DCX # 133 | Show Me the Money: Proving ROI from Your CX Initiatives

CX improves loyalty and cuts costs, but proving its value? That’s tricky. Here’s how to tell stories that get leadership on board. PLUS a new name and focus for the Newsletter!

Dec 31, 2024

A Fresh Start for a New Year: Welcome to Decoding Customer Experience

As we step into a new year, it’s the perfect time for a fresh focus. That’s why the DCX Newsletter is evolving into Decoding Customer Experience. This isn’t just a new name—it’s a renewed commitment to delivering practical, actionable resources that help you achieve your goals and make your work life easier.

What’s Changing?
I’m raising the bar by putting an even greater emphasis on tangible takeaways.

You’ve told me what you need, and I’ve listened. Now, Decoding Customer Experience will not only bring you fresh insights and strategies—it will also provide tools you can use immediately to make a real impact.

What’s in It for You?
Here’s how Decoding Customer Experience will help you tackle challenges, uncover opportunities, and grow in your role without the stress:

Practical Strategies: Actionable tips to help you solve real-world problems.
Curated Trends: Stay ahead of the curve without wasting hours searching for what’s next.
Confidence Boosters: Gain clarity and direction to handle tough projects and conversations.

NEW: Tangible Outcomes to Save You Time and Deliver Results

Grab easy-to-use worksheets, guides, and prompts that simplify decision-making.
Get eye-catching infographics and templates to communicate ideas effectively.
Build skills that lead to measurable outcomes—whether it’s nailing a presentation, impressing your team, or leveling up your career.

Why Now?
The world of customer experience and leadership is evolving fast, and you need to stay ahead. Decoding Customer Experience is here to make sure you don’t just keep up—you excel.

What’s Next?
Get ready for a year of growth, clarity, and confidence. With Decoding Customer Experience, you’ll have the tools and insights you need to turn your aspirations into actions.

Let’s make 2025 your best year yet.

- Mark

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Show Me the Money: Proving ROI from Your CX Initiatives

You know the drill.

Someone in leadership leans in, raises an eyebrow, and hits you with the classic: “What’s the ROI of this?”

And if you’re in CX, that question can feel like trying to explain why your dog needs a $200 grooming bill—you know it’s worth it, but it’s hard to articulate.

The truth is, you’re adding value every day.

You’re keeping customers happy, saving costs, and driving loyalty.

But putting a dollar amount on that impact? That’s where it gets tricky.

According to 2024 research by the CX Network, over 60% of CX professionals struggle to quantify their impact.

Let’s talk about why proving ROI feels so painful—and, more importantly, how you can make it easier.

Why is ROI So Hard to Prove?

There are a few key reasons CX ROI often feels like an uphill climb.

It’s not that CX doesn’t deliver results—it’s just hard to show them in ways leadership cares about.

1. CX Takes Time to Pay Off

Customer experience improvements aren’t like flashy ad campaigns. They’re more like planting an orchard—you won’t see the fruit tomorrow, but the harvest is worth the wait. A smoother experience today means loyal customers tomorrow—but that payoff doesn’t show up overnight. The problem? Execs love quick wins. CX plays the long game.

2. Everyone Wants Credit

Let’s say customer retention goes up. Was it the CX team’s new initiative? The product team’s killer update? Or the sales team’s follow-ups? Without clear alignment, it’s like trying to split a check after dinner: “Who ordered the steak?”

Here’s a tip: Use collaborative success criteria to ensure everyone is on the same page.

3. The Wrong Metrics

You’re tracking NPS and CSAT, and that’s great—but let’s be real, execs want to see how you’re moving the needle on revenue. Leaders want numbers they can take to the bank. If you’re not speaking their language (cost savings, revenue growth), you’re losing them.

How to Turn CX Wins Into Business Impact

To make CX a priority, you need to show how it drives real results—the kind leadership cares about.

This is about tying your work to revenue, cost savings, and growth, not about soft wins or feel-good metrics.

