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If you still think customer experience is something for Marketing or the Contact Center, think again.
After 25 years of leading CX programs in more than 20 countries, there’s one pattern that shows up consistently:
Real transformation starts the moment the COO steps in.
Not because the COO is the loudest voice in the room, but because they hold the keys to the system—processes, priorities, platforms, people. If you want structural, sustainable, business-driving change in customer and employee experience, that’s where you need to begin.
So let’s get practical. Why is the COO essential in any serious CX effort? What’s in it for them? And what behaviors separate the COOs who move the needle from those who stay stuck in operational overload?
Why CX Without the COO Is Just Theater
In many organizations, CX is still treated like a surface-level initiative.
A glossy UI refresh.
A new chatbot.
A set of NPS graphs shared in management meetings.
But customers and employees immediately sense the disconnect when internal operations don’t align with the promises made on the outside.
You know the symptoms. Duplicate data entry. Endless internal handoffs. Wait times that make no sense. Unclear responsibilities. Siloed KPIs.
The real issue? You can’t fix these problems by optimizing just the front stage. You need to redesign the backstage. That’s where the COO lives.
And when the COO steps into the CX conversation, the conversation shifts—from symptoms to structure, from insights to action, from dashboards to decisions.
Five Reasons COOs Should Champion CX Transformation
Here are five concrete reasons why CX transformation should be on every COO’s priority list.
1. Preventing suboptimization across silos
Most operational improvements happen within departments. The problem? Real customer journeys rarely follow internal structures. Optimizing one silo can easily break another. CX transformation, when done right, forces organizations to design around end-to-end journeys—across silos, not within them.
2. Moving from cost center to value driver
The COO role is often viewed through the lens of efficiency, cost control, and compliance. But CX gives operations a seat at the value table. By improving customer journeys, reducing friction, and designing better employee processes, the COO becomes a driver of growth and retention, not just margin.
3. Prioritizing with data, not politics
Most backlogs are built on stakeholder pressure, perceived urgency, or legacy assumptions. Scientific driver analyses change that. They reveal the specific operational and emotional touchpoints that impact customer behavior. This gives COOs the power to prioritize with clarity—and back it up with hard evidence.
4. Embedding design principles across systems
A successful CX transformation doesn’t just offer insights—it reshapes how you design your systems, processes, and workflows. What matters to customers becomes a design requirement, not an afterthought. This directly informs IT roadmaps, operational blueprints, and change programs.
5. Improving employee engagement through smarter processes
Every COO knows the pressure of talent retention and burnout. Here’s the connection most overlook: when you remove friction for customers, you also reduce complexity for employees. Better journeys lead to better workdays. It’s not just good for EX—it’s good for the bottom line.
Five Behaviors That Separate Transformational COOs
Awareness is not enough. Execution requires behavior. These are the habits and choices I see in COOs who lead real change.
1. Connecting operational decisions to human experience
Great COOs ask different questions. Not just “How fast can we do it?” but “What will the customer or employee feel when they go through this?” Every process is an experience generator. The best leaders don’t forget that.
2. Challenging hype with grounded questions
Tooling is everywhere. AI, journey tools, sentiment analysis dashboards—they all promise miracles. The effective COO asks: “What problem does this solve?” and “Will this change behavior or just give us another metric?” They’re not tech skeptics. They’re focused on impact.
3. Building bridges between IT, business, and operations
COOs are perfectly positioned to integrate cross-functional teams. Not by adding more meetings, but by building real journey ownership across silos. The most successful transformations I’ve seen start with a pilot team—cross-disciplinary, data-informed, focused on one journey and measured on execution.
4. Creating space for low-risk experimentation
Perfection is the enemy of transformation. The best COOs create air in the system. Not every solution needs a business case or steering committee. They encourage teams to test, learn, and scale what works. Momentum beats perfection.
5. Normalizing customer and employee input in daily decisions
A COO can shift culture just by asking better questions in meetings. “What are the customer implications of this change?” “What would our field teams say about this system?” This makes customer and employee perspectives part of operational logic—not just something for comms or HR.
From PowerPoint to Power Execution
Here’s the uncomfortable truth: most CX initiatives fail because they never move from insight to execution.
The vision is there. The research is solid. The presentations are convincing.
But the system doesn’t change.
The COO is the bridge between idea and implementation. Between metrics and muscle. Between the story and the shift.
If you’re a COO, your role in CX transformation is not optional. It’s central.
And if you’re a CX leader looking to make change happen? Bring your COO in early, often, and as a true co-owner of the journey.
Ready to Step In?
Are you a COO who wants to connect customer experience with operational performance?
Or a CX leader who needs executive alignment to move from good intentions to real business outcomes?
Invite your COO to the next conversation. Share this article. And if you’re ready to take the next step, let’s explore how CX transformation can work in your operating environment.
Because without the COO, CX is just a performance.
And with the COO?
It becomes a system that delivers.
