Here’s a little fact to wrap your head around:

The second-most common reason why CX leaders tell us that their organizations invest in CX initiatives is … to improve their CX score.

Yes, you read that correctly. The number two driver of customer experience (CX) investment isn’t to improve your customers’ actual experiences — it’s to improve what your customers say about their experiences. It is true that, in many cases, improving a customer’s actual experience (is it easier, more effective, more emotionally resonant than before?) will result in your CX score improving, but the cause-and-effect is shaky. We’ve all seen examples of score begging — from not-so-subtle Net Promoter Score℠ (NPS) surveys that highlight 9 and 10 in bold green to blatant statements such as “Anything less than a 9 is a failure.”

Three other key gaps compound the score obsession:

  • The skills gap: Most CX teams skew toward measurement as a core competency. Defining CX metrics is the most common core competency of CX teams we survey globally. And they are doubling down, because “defining CX metrics” is the second-most common competency that teams tell us they are adding.
  • The technology gap: CX technology budgets focus on metrics, not action. Almost half of CX teams, and three-quarters of measurement-focused teams, use customer feedback management technology, while only one in five use technologies focused on responding and driving action, such as journey orchestration.
  • The process gap: Teams lack processes to drive action. Only around one in five voice-of-the-customer and measurement teams tell us that they have effective or very effective processes to drive outcomes such as the ability to prioritize CX initiatives or act on insights.

There’s a clear gap between the overwhelming majority of CX leaders who tell us that their executives believe their firm is customer-obsessed — and the reality of the 3% of global firms that our Customer Obsession Assessment tells us actually are.

Learn How To Connect Brand And CX At CX Summit EMEA

Many firms still think about acquisition and retention as two discrete, separate activities. In his recent blog post, Introducing Forrester’s Brand Experience Index — Drive Growth With Both Brand And Customer Experience, Forrester VP and Principal Analyst Dipanjan Chatterjee introduced us to the multiplicative value of combining brand and CX measurement. By cross-referencing our Brand Experience Index (BX Index) and Customer Experience Index (CX Index™) scores, he showed how brands that lead on both (i.e., that have strong customer salience, fit and trust, and that deliver experiences that are easy, effective, and emotionally resonant) see an average of 2.3x revenue uplift compared to firms that score low on both indices.

We’re leaning into this concept for our CX Summit EMEA this year. On June 2–4 in London, CX, digital, and marketing leaders will come together to explore the future of customer relationships and learn how to build a total experience — one that aligns brand experience and CX to fuel sustainable growth.

Through a mix of keynotes, track sessions, interactive experiences, workshops, roundtables, and more, we aim to share how to:

  • Measure and improve total experience using Forrester’s BX Index and CX Index to drive retention and revenue.
  • Harness AI and emerging technology to create intuitive, humanlike customer interactions.
  • Use data-driven insights to refine design strategies and enhance digital experiences.
  • Leverage metrics to shape a customer-centric culture, ensuring that they support transformation rather than hinder it.
  • Be a change leader, effectively managing organizational transformation while maintaining focus on people and processes.

Check out the full agenda and register to start taking action that truly benefits customers — and your business.