Why Customer Experience Leaders Must Speak the Language of Business, According to Jim Tincher, CCXP

In a recent LinkedIn post, Jim Tincher, CCXP, a recognized expert in customer experience, delves into a critical issue facing many CX professionals: their perceived value within the executive suite. Tincher argues that the short tenure of Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) and the precarious position of CX metrics often stem from a fundamental misalignment with core business objectives.

The “Guest” Status of CX Metrics

Tincher highlights a stark reality for marketing and customer experience roles compared to other C-suite positions. “The COO owns on-time delivery and cost. The CFO owns margin. Sales owns bookings. Then marketing reports on leads, and customer experience reports on a score,” he observes. This disparity, he contends, leaves CX leaders in a vulnerable position.

“When your metric is the only one the P&L does not recognize, you are permanently a guest.”

This observation forms the crux of Tincher’s argument: if the metrics tracked by CX and marketing teams are not directly tied to the financial outcomes that other executives are accountable for, their function will always be seen as secondary. He shares a personal anecdote, admitting he once made this mistake himself by focusing on whether clients enjoyed working with his company, rather than on a metric that truly reflected business success.

“I have done this to myself. For years I measured Heart of the Customer by whether clients enjoyed working with us. I love my customers and I love a good score. But if a client does not come back a second time, it does not matter what the survey said, because we did not do a good job.”

Reversing the CX Equation: From Customer to Business

A common training approach in CX is to start with deep customer understanding and then build the business case. Tincher asserts that this order is reversed and is the root of the problem. He proposes a counterintuitive, yet pragmatic, solution:

Starting with Business Goals

Tincher advocates for beginning with the business end. “Start at the business end instead,” he advises. “Pick the number your CEO is already accountable for, whether that is net revenue retention, margin, share of wallet or cost to serve, meaning what it costs you to support the relationship.” From there, he explains, one should work backward to identify the specific customer behaviors that influence these core business numbers, and only then identify the customer experiences that drive those behaviors.

“Work backward from there to the customer behavior that moves it. Only then go to the experience that drives the behavior.”

This strategic reframing, Tincher suggests, is how successful CX leaders navigate budget cuts and maintain their influence. He points to examples where CX leaders who aligned their teams’ accountability with business unit goals or directly with margin were able to demonstrate tangible financial impact, thus securing their positions and resources.

The Peril of “Listening Programs” Without Commercial Outcomes

Conversely, Tincher warns against the pitfalls of focusing solely on customer feedback mechanisms without connecting them to commercial results. He recalls instances where companies with sophisticated listening tools and extensive dashboards were forced to dissolve their customer functions because they couldn’t link their efforts to tangible business outcomes.

“The ones who get cut are running a listening program. I watched a Fortune 500 manufacturer dissolve its entire customer function after a leadership change. They had the best listening tools money could buy and dashboards everywhere, and they could not connect any of it to a commercial outcome.”

As a practical exercise for his readers, Tincher challenges them to identify the one number their CEO is accountable for in the upcoming year and then determine the customer behavior that directly influences it. He posits that if this second line cannot be filled, the CX professional has found their most critical work ahead – work that is more valuable than simply conducting another survey.

Tincher concludes by inviting discussion, noting that the key business metric that CX should influence can vary significantly by industry.