https://www.techtarget.com/searchcustomerexperience/definition/chief-customer-officer-CCO
A chief customer officer, or customer experience officer, is responsible for customer research, communicating with company employees and taking charge of customer experience (CX) metrics. The position typically reports one level below the chief executive officer (CEO) and answers to the head of marketing or a business unit that reports directly to the CEO.
The role of the chief customer officer differs from company to company. In some companies, the CCO is in charge of customer complaints. In other businesses, the role is more operational, and the chief customer officer works with the customer service department. Many chief customer officers lead their organization's voice of the customer (VOC) initiatives.
CCO is a confusing abbreviation because it also stands for chief compliance officer, chief communication officer, chief commercial officer and chief client officer.
The chief customer officer can take on many different roles, including the following:
Many different aspects of a business end up in with the CCO, such as:
Chief customer officers play a key role in ensuring customers have good experiences with an organization. Businesses use their CX to differentiate from competitors and improve customer loyalty and retention. The CCO takes ownership of the customer experience and represents the customer service division in the leadership of the company.
The CCO communicates the importance of the customer to the executive-level team. They also establish and drive a customer-centric culture where all departments work to provide effective customer service and deliver a consistent CX.
The CCO is a C-level role. As such, it requires significant career experience. Top customer executives come from various backgrounds. Having a diverse background is often considered a strength for the role.
One potential career path for CCOs is to rise through the ranks at a company, starting as a customer service representative. It's important for CCOs to understand all aspects of an organization's customer base.
Typical qualifications for the CCO role and job description include the following:
In addition to the generic skills above, the CCO should be well-versed in their organization's and industry's products and services.
The chief customer officer can work out of different parts of organization, depending on how it handles the customer experience and customer service. The CCO is generally two levels below the CEO and the C-suite. For instance, when the marketing team handles CX, the CCO reports to the chief marketing officer. They may also report to the head of a separate business unit that reports to the CEO.
If CX has its own frontline business function within the company, such as a customer success department, the CCO might report to the CEO or the chief operating officer.
Some common software tools CCOs use to do their job are the following:
These tools are often incorporated into CEM tools and CRM software. Some vendors and platforms that CCOs work with include the following:
Many of these tools let customer-focused managers and executives create VOC surveys. Customer data collected from these types of surveys is used to improve customer acquisition, customer satisfaction and customer retention. Some common questions to ask on a VOC survey can include:
Collecting this sort of customer feedback helps CCOs measure the following:
The CCO is responsible for improving customer experience and championing customer service in the organization. Check out our ultimate guide to customer service to learn more about developing a solid customer strategy.
24 Jan 2023