To get leadership on board, you need to connect the dots between your work and the company’s bottom line.

Here’s how you do it:

1. Pick Metrics That Actually Matter

Forget about NPS and CSAT.

Start tracking metrics that tie to revenue or costs. To be specific:

Customer Lifetime Value (CLV): How much more will a happy customer spend over time?
Churn Rate: How many customers stick around because of your work?
Cost to Serve: Are you cutting down support costs with better CX?
Referral Rates: Are satisfied customers bringing in new ones?

2. Translate Metrics into Dollars

This is where you team up with finance. They can help you turn CX wins into actual numbers. For example:

A 5% drop in churn? That’s $X in revenue saved.
Higher self-service adoption? That’s $Y saved in call center costs.

Execs don’t want fluff—they want numbers. So, give them a story that ends with a dollar sign.

Example formula: If your program reduced churn by 5% among 1,000 customers paying $200 annually, that’s $10K in saved revenue.

3. Work Backward From the Goal

Start with the outcome you’re chasing (like reducing churn by 10%) and reverse-engineer the CX initiatives that will get you there. It’s clearer, it’s focused, and it’s easier to measure.

How to Tell Stories Leadership Will Listen To

The numbers matter, but how you tell the story matters just as much.

Bad Story Example:

“We made some changes to the support process, and customers seem happier now.”

Why it doesn’t work: It’s vague. There’s no context, no clear problem, and no emotional connection.

Leadership needs specifics to care.

Good Story Example:

Before: Customers waited on hold for 20 minutes, leading to frustration and churn. One customer said, ‘I’d rather cancel than call support again.’
After: A self-service portal reduced wait times to under 2 minutes, saving $100K in support costs and boosting satisfaction by 20%.

Leadership is busy, skeptical, and surrounded by competing priorities. A compelling story helps them feel the value of your work—and buy into it.

Here’s how to do it:

1. Set the Scene

Start with the problem.

What was broken? What pain were customers feeling?

Use real examples, quotes, or data to make it relatable.

“Before we improved the support process, 40% of customers had to call back multiple times just to solve one issue. Here’s what one customer said: ‘It’s like I’m stuck on a merry-go-round.’”

2. Highlight the Initiative

Describe what you did to fix the problem.

Keep it simple, and focus on actions that leadership can understand quickly.

“We launched a self-service portal with a clear step-by-step process, so customers could solve the issue in minutes instead of calling back multiple times.”

3. Show the Impact

Now, connect the dots to business results.

Use the numbers, but tell them like part of the story—not just data in a vacuum.

“The result? Repeat calls dropped by 20%, saving $250K in support costs last quarter. Customers solved their problems faster, and satisfaction scores jumped from 60% to 85%.”

4. End With What’s Next

Wrap up by showing why this matters in the big picture—and what you’ll tackle next.

“This is just the beginning. If we expand this approach to other high-volume issues, we estimate another $500K in savings over the next six months.”

DCX Experiment: Create Your ROI Story

A Step-by-Step Guide

Creating an ROI story shouldn’t feel overwhelming. By following a simple process, you can make this repeatable, clear, and impactful every time. Here’s a streamlined version:

Pick a Clear CX Initiative
Choose one project where the impact is obvious—reducing churn, saving costs, or improving customer retention. Focus on initiatives where you can track before-and-after results.
Define the Baseline
What was happening before your project? Gather data like churn rates, average revenue, or support call volumes. Use these as your starting point.
Gather Results
After the initiative, collect data again. What changed? Focus on metrics that tie directly to financial impact—like revenue protection or reduced costs.
Craft Your Story with ChatGPT Use the following detailed prompt to create a clear and compelling ROI story:

*“I want to create a leadership-friendly ROI story for a CX initiative. Here are the details:
The initiative: [Brief description of the project].
The problem it addressed: [Specific challenge or pain point].
The measurable impact: [Quantifiable results like revenue saved, cost reductions, or customer satisfaction improvements].
Financial impact: [Dollar amounts tied to the results].
Please write this as a simple, engaging story that highlights the problem, the solution, and the results. Make it concise, clear, and tailored to a leadership audience.”*

Example ROI Story:

"Before our proactive engagement program, 25% of customers churned annually, costing us $500,000 in lost revenue. Many customers cited frustration with unclear billing and account management as reasons for leaving. We launched a targeted email campaign addressing these concerns, with clear instructions and personalized reminders. After the program, churn dropped to 20%, saving $100,000 in revenue annually, while customer satisfaction scores improved from 70% to 85%."

