Taking Your XM Program to the Next Level

If your organization has been using Qualtrics for several years, you’ve likely already seen results—better feedback visibility, smoother processes, and improved customer or employee satisfaction. But programs often reach a plateau. When you've mastered the basics, where do you go next?

A mature Experience Management (XM) program needs to evolve with the business. It should stay connected to strategy, deliver actionable insights, and foster collaboration. Here’s how leading organizations move beyond foundational XM work to drive long-term value.

Revisit and Refine Your Goals

XM programs often begin with tactical goals, such as improving survey response rates, increasing NPS, or tracking sentiment. These are important, but they can’t stay static. Business priorities change. Your XM goals should, too.

Revisit your objectives at least once a year to ensure they remain relevant and effective. Ask your team: Are we still solving the right problems? Are we measuring what matters today, not what mattered when we launched?

For example, as organizations shift from cost-cutting to growth, XM efforts should refocus on revenue-driving outcomes, such as cross-sell effectiveness, onboarding satisfaction, or conversion improvement. For internal programs, this may mean moving from general employee engagement metrics to tracking onboarding, DEI sentiment, or feedback on return-to-office strategies.

Tip: Work with executive sponsors to realign XM metrics with evolving OKRs. It keeps your insights relevant and influential.

Connect Insights Across Departments

In many organizations, XM data lives in silos. Customer teams collect NPS, HR runs engagement surveys, marketing tracks brand sentiment—but the dots stay unconnected.

When mature programs tie together these datasets, they uncover stronger signals and enable more effective action. If your XM program is only delivering reports to one function, it’s likely underperforming.

Consider how customer effort data from your contact center complements employee feedback from front-line staff. These linkages often reveal operational gaps and communication breakdowns that impact both the employee and customer experience.

Tip: Use Qualtrics dashboards with cross-functional filters. Set up joint reviews between departments that intersect at the same key moments in the journey. Insights gain power when they’re shared.

Shift Toward Predictive Analytics

If your program is still reactive—responding to feedback after problems surface—it’s time to consider predictive capabilities. The goal is not to look backward, but to anticipate what’s coming next.

Predictive models can help you forecast churn, identify patterns of detractors, or estimate future support volume based on trends in open-text feedback. This enables teams to anticipate and address problems effectively, prioritizing the most effective interventions.

Qualtrics offers tools like Predict iQ and advanced text analytics to support this work. But success depends on having clean historical data and a clear definition of outcomes you want to forecast. Before diving in, invest in data hygiene and alignment on what “success” looks like in your use case.

Tip: Start by building a churn risk model or a support burden forecast. Choose one prediction that ties closely to an existing KPI.

Move from Metrics to Meaningful Action

XM maturity requires a shift in focus—from simply tracking metrics to closing the loop on feedback in a structured and repeatable manner. Many teams collect NPS or CSAT, but few turn that data into clear, team-level actions.

High-performing programs establish a feedback-to-action pipeline: they gather input, analyze root causes, prioritize improvements, and communicate the results back to stakeholders. Without that final step—closing the loop—XM loses credibility internally and externally.

Root cause analysis can begin with structured data but should always involve a review of unstructured text, ticketing systems, and feedback from frontline staff. This blended view provides the depth needed to act confidently.

Tip: Use ticket tagging or feedback themes in Qualtrics Text iQ to group common issues. Establish a cross-functional task force to develop and oversee resolution plans and report back on their outcomes.

Customize at Scale Through Segmentation

Segmentation enables you to tailor XM experiences for distinct audiences—something that becomes increasingly essential as your program expands. One-size-fits-all surveys or dashboards create noise and miss nuance.

With Qualtrics, you can segment surveys and dashboards by location, persona, tenure, product usage, or interaction channel. That way, you collect more relevant data and deliver sharper insights to business units.

This is especially important when rolling out global programs. Different regions may have different expectations or friction points. A generic approach may mask these differences, leading to inaction.

Tip: Embed operational data (CRM attributes, ticket types, user roles) into your Qualtrics directories. Use this metadata to personalize distribution and visualizations.

Build XM into the Fabric of Culture

Technology can enable XM, but people drive it. To truly mature your program, you need to embed XM principles into day-to-day work and decision-making. That means employees at all levels see experience outcomes as part of their role.

Organizations that succeed here do more than send out surveys. They host experience workshops. They build feedback reviews into team meetings. They recognize those who drive change from feedback. And they tie XM performance to business unit objectives.

For example, linking NPS improvement to leadership incentives or performance reviews ensures accountability and fosters a culture of continuous improvement. Creating an “XM Council” helps distribute ownership and keeps momentum going beyond the core team.

Tip: Create internal XM newsletters, Slack channels, or quarterly town halls to share success stories. Consistent visibility reinforces cultural commitment.

Closing Thought

XM programs should grow with your business. They should evolve from reactive reporting into proactive decision-making engines. They should break silos and empower people. At Farlinium, we partner with teams to build programs that do just that—by aligning technology, strategy, and action.

If your XM program is ready to mature, we’re ready to help.