Customer experience (CX) is undergoing a dramatic shift. Once viewed as a cost center primarily focused on operational efficiency, CX is, more and more, evolving to be a strategic lever driving business growth. Service leaders are linking customer interactions to key business outcomes such as revenue growth, customer loyalty and lifetime value.

This approach is helping them to elevate the role of the CX function and earn a seat in the boardroom. It also reflects a broader realization: Exceptional customer experiences are not just nice to have; they are fundamental to building a sustainable competitive advantage.

From Efficiency to Empathy: A Strategic Shift

Historically, many CX initiatives emphasized cost savings through automation and operational efficiency. While these objectives remain relevant, the evolving customer landscape demands more. Research shows that over 80% of consumers surveyed globally equate a brand’s value with the quality of its service. Consumers increasingly seek empathy, personalization and proactive support.

Forward-thinking organizations recognize this shift and are moving beyond a focus on transactional metrics like first-contact resolution and average handle time. Increasingly, they’re also tracking metrics related to outcomes that matter most to customers and, ultimately, to the business.

“Companies are seeing bigger and broader applications of customer experience. They’re understanding that CX is a tool that can be designed and used to drive certain business outcomes — not necessarily just prevent problems, but create loyalty and new business,” said Megan Burns, Founder and Principal of Experience Enterprises, in an interview about key customer experiences trends.

The Business Case for CX Investments

The connection between CX and business outcomes is clearer than ever. Consider the following:

Journey optimization: 70% of CX leaders surveyed globally say using AI in the customer experience is helping journeys feel more empathetic to consumers.

Revenue Impact: About three-quarters of consumers surveyed globally say they will buy more, more often from and recommend brands that consistently personalize their interactions. And 57% of CX leaders surveyed anticipate using AI in CX will lead to improved financial performance.

Operational Savings: Automation and AI-driven tools can streamline workflows, enabling agents to focus on high-value interactions.

These insights underscore the potential financial benefits of CX. Yet, many organizations still struggle to measure and communicate the value of these investments. Here are six key steps to effectively link customer experience initiatives to business value:

1. Align CX Metrics with Business Goals

Map customer experience metrics to overarching business objectives. For instance, connect measures like cost to serve with profitability, correlate customer loyalty and lifetime value with revenue growth, or align employee satisfaction scores with customer satisfaction and metrics. This should enable CX leaders to articulate the financial impact of their initiatives to C-suite stakeholders.

2. Start with the Business Problem

Reverse the traditional approach of defining goals and building a business case for a CX initiative. Instead, start with defining the problem that needs to be solved. “Rather than asking, ‘How do I prove the business case?’ many leaders are flipping the script and saying, ‘If the goal is to increase customer retention or drive use of a product, how would we or could we change the customer experience to make that happen?'” said Burns in the webinar interview.

3. Leverage Advanced Analytics

Analytics tools powered by AI allow organizations to draw connections between CX and business outcomes. Predictive models can forecast the impact of specific CX initiatives on metrics like churn reduction or increased revenue per customer, for example. And AI-driven journey management solutions can reveal opportunities to streamline interactions and remove roadblocks that can improve customer satisfaction and reduce service costs. Nearly 60% of CX leaders surveyed expect that adopting AI in the customer experience will increase customer loyalty and lifetime value. And 42% say one of their top strategic CX priorities is enhancing their data capabilities for real-time insights, analytics and reporting.

4. Optimize Employee Experience (EX)

A seamless employee experience is the foundation of exceptional CX. Employees equipped with intuitive tools, real-time insights and targeted coaching are empowered to be more effective in delivering the empathetic and efficient service that customers demand. Organizations with advanced workforce engagement solutions are more likely to have lower turnover and higher productivity. Nearly half of organizations surveyed already use WEM and agent assist and about another quarter plan to add these tools in the next 18 months. These plans are vital to streamlining the employee experience and enabling agents to better meet customers’ needs and expectations.

Two-thirds of CX leaders surveyed say greater AI adoption will make CX employees more engaged and 60% expect that their organization’s use of AI will enable supervisors, quality managers and planners to be more efficient and effective over the next one to three years. These could all lead to higher employee retention and lower costs related to turnover.

5. Use Service Conversations Strategically

Service interactions are a goldmine of insights that can inform broader business strategies. “When you’re talking to a customer about a specific problem or issue, you can learn things that are bigger and broader than that one problem. The better and more strategic you are at using those insights, the more valuable that information becomes,” explained Burns.

Not sharing insights broadly can be an obstacle to improving the customer experience in ways that can lower costs and improve business outcomes. For example, 40% of CX leaders surveyed say a lack of consolidated data and analytics hinders their ability to improve the customer experience.

Making CX a Business Imperative

In today’s hyper-competitive landscape, providing consistently exceptional customer experiences is integral to building and maintaining competitive differentiation. By linking CX to business outcomes, organizations can transform their CX operations from cost centers into growth engines. Service leaders who embrace this opportunity are not only positioned to increase customer loyalty but also to secure a seat at the executive table, driving business success for their organizations.

Watch our webinar “CX trends in 2025 and beyond” to learn what other trends experts say are on the horizon in 2025.