Let’s be honest: Customer Experience (CX) has become a bit of a buzzword. Over the past years, I’ve seen countless organizations invest in CX dashboards, workshops, journey mapping sessions… and yet, many of them miss the point entirely. Because here’s the thing nobody wants to say out loud:
CX is not the goal.
It’s a means to an end.
And if you treat it as an isolated goal, I can almost guarantee you’ll struggle to prove its value — and risk your CX team being quietly dismantled when budgets get cut.
So let’s dive in. In this blog, I’ll show you how CX can and should always be linked to clear business outcomes. And I’ll give you practical examples and tools so you can start making that connection today.
Why this blog?
The reason I wanted to write this blog is simple. Every time I work with organizations, I notice the same pattern: CX teams working incredibly hard, but getting stuck. They measure a lot. They map journeys. They set up touchpoint dashboards. But when you ask the business, “What’s the concrete value you’re seeing?” — the room goes silent.
That’s why it’s time to shift the narrative.
CX is there to serve the business.
It’s not about having the best dashboard in the world. It’s about how well your CX efforts help achieve the outcomes your company cares about.
The 5 Business Outcomes CX Should Support
Whatever your organization’s strategy is, I can guarantee that CX can help accelerate it. Let’s break it down into five categories — and I’ll show you how.
1. Cost Reduction
This is usually the first thing companies focus on when times get tough. “We need to cut costs, so let’s reduce or even scrap CX initiatives.”
Big mistake.
Because when done right, CX is one of your best levers for structural cost reduction.
I’ll give you an example. A few years ago, I worked with a large insurance company in the Netherlands. Together, we managed to reduce call center costs by 25% (around €2.5 million) in just two years — all while increasing customer satisfaction.
How?
By analyzing every bit of friction in the customer journey. We looked at why customers were calling, why processes weren’t working, and how we could make the experience smoother. Less friction = fewer calls = lower costs.
And it doesn’t stop there. You can apply the same lens to the employee journey. Are your internal processes creating unnecessary work? Are teams wasting time due to inefficient systems? Fixing those frictions can also reduce costs and free up your people to focus on what really matters.
2. Revenue Increase
This one seems more obvious. There’s plenty of research from McKinsey, Bain, Forrester, Deloitte — they’ve all proven the link between CX and financial performance. But here’s the nuance I want you to remember:
You don’t see real financial impact until you cross a certain threshold.
Most organizations sit around a 7 to 8 in customer satisfaction. The big shift happens when you move beyond that — to an 8 or higher. That’s when customer loyalty increases exponentially. More returning customers, longer relationships, more cross- and upsell opportunities.
And yes, we’ve proven this time and time again. In one project, we ran a driver analysis that showed exactly which CX improvements would lead to lower churn and higher revenue. We even built an Excel sheet where you could calculate:
“If I improve this driver from 4.1 to 4.3, that’s €300,000 more revenue.”
CX accelerates business results — but only when you know how to link it.
3. Continuous Improvement & Experimentation
Too many CX teams get stuck in “analysis paralysis.” You gather feedback, analyze NPS scores, run qualitative research… but then what?
The magic happens when you move from measuring to improving. And that’s where most teams hesitate. They’re scared to make the wrong move, so they keep analyzing.
My advice?
Make it small, make it fast. Experiment.
Use tools like driver analysis to identify the most impactful improvements. Don’t try to fix everything at once. And don’t wait for IT backlogs to clear — in every company I’ve worked with, 90% of improvements didn’t require IT changes.
It can be as simple as redesigning a letter or training employees to add a human touch. And if you’re unsure, just test it.
Ask three customers in the store which letter they prefer. That’s already valid input.
4. Customer-Centric Culture
Many organizations proudly state, “We want to be more customer-centric.”
But what does that actually mean?
Often, it ends up being vague. Is it about mapping journeys? Having a CX team? Or is it about embedding customer focus in leadership, onboarding, decision-making?
The truth is: you can’t create a customer-centric culture by adding a CX department.
You need to make it tangible.
Use journey mapping, driver analysis, tiny habits — but always link them back to business outcomes. And don’t fall into the trap of blaming employees. In 90% of cases, it’s not frontline staff who resist customer-centricity — it’s leadership that keeps steering purely on operational KPIs.
If you want culture change, start with leadership behavior.
And use CX tools to make it concrete.
5. Sense of Purpose
This is my personal favorite. Purpose has become a hot topic, and rightly so. People want to work for organizations that stand for something.
But purpose can feel fluffy. How do you make it actionable?
Again, CX can help. In almost every driver analysis we’ve done, one factor consistently stands out: the human aspect.
Customers want to be seen, heard, treated with respect. Employees want to make a meaningful impact. Purpose isn’t about window-dressing ESG statements — it’s about how your organization shows up for people every day.
And if you can connect CX improvements to that deeper sense of purpose, you’ll find it’s one of the most powerful drivers of engagement and loyalty.
What goes wrong when CX becomes the goal?
If you’re reading this and thinking, “Oh dear, we’ve been focusing on dashboards and NPS scores without linking to business outcomes…” — you’re not alone.
Many CX teams fall into this trap:
- They measure a lot, but nobody acts on the insights.
- They map journeys, but there’s no follow-up.
- They feel frustrated because leadership “doesn’t get it.”
Here’s the hard truth: If the rest of the organization doesn’t see the value of CX, that’s on you.
It’s your job to translate your work into business impact.
If you don’t, at some point someone will rightfully ask, “What the beep are these CX people doing all day?”
So… Where do you start?
Simple.
Practice what you preach. Start from the outside in.
Talk to your internal customers — your colleagues, your business leaders.
Ask them:
“What are your top three business challenges right now?”
It might be workload, efficiency, revenue growth, or customer retention.
Once you know their challenges, you can show how CX can help solve them.
That’s when you move from being a reporting function to becoming a trusted strategic partner.
You have a toolbox — journey mapping, driver analysis, tiny habits, leadership assessments. But the tools come second. The business outcomes come first.
Final thought
CX isn’t the shiny new toy. It’s not a dashboard, a report, or a journey map.
CX is a lever.
A means to reduce costs, grow revenue, improve continuously, build a culture, and drive purpose.
If you treat it as such, you’ll not only make CX truly relevant — you’ll make yourself indispensable.
