Why do customer experience professionals still struggle to get buy-in from leadership—even in small organizations where alignment should be easier? This question from a listener in the UK captures a universal frustration faced by CX champions worldwide.

The challenge isn't about company size or industry. Whether in healthcare, education, or corporate settings, the fundamental issue is the same: creating a cultural shift in how organizations perceive customer experience. Many leaders still view CX as reactive customer service rather than proactive strategy. Others, particularly in non-customer-facing roles, fail to see how their work impacts the end customer. The disconnect between CX metrics and departmental KPIs further complicates the picture.

Breaking through these barriers requires persistent communication, strategic translation, and genuine patience. Success comes from focusing on one department at a time, finding champions who already believe in CX, and making them heroes. When you connect customer experience directly to each leader's specific goals and priorities, you bridge the gap between abstract concepts and concrete business outcomes. Real customer stories—not just data—create the emotional connection that inspires action and commitment.

Cultural transformation is never a light-switch moment; it's a journey that unfolds over years, not weeks. For CX leaders feeling unheard or undervalued, remember to celebrate each small victory and document your progress. Your persistent efforts are creating meaningful change that benefits your organization, your customers, and your employees. The mountain moves one stone at a time—keep going, and eventually, your customer experience parade will grow until the entire organization is marching alongside you.

Resources Mentioned:
CX Success Statement Workbook -- https://bit.ly/cx-success-workbook
Experience Investigators Website -- https://experienceinvestigators.com

Want to ask a question? Visit askjeannie.vip to leave Jeannie a voicemail! (And don't forget to follow Jeannie on LinkedIn! www.linkedin.com/in/jeanniewalters/)

The delicate balance between business efficiency and customer needs sits at the heart of successful process improvement. When organizations focus solely on internal metrics like cost savings and scalability without considering the customer perspective, they risk creating short-term wins that ultimately damage loyalty and undermine long-term success.

This deep dive into customer-centric process improvement reveals how to maintain customer visibility even when making internal operational changes. We explore the foundation of this approach—establishing a clear mindset about why customers matter in your business processes, rather than simply telling teams to "put the customer first" without proper guidance. By developing a customer experience mission statement and success blueprint, organizations create guardrails that help balance internal needs with customer expectations.

Making customers tangibly present in process discussions transforms decision-making. Whether through starting meetings with relevant customer stories, using journey mapping to visualize the customer perspective, or connecting process metrics directly to customer outcomes—these practical techniques ensure the customer voice isn't lost. The most powerful improvements create a triple win: benefits for customers through better experiences, advantages for the organization through operational efficiency, and improvements for employees through more effective workflows. This holistic approach recognizes that when customers feel lost or neglected due to hyper-efficiency, the consequences ripple through the business in reduced trust, lower retention, and diminished revenue.

Ready to become the bridge between what your business needs and what your customers expect? Subscribe now to continue exploring how to balance business priorities with customer-centricity, and discover how to deliver remarkable experiences while meeting operational goals.

Resources Mentioned:
CX Mission Statement Workbook -- https://bit.ly/cx-mission-workbook
CX Success Statement Workbook -- https://bit.ly/cx-success-workbook
Experience Investigators Website -- https://experienceinvestigators.com

Want to ask a question? Visit askjeannie.vip to leave Jeannie a voicemail! (And don't forget to follow Jeannie on LinkedIn! www.linkedin.com/in/jeanniewalters/)

What's happening in CX today? In this episode, we'll explore the gap between CX ambition and execution. Camille Kremer, Senior Director of Customer Experience at Holiday Inn Club Vacations, joins Jeannie Walters for this CX Pulse Check to share how her team built a comprehensive CX program over five years—drawing on the powerful metaphor of bamboo growth: years of unseen root work before visible success emerges.

With only 17% of executives confident in their CX delivery, despite nearly half calling it a top priority, we unpack what it takes to bridge that divide. Camille walks us through how her team built trust, accountability, and alignment, warning that mismatched expectations are the “rotten tomato” that can spoil even the best CX plans.

We also explore how Verizon is using AI not to replace humans, but to enhance experiences—automating routine tasks while expanding human support.

Throughout, one theme stands out: lasting CX transformation depends on psychological safety. Innovation only happens when teams feel safe enough to try, fail, and learn.

About Camille Kremer:
Camille is the Senior Director of Customer Experience at Holiday Inn Club Vacations. She and her team lead the CX strategy, and drive enterprise-wide improvements based on customer feedback. With 20 years of experience leading large-scale operational and transformational change across multiple industries, she is passionate about turning analytics into meaningful action. Her background in sociology, informatics, quality assurance, and lean continuous improvement fuels her commitment to creating positive change for both businesses and customers.

When she visits her parents in Louisiana, Camille still loves tending to the bees in her father's apiary - a hobby they've done together for 30 years.

Follow Camille on...
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/camillekremer/

Articles Mentioned:
- Global execs say CX is crucial to success but most still struggle to optimize its performance (VISION by Protiviti) -- https://vision.protiviti.com/insight/global-execs-say-cx-crucial-success-most-still-struggle-optimize-its-performance
- Marketing Promised. CX Didn’t Deliver. Here’s the Cost. (CMSWire) -- https://www.cmswire.com/customer-experience/marketing-promised-cx-didnt-deliver-heres-the-cost/
- Verizon Announcing AI-Powered 'Customer Experience Transformation' (Newsweek) -- https://www.newsweek.com/verizon-announcing-ai-powered-customer-experience-transformation-2089472

Want to ask a question? Visit askjeannie.vip to leave Jeannie a voicemail! (And don't forget to follow Jeannie on LinkedIn! www.linkedin.com/in/jeanniewalters/)