Free DownloadWhat is customer experience management (CEM or CXM)?
Positive customer experiences can boost both a company’s reputation and bottom line, but negative ones can have the opposite effect. Crafting and implementing a customer experience management strategy is essential. This guide explores techniques and tools that can help organizations construct and implement an effective customer experience management plan.
Customer experience has become a revenue driver, not just a brand differentiator. For many organizations, sales growth now depends as much on service quality, responsiveness and personalization as on product features.
While CX is distinct from the product itself, customers rarely separate the two. Their perception of value is shaped by every interaction across the journey. A deliberate CX strategy helps organizations increase retention, reduce churn and create sustained sales momentum.
Explore six ways CX can increase sales.
1. Customer retention costs less than acquisition
Retaining existing customers is typically more cost-effective than acquiring new ones, and loyal customers often generate higher lifetime value.
Organizations may need to wait months or years before new customers develop loyalty to their brands. Many CX management technologies -- including CRM systems, productivity and omnichannel tools -- focus on customer retention and offer a quick route to increased profits.
CX platforms collect information about a customer's experience across every step of the customer journey. Organizations aggregate this data from multiple sources, including customer satisfaction surveys, website and app feedback, phone and chat conversations, social media interactions, and API integrations with other customer-facing technologies.
Once collected, the data must be analyzed to generate accurate and actionable CX insights. This analysis enables teams to identify and resolve issues that improve retention and strengthen sales performance.
Organizations can analyze data across each phase of the customer journey to strengthen CX and drive sales growth.
Customer interactions with employees contribute to the overall customer experience and sales. Organizations should retain well-trained and satisfied employees, because these employees know how to best help customers.
Organizations can give frontline employees recommended action items from CX management platforms to help them create a positive CX. Happy customers can then create a positive experience for the employees in return, which can help retain employees that go above and beyond.
How to measure the sales impact of CX
Customer experience influences revenue in measurable ways. Organizations can connect CX initiatives to sales performance by tracking the following metrics:
• Customer lifetime value (CLV). Measures the total revenue a customer generates over the duration of the relationship. • Customer retention and churn rates. Indicates how effectively the organization keeps customers and prevents revenue loss. • Net promoter score (NPS). Gauges customer loyalty and likelihood to recommend the brand to others. • Repeat purchase rate. Tracks how often customers return to buy again, signaling satisfaction and loyalty. • Average order value (AOV). Shows how much customers spend per transaction and reflects upsell and cross-sell effectiveness. • Cost to serve. Measures the expense required to support a customer, helping assess CX efficiency and profitability.
By tying these metrics directly to revenue outcomes, CX leaders can demonstrate how experience investments translate into sales growth.
4. Positive CX generates organic advocacy
While many websites offer customers ways to provide feedback on a product or service, people have grown wary of online reviews. Bad actors can easily write fake reviews and manipulate these sites.
Organizations collect customer data from multiple touchpoints to improve CX strategy and support revenue growth.
However, if a positive or negative review comes from a friend or family member, people will be more inclined to believe it. Therefore, a positive CX can result in free advertising, as happy customers tell their friends and family about their experience. Also, customers may share positive reviews on their social media accounts, which can reach a wide audience.
5. Rapid service recovery protects revenue
Even the most CX-conscious organizations make mistakes and encounter unsatisfied customers. However, CX technology can help identify and rectify mistakes throughout the CX lifecycle.
Long-standing customers often forgive occasional mistakes if organizations quickly resolve their issues. CX management platforms collect customer feedback through various channels, such as surveys and social media posts, which helps organizations immediately address customers' concerns.
Customer experience is no longer a support function -- it is a revenue lever.
Much of the customer data a CX platform collects contains information about how customers compare one product or service to a competitor's. Collection and analysis of this data can help organizations understand what people like and dislike about their competitors.
In turn, CX leaders can quickly make business changes to either mimic positive competitor attributes or avoid negative ones. These small yet critical details can influence where customers spend their money.
Customer experience is no longer a support function -- it is a revenue lever. Organizations that treat CX as a strategic sales driver rather than a customer service initiative are better positioned to increase lifetime value, strengthen loyalty and outperform competitors.
Andrew Froehlich is founder of InfraMomentum, an enterprise IT research and analyst firm, and president of West Gate Networks, an IT consulting company. He has been involved in enterprise IT for more than 20 years.
