As you prioritize insights to drive Customer Experience (CX) changes, you will also need to...
We have all heard the mantra that customer experience (CX) is EVERYONE’s responsibility – but if everyone is responsible, no one is accountable. Although each individual within an organization contributes to the overall customer experience, let’s remember that CX is the totality of customer interactions, emotions, and intent. No matter the size of your organization, each individual contributes to that overall experience within their day to day interactions. In order to be successful at Customer Experience, your organization must prioritize and structure CX appropriately.
There are three main CX organizational models:
- Centralized
- Hub & Spoke/Center of Excellence
- Federated/Decentralized
The organizational model that’s best for your company depends more on corporate strategy and culture than on budget or size. Below are brief descriptions of each model and when best to organize with each.
Centralized Model
A centralized CX model consists of a team reporting to a C-suite executive who oversees the design, development, and implementation of the entire CX program. The team then passes the results, recommendations, and priorities to individual departments. This model works best in command and control environments as well as large corporations that are looking to “reel” in renegade departments.
Hub & Spoke/Center of Excellence Model
A Hub & Spoke model allows for control and consistency across the organization while ensuring active participation from individual departments. In a Hub & Spoke model, the CX team is divided into a centralized core (Hub) and multiple spokes embedded in different departments. The core team will continue to report to a C-suite executive, while the spokes within each department allow for greater bandwidth and integration. This model works for both large and small companies that have a positive change culture and want to transform their current CX maturity.
Federated/Decentralized
Federated CX is a type of CX organizational structure in which daily operations and decision-making responsibilities are delegated to middle and lower-level managers. This frees up top management to focus more on major decisions, but runs the risk of departmental conflict and siloed decisions. A Federated CX operational model works well for small companies with strong peer culture where C-Suite executives are still involved in the day to day operations.
The Three Models in Practice
While Hub & Spoke is becoming the most prevalent CX Operational model today, Centralized runs a close second. Separately, a Federated CX operating model can work well in very small organizations that have yet to scale their CX operations.
Farlinium is happy to help you determine which CX organizational model will work for you based on your CX/VoC Maturity level and organization structure. We will work with you along your CX roadmap regardless of where your company is along its path. We have developed a simple assessment framework, coupled with a free 30-minute advisory consultation to give you a customized readout of your CX/VoC Maturity roadmap.
If you would like to find out more about where you sit on the scale, please click the link below to complete a quick self-assessment and review your free results with one of our expert CX consultants.
