Four Questions CX Leaders Need to Ask Themselves

By Mark Slatin

If you’re a CX leader, you can relate.

You gave a presentation with senior leaders that bombed. Or maybe you could tell from the lack of questions and blank stares.

You know in your gut; it failed.

Having launched and led a CX practice for a decade, I’ve experienced that dreadful feeling.

It’s very easy to internalize and catastrophize and flat out beat yourself up about it.

I’ve learned that there is a path to success that allows you to avoid the stress and anguish.

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From my experience, any change agent (and that’s what CX leaders are) should have these four questions answered – good, bad, or indifferent, as they prepare for their next big meeting:

1. DO THEY VIEW ME AS TRUSTWORTHY?  According to The Trusted Advisor, the four variables of the trust equation, which is a mathematical formula that measures  trustworthiness,  are credibility, reliability, intimacy, and self orientation.  Listen here for a breakdown of the trust equation with the author, Charles H. Green, himself https://qrcd.org/4HF9.
2. DO THEY VIEW ME AS A GUIDE? If they view me as someone who wants to be the hero, vs. the guide, I’m in big trouble.  They don’t want another hero – but they might be open to listening to a guide.
3. DO I HAVE A CX ROADMAP? Do I have a comprehensive plan built with the collaboration of senior leaders that aligns with corporate goals?
4. HAVE I PROVEN THE VALUE?  1-3 above are the prerequisite for #4.  How are you proving the value of your work? Proving value means more than just sharing the ROI of your customer experience efforts.  You need to communicate identically to how the C-Suite is thinking about their goals rather than in CX jargon.

It’s more likely that no one in the C-Suite will tell you this is why your work stalled or flat out hit a wall.

Yet, not having the answer to these four questions is too often the underlying cause.

If you’re interested in taking your CX leadership to go beyond CX fundamentals, see the special offer for The Trusted Guide Roadmap™ Master Class which begins on June 5.  

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Mark Slatin, CCXP is the CEO of EmpoweredCX,  Top 25 CX Leaders Globally (CX Magazine), MSU Professor of Practice, Trusted Guide Roadmap™ Master Class creator, and Delighted Customers Podcast host (Top 20 Apple/Business Podcasts in US)