This kind of story highlights the pain point, solution, and measurable results, making it relatable and impactful for leadership.

Make It Visual
Turn your story into a simple, focused dashboard. Include:

The Problem: What wasn’t working? Add a quote or stat.
The Fix: What did you do to improve things?
The Results: Show key metrics and their dollar impact.

Use this ChatGPT prompt:

“Help me design a simple ROI dashboard for my [CX initiative name]. The goal is to show [metrics like revenue saved, cost reduction, or lifetime value increase]. The initiative involved [brief description]. What key data should I include, and how can I display it effectively? Bonus: Add a summary box that ties it all together.”

ROI Dashboard for the Proactive Engagement Program

This proactive engagement program reduced churn by 5%, saving $100K annually. Customer satisfaction increased by 15%, demonstrating improved experiences and revenue protection.”

Share and Refine

Once you’ve created your dashboard, share it with stakeholders to gather input. Schedule a quick review session to walk them through the key points:

Ask Targeted Questions: "Does this dashboard clearly communicate the problem, solution, and results? Are there any metrics or visualizations missing?"
Encourage Feedback: Invite stakeholders to suggest improvements or clarify details they find unclear. Their perspective ensures the story resonates across different teams.
Iterate Thoughtfully: Use their feedback to refine the dashboard, focusing on aligning visuals with leadership priorities. Ensure the final version highlights metrics tied to financial and customer outcomes.

Dashboards simplify the story and make it easier for leaders to see the value of your work. Visuals work because they are processed faster than text and help focus attention on what matters most. A well-crafted dashboard isn’t just a tool—it’s your story’s proof of impact.

The Takeaway: Make It Real, Make It Clear

If proving ROI feels like climbing Everest in flip-flops, don’t stress. Start small. Connect your CX wins to metrics that matter—revenue growth, cost savings, and loyalty.

When you can tell a story about how CX moves the business forward, people pay attention. And when they see the numbers? They’ll finally stop asking, “But what’s the ROI?”

What about you?

Have you had a CX win that was tough to quantify, or a success story that won leadership over?

Reply and share your experience—your insights could help the whole community step up their ROI game.

NEW from DCX: Rally Every Department Around Customer Obsession

Ready to cultivate a customer-obsessed culture? The CX Leader’s Guide to Organizational Buy-In is your playbook for ensuring that every department—customer service, sales, product, tech, finance, HR, and beyond—puts customers at the center of everything it does.

Download the Free Guide

Packed with actionable strategies, this guide shows how aligning team goals with customer needs drives real, measurable success—no fluff, no filler—just proven tips to get everyone on the same page. If you’re ready to turn theory into practice, this is the roadmap you’ve been waiting for.

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December 29, 2024

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👋 Please Reach Out

I created this newsletter to help customer-obsessed pros like you deliver exceptional experiences and tackle challenges head-on. But honestly? The best part is connecting with awesome, like-minded people—just like you! 😊

Here’s how you can get involved:

Got feedback? Tell me what’s working, what’s not, or what you’d love to see next.
Stuck on something? Whether it’s a CX challenge, strategy question, or team issue, hit me up—I’m here to help.
Just want to say hi? Seriously, don’t be shy. I’d love to connect, share ideas, or even swap success stories.

Your input keeps this newsletter fresh and valuable. Let’s start a conversation—email me, DM me, or comment anytime. Can’t wait to hear from you!

— Mark

www.marklevy.co
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