commit to a timeline of when
customer experience
management will materialize into
measurable business results.
Commit to sharing “business
impact” expectations with all
critical stakeholders (C-suite,
Board of Directors, Investors,
Employees, Partners, etc.).
Align ‘time to impact’ expectations
with specific performance metrics
(functional, divisional, enterprise).
Consistently communicate progress
and performance metrics as
improvements take shape.
Hold leaders accountable for
implementation and measurement
timetables.

52. Commitment to
Sustained Company-Wide
CX Cadence
10
“We’ve found that organizations able to skillfully manage the entire
experience reap enormous rewards: enhanced customer
satisfaction, reduced churn, increased revenue, and greater
employee satisfaction. They also discover more effective ways to
collaborate across functions and levels, a process that delivers gains
throughout the company.”
~ McKinsey & Company

53. Commitment to
Sustained Company-Wide CX Cadence10
Ask Action
Commit to infusing mindset, behavior
and cultural changes required to
deliver a superior customer experience.
Commit to a sustained cadence of
communication in support of customer
experience management.
Commit to ensuring the strategic
importance and business value of
customer experience remains
omnipresent.
Design and implement sustained
internal communication programs
that ensure customer centricity is
woven into the fabric of the company.
Manage a consistent cadence by
which leaders communicate, manage
and drive change throughout the
customer experience.
Maintain visibility to the metrics that
matter. Showcasing the impact the
initiative is having on the business.

54. Is this too much to ask?

55. It’s better than the alternative.
Failed CX programs, tarnished reputations, damaged careers, material
financial losses, and so many more devastating consequences.

56. Questions?

57. Next Session
July 21
Stonebriar Country Club
Frisco, Texas
Topic:
Driving Organizational
Change in Support of the
Customer Experience.

58. Thank you for coming.
Please complete your “Feedback Form” before you leave.
“10 Commitments Every CEO
Must Make to Realize Customer
Experience Success.”
“Deliver a Story That
Strengthens the Customer
Experience.”
As you leave, please pick up these valuable resources and educational materials:
“CEO Commitment
Assessment Worksheet.”

59. About the sponsor.
OnMessage specializes in helping executives align and
activate their entire organization around a corporate strategy
and story that dramatically improves the customer experience.
Leveraging our disciplined methodology — executive teams
are able to crystallize their go-to-market strategy, formulate a
strategically aligned corporate messaging platform and ensure
every stakeholder understands how to activate the strategy
and story throughout the customer journey.
www.itsonmessage.com