the chief customer officer is not a customer advocate

7/29/2019 The Chief Customer Officer is NOT a Customer Advocate

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2013 Predictive Consulting Group, Inc.All rights reserved. Reproduction prohibited.CHIEF CUSTOMER OFFICER COUNCILwww.ccocouncil.org | (978) 226-8675 Page 1

The Chief CustomerOfficer is NOT a

Customer Advocate

by Curtis N. Bingham


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The Chief Customer Officer is NOT a CustomerAdvocate

Curtis N. Bingham

Founder and Executive Director

Chief Customer Officer Council

CurtisBinghamistherecognizedauthorityonchiefcustomerofficersandthefirsttopromotethisroleasacatalyst

forcompetitiveadvantage.HeisthecreatoroftheCCORoadmap,agroundbreakingworkcontaining100+critical

strategiesessentialforcustomercentricity.Asaninternationalspeaker,author,andconsultant,Curtisispassionate

aboutcreatingcustomerstrategytosustainablygrowrevenue,profit,andloyalty.

Areyouacustomercomplaintofficer(CCO)?Orachiefcustomeradvocate?Ifso,youaredoingyour

companyandyourcustomersadisservice.

Manypeoplebelievetheprimaryroleofthechiefcustomerofficer(CCO)istobeacustomeradvocate,

orperhapsevenacustomercomplaintofficer(CCO),dedicatedtosolvingcustomerproblems.Nothing

couldbemoredamagingtotheCCOortheorganizationthanthisperception.Acustomeradvocatetitle

implies the executive will always side with customers, regardless of the business impact. Effective

handling of customer complaints is a criticalprocesswithin theorganization, but if theCCOownsit

exclusively,itinvitesthewholesaleabdicationtotheCCOofallcustomerresponsibility.Therearethree

reasonswhyaCCOisnotacomplaintofficeroradvocate.

Firstofall,customersaresimplynotalwaysright,nomatterwhatpopularliteraturemightadvocate.If

customershadtheirwayeveryproduct,service,orinteractionwouldperfectlymeetalltheirneedsfor

free.Inoureffortstopacifycustomers,wevetrainedthemtocomplainandgetacredit.Iftheyaskfor

it, well give thema coupon. Lets face it: were not in the businessof continually giving away our

productsorservicesforfree.Todosowouldbefoolish&irresponsibletoourshareholders,employees,

andultimately,ourcustomers.SometimesthemostvaluablethingtheCCOcandoforthebusiness(and

forthecustomer)isgracefullysaytoacustomer,No.

Secondly, theCCOrole is somuchmore thancomplaints andadvocacy. Executivesmake trade-offs.

Underlings blindly champion causes, irrespective of the consequences. An effective chief customer

officersprimarydutyistohelptheorganizationdriveprofitable,customer-centricgrowthbybalancing

current&futurecustomerneedswithbusinessobjectives.Todoso,theCCOhastohavenotonlyanintimateunderstandingofcustomersneeds,wants,anddesires,butalsothestrategicprioritiesofthe

business.Understandingwhich,theCCOcanmakethestrategictradeoffsrequiredtobalancelong-term


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customervaluewithshort-termcosts.Toachievethesegoals,theCCOmustbeinvolvedinstrategy,

cultureimprovement,customerprioritization,retention,acquisition,andeveninnovation.

Third, the CCO must inject the customer perspective into executive discussions so every strategic

decisionanswersthequestion,whatistheimpactonthecustomer?Iftheimpactispositive,leverage

it.Customerscantappreciatewhattheyarentawareof.Iftheimpactisnegative,findwaystomitigate

it. For JetBlue, on-time departure was the key driver of customer satisfaction. Yet to fix

airport/traffic/weatherdelayswasprohibitiveorimpossible.Theyfoundthathavingthepilotcomeout

ofthecockpitandaddress thepassengerscausedsatisfactionscorestonearlycompletelyreboundto

thoseofon-timedepartures.

TobeaneffectiveCCO,youmustremainstrategic.Complaintsareeveryonesjob.Setup closed-loop

issueresolutionprocessesandhelptheexpertsretainownershipofcorrectingandpreventingfurther

complaints.Balancecustomerneedswithbusinessneedsasapeeroftheexecutiveteam.*

*Copyright Notice:All content contained in this article is copyright protected material. Reproduction, in whole or in

part, in any form or medium, without the express written permission of the Chief Customer Officer Council is strictlyprohibited.


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About CURTIS N. BINGHAMAsExecutiveDirectoroftheChiefCustomerOfficerCouncil,CurtisBinghamis

therecognizedauthorityonchiefcustomerofficersandthefirsttopromotethis

role as a catalyst for competitive advantage. He is the creator of the CCO

Roadmap,agroundbreakingworkcontaining100+criticalstrategiesessentialfor

customercentricity.Asaninternationalspeaker,author,andconsultant,Curtisis

passionateaboutcreatingcustomerstrategytosustainablygrowrevenue,profit,

andloyalty.

About THE CHIEF CUSTOMER OFFICER COUNCIL

TheCCOCouncilisapowerfulandintimategatheringoftheworlds

leading customer executives from widely diverse industries.The

Councilhelpsexecutivesachieveobjectivesfasterandmoreeasilyby

leveragingbest practices. Ithelps validateand refine strategiesand

initiativestoavoidexperimentingatcustomerexpense.Membership

isbyinvitationonly,andpurposefullycross-pollinatedwiththemost

forward-thinkingcompanies,largeandsmall,soastohelpcustomer

executivesdeliversolid,customer-centricbusiness results. Formore

information,[email protected].

Jointheconversation

www.ccocouncil.org

PowerfulInfluenceonCustomerCentricity AuthorityisthecurrencyoftheC-

Suite.GreaterAuthoritymeansgreaterabilitytoinfluencetheorganizationto

takeadesiredaction.Sohowdoyouincreaseyourauthorityandbetterusethe

authoritythatsbeengrantedtoyou?Howcanyoubuildstrongerrelationships

and demonstrate and communicateresults? InthisBinghamAdvisory, youll

not only learn about the three types of chief customer officer authority:

Positional,BorrowedandEarned,you'llalsolearnfivewaystoborrowandfour

waystoearngreaterauthority,withspecificexamplesofeach.

Downloadyourfreecopytodayatwww.ccocouncil.org/thebinghamadvisory/

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the chief customer officer is not a customer advocate

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