The Challenge
Managers often evaluate their department in isolation, focusing only on their remit. This tunnel vision can lead to a skewed perception of customer service quality, where managers believe performance is strong, while the actual customer experience may tell a different story.

A 2020 CX Industry Survey by User Testing confirms this: there’s often a gap between the importance organizations place on CX and their execution of strategies to deliver it.

The Solution
Every department must align with the same vision. A customer-centric culture ensures that connections endure and strengthen over time. Organizations should proactively gather and act on customer feedback, anticipating needs rather than reacting to problems.

1. Paint a Bigger Picture
A clear, company-wide CX strategy must be informed by feedback from employees, customers, and investors. Leaders should emphasize that managers are part of a larger system, where each role contributes to the overall experience.

During a Boardroom meeting, a team member asked, “How do we do this alongside our day job?” The CEO’s reply: “Customer Experience IS your day job!” Every employee must understand and share the vision, regardless of role or customer contact.

2. Identify Misalignment Between Departments
Silos between Sales, Marketing, HR, and other departments harm efficiency. For example, sales may target one audience while marketing targets another, wasting resources and creating a disjointed customer journey. Departments must recognize their interdependence and collaborate to ensure a seamless experience.

3. Remove Tunnel Vision
Departments often evaluate only their own results. While feedback on isolated incidents may appear positive, overall customer experience may differ. Sharing feedback across departments helps fill gaps and spread effective strategies company-wide.

4. Take All Numbers into Consideration
Focusing solely on departmental or current-year results overlooks the time needed to embed a CX program. Numbers must be analyzed in context—across departments and against broader benchmarks—to be meaningful. Strong collaboration and sharing of insights drive improved overall performance.

5. Encourage a Proactive Approach
Reactive responses to customer feedback limit growth. Consistent opportunities for customers and employees to provide input, coupled with proactive strategies, improve both CX and employee experience.

When all departments share a single vision and clear strategy, organizations see increased retention, loyalty, growth, and profitability. IIC data shows that companies evaluating their business as a whole and fostering seamless customer journeys achieve superior results.

Proof from the Field
“In the last 10 months, we received 5 awards within the insurance industry. One area that sets us apart is our relationship with IIC. This demonstrates our service quality clearly. It’s easy to claim good customer service—we can prove it.”
— Director, Square Mile Broking (Now SR Insurance Solutions)