How To Measure Success In Customer Experience Vol. 2