Some roles are staples within the C-suite — most companies have a CEO, CFO and CMO. But as CX leaders work their way up the chain of command, corporate structures have shifted to accommodate the additional priorities.
This is especially true when it comes to the role of the CMO.
At the turn of the century, CX was a burgeoning function often found in a business’ marketing or market research departments, Judy Weader, a principal analyst at Forrester, told CX Dive. But over the past 20 years, CX has developed into a priority area worthy of dedicated staff outside the marketing department.
Today, responsibilities within CX and marketing can be a Venn diagram. Both functions may interact with personalization, for example, while also carrying out distinct duties. Some companies may even have a CXO and CMO tasked with parsing diagrams of responsibilities. However, there is no one-size-fits-all template.
“A blanket solution isn’t usually ideal. It needs to be custom to the individual organization and have executive alignment across the entire company’s leadership team to lead back to customer value,” Craig Flower, CIO at CX SaaS provider Zendesk, said in an email.
A diagram without a template
The lack of a template means the way companies structure CX and marketing responsibilities varies greatly.
A 2023 Forrester survey identified 16 different departments to which CX programs can report. While 20% of CX leaders said they report to the CEO, 15% report to chief technical officers or IT and 11% report to the chief experience or customer officer.
Only 8% said they reported to marketing, and no other departments received more than 8%.
At Zendesk, Flower oversees the CX function, which he said includes customer advocacy, customer success and renewals, professional services, shared services and customer engagement. The CMO, Kelly Waldher, is responsible for global marketing, communications, social impact, brand-building and demand-generation.
The CX organization at Zendesk works more closely with the sales team, Flower said. This way, sales, customer success managers and renewals can easily stay on the same page.
“With this collaboration, Zendesk can ensure the right processes, tools alignment and capabilities to continually improve our ability to grow and retain our customers,” he said.
At CX platform Medallia, CX is something every department focuses on, Tim Duranleau, SVP of marketing, said in an email. That sentiment spans from product to customer support and beyond. Medallia also has a dedicated client experience team that reports to SVP of Client Value Jodi Searl, who reports directly to the CEO.
Duranleau noted one common overlap in the diagram of responsibilities, generally speaking, is that both functions work to ensure customer journeys are as painless and simple as possible.
That involves tasks such as removing unnecessary steps or anticipating customer challenges in real time — which could occur before a purchase is made in digital channels that are typically owned by the marketing department.
“Great alignment occurs when CX is guiding the improvements that are intended to make a positive impact and marketing is partnering on the execution,” he said.
Even though Zendesk’s CX function may be more closely tied to sales, Flower agreed that marketing and CX need to collaborate. CX drives adoption and helps customers receive the full value from a product, all while working with marketing to understand the scope of what’s available to customers and how that portfolio lends itself to business objectives.
Product adoption, usage, proactive product updates, implementation support and market trends are just some of the responsibilities that require involvement from both marketing and CX.
For example, Flower said, the two departments should share customer support data between teams. That way, the business can track trends, such as customer confusion over a product or policy, and adjust communication materials as needed.
“Marketing teams know how to get customer attention that CX can use to impact customer behavior. To make this happen, you need to create connections and constant communication (including feedback loops) between these two teams,” he said.
CMO, meet CXO
Ultimately, Flower said, where the CX team sits in the Zendesk corporate structure is less important. More significant is that CX is a function with leadership among the highest rank.
“CX has evolved and now requires dedicated executive leadership,” Flower said. As CIO, he continued, he is deeply involved with one of the key enterprise buyer personas for CX while also taking a companywide of the entire business. “This doesn’t have to come from a CIO at every company, but it does need to come from the executive leadership team.”
The same 2023 Forrester survey found 3 in 5 CX decision-makers said they work in a centralized program. Even of those who reported working in a decentralized program, the majority said their program is centrally coordinated.
According to Gartner, almost 90% of organizations had a CXO, chief customer officer or equivalent role in 2020. Neither Zendesk nor Medallia has a CXO, specifically. But Duranleau said the proliferation of that C-suite position is growing and that he expects that trend to continue.
The rise of the CXO role represents the increasing importance of CX, and the need to evolve it to a multifaceted discipline, Flower said. But no matter the title, CX is a function that should have buy-in at the upper ranks.
“In today’s fluctuating economy and competitive business landscape, collaboration across the C-suite can be critical to success,” Duranleau said.
