The most in-demand attributes of successful CX professionals

So, you want to make it in the world of customer experience (CX)? Well, it’s a great path to follow – but what do the most successful CX professionals have in common?

Customer experience is the lifeblood of any organisation, which means that customer experience teams are at the very heart of things. Without a great customer experience, brands are doomed to fail. It might sound dramatic, but think about it: if companies aren’t keeping their customers happy, what hope do they have of selling their products or services long-term?

Leaders rely on their CX teams to create the sort of experience that will keep people coming back for more – and if you want to be a part of that, you’d better know your stuff.

Knowing what it takes to become an expert in any field is a prerequisite of making it big; you’ve got to know your craft inside-out. It also helps to understand the most in-demand attributes of those already on the path to greatness. But there’s no time to waste.

What it takes to be the best in customer experience (CX)

A great CX professional knows that customer experience is a journey: a ‘one and done’ activity it is not. That’s why it’s crucial to maintain a long-term viewpoint. It’s also important to keep in mind that customer experience is not isolated to one specific area of an organisation: every member of every team can influence how a customer feels about a company.

In fact, CX is much like a team sport, and CX professionals must wear many hats – from coaches to players to cheerleaders. But what of individual attributes?

In our experience, the very best CX professionals are endlessly curious, interested in a diverse range of topics, have a decent understanding of their limitations, never rest on their laurels, embrace the facts, and pride themselves on their great relationships.

Let’s dive a bit into each of these:

1. Endless curiosity
   
   The very best CX professionals never lose that sense of wonder; they continue to ask the big (and small) questions and dig deeper for answers at every turn. Rarely content to take the first (or most obvious) answer, CX pros always push that little bit further.
2. Diverse interests
   
   It’s often said that CX is the liberal arts of business – you need to know a bit, or more, about all aspects of the business. We’ve already established that customer experience extends to every corner of a business, which is why great CX professionals are keen to understand all aspects of a business and how it works. Bolstered by their curiosity, they’ll never leave a stone unturned in their search for CX improvements.
3. Great self-knowledge
   
   Having a level of self-awareness – and the humility to compensate for your weaknesses by surrounding yourself with those who complement your strengths – enables the CX pro to succeed. You don’t have to be great at everything – but you need to know where your greatness lies, and how to leverage it.
4. Endlessly dissatisfied
   
   This is not nearly as negative as it sounds; far from it. The most successful CX professionals know that there’s always room for improvement – that’s why they never become complacent or accept that something is simply “good enough”. Their refusal to be easily satisfied is what drives them towards results, which is what a company set on great customer experience really needs.
5. Driven by data
   
   As data-driven change champions, CX pros adopt the mantra that “facts are our friends”. The best CX professionals will be familiar with common change models, such as Kotter and ADKAR, and understand the need to treat data with respect.
6. Well-connected
   
   The ability to cultivate great relationships is extremely important for any CX professional worth their salt. Being well-connected in their organisation will provide access to key people; people who can make a real difference in the CX program. After all, CX is a team sport!
7. All-rounders
   
   CX pros tend to be great communicators, adept at problem-solving, with top time-management skills. Is there nothing these people can’t do? Although certain challenges can get in the way: needing to spend too much time reacting to customer issues can prove distracting, and not having data integrated in a way that makes it actionable presents an obstacle (this is where Forsta can help).
   
   Through Forsta’s own research into the key habits of successful CX professionals, we also found that CX pros are particularly active in developing themselves professionally through courses, networking, and leadership training. They’re also proactive in taking steps to stay abreast of new and emerging technologies.

If you’re a leader looking to engage and progress your own CX professionals, the areas they’re most likely to seek development in are understanding customer behaviour and preferences, leadership skills, data analytics, and CX strategy development.

Forsta: With you every step of the way

No matter where you are on your journey to CX stardom, Forsta can help.

As leaders in customer experience (CX), our customer experience survey software can help you to get to the heart of what your customers think, make sense of the data, and create solutions based on invaluable insights. There’ll be no wasted data on our watch!

So, if you’re keen for a collaboration with a true partner – one that can endlessly flex to meet your needs – why not come and see what we’re all about?

Request a demo, and let’s talk.