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Yes, I’ve told a potential client they were asking the wrong question. No, they didn’t walk away. In fact — they became a client.
Let me take you back to a moment I’ll never forget.
A senior leader — CFO, sharp, numbers-driven, razor-focused on ROI — looked me straight in the eye and asked:
“But what’s the business case for this?”
It’s a fair question. One we all recognize. Logical even.
But instead of launching into slides with NPS benchmarks or quoting Forrester or McKinsey, I said:
“If you still need a business case for CX in 2025, we’re having the wrong conversation.”
Silence.
Then a laugh.
And that, was the beginning of one of the most effective CX transformations we’ve done in the past few years.
Why the “Business Case” Is Often a Red Flag
Let me be clear — I’m not saying ROI doesn’t matter. I love data. I love measurable results. I’ve built my method on that foundation.
But when someone asks for a business case, they’re usually not questioning the value of customer experience.
They’re questioning the how.
They’ve been pitched CX programs that sound good but never deliver. They’ve seen journey maps turn into wall posters instead of business improvements. They’ve listened to reports full of qualitative quotes but no actions.
So when they ask for a business case, what they’re really saying is:
“I want to believe, but I’ve been burned before. I need to see how this is different.”
From Vanity Metrics to Steerable Data
Let’s flip the conversation.
Instead of more slides, show them the method.
In my programs, we stop asking customers what they think. We start measuring what drives their behaviour.
Not with gut feeling. With driver analysis. With scientifically validated insights.
Because when you show leadership what actually matters — what moves the needle — the conversation changes.
You go from explaining CX to executing change.
What I Show Instead of a Business Case
So what do I do when someone asks for a business case?
I show them their own data.
I ask them to pick one journey.
Just one.
We run a quick scan, do a driver analysis, and within weeks we can show exactly:
- What drives satisfaction, loyalty or churn in that journey
- What customers say versus what actually drives their behaviour
- What improvements will have the biggest financial and emotional impact
At that point, the question is no longer “Is CX worth it?”
It becomes “How fast can we scale this?”
The Fast Track: 3 Months to Impact
We’ve done this across industries and countries. The pattern is the same.
Once people see the first results — hard numbers, human feedback, financial logic — the business case becomes irrelevant.
In one case, we asked customers a simple question: “Could we have prevented this contact?”
Thirty percent said yes.
That meant 30,000 unnecessary calls per year in one journey alone.
At €10 per call, that’s €300,000 saved.
And we hadn’t even started improving things yet. We’d just asked one better question.
CX Is Not About CX
And this is maybe the most counterintuitive truth I want to share today:
Great CX professionals don’t focus on CX.
They focus on solving business issues.
They walk into meetings and ask:
- What’s your biggest operational challenge?
- What’s slowing down your growth?
- Where are your people stuck?
And then they show how CX helps solve that.
CX is not the goal. It’s the accelerator.
It’s the method to fix what matters faster, better, and with more human energy.
If You’re Still Asking for a Business Case…
You’re probably dealing with one of two things:
- Leadership that hasn’t seen a real, results-based CX program in action.
- A CX team that doesn’t yet have the tools to show business impact quickly.
Both are fixable.
And both start with choosing a pilot and doing the work.
Not another survey.
Not another journey mapping session.
A focused, measurable improvement in a key journey that shows what’s possible.
What to Do Next
If you’re tired of explaining the value of CX and ready to prove it, here’s a simple roadmap:
- Choose one journey.
- Run a driver analysis.
- Identify the two to three improvements with the highest steerable impact.
- Create one habit change per role based on that data.
- Measure the effect within 8 to 12 weeks.
That’s it.
You’ll have your business case — and probably a few new internal fans — before the quarter is over.
