In 2007, I wrote a report about how to measure customer experience (CX) across an entire enterprise. At the time, I could find just three companies — three! — that were actually measuring CX this way. Everyone else I talked to said that their companies had no CX measurement or that they measured CX in a piecemeal way, touchpoint by touchpoint. They desperately wished that executives would see the value of measuring and managing CX at an enterprise level but admitted their leadership just wasn’t thinking that way yet.

Fast-forward to 2014 and things look a lot better in the world of CX. Leading companies in every country and every industry are making CX a strategic priority, investing millions to improve how customers perceive their interactions with the firm. It’s great to see, but I have to admit . . . I’m not willing to declare victory just yet.

My concern is that these improved customer experiences won’t stay good over the next five years. There remains a risk that this flurry of improvement projects will fade into memory, allowing dysfunctional CX practices and processes to revert back to their old ways.

To keep that from happening, companies need to do more than fix broken customer journeys or redesign average ones. They need to increase their level of CX maturity by creating self-sustaining systems (human and technological) in each of the six disciplines that characterize great CX companies — strategy, customer understanding, design, measurement, governance, and culture. But are they?

To find out, I’m running a benchmark study on CX maturity and would love your help. It’s easy — just take our short (10-minute) survey about your firm’s current approach to CX management. There are no wrong answers, and we’ll keep your responses confidential. Forrester will only ever report the results of this survey in aggregate. Click here to view our privacy policy.

The CX maturity benchmarking survey will be open through mid-October. Once we’ve gathered enough responses, we’ll compile the results and publish a Forrester report on “The State of CX Maturity in 2014” (working title). As a thank you for helping with the research, anyone who completes the survey will get a copy of our report when it comes out in late Q4 2014.

If you have any questions about the survey, feel free to reach out to my colleague Carla O’Connor (coconnor@forrester.com). Thanks in advance for your time and your willingness to share information about your path to CX maturity. 

— Megan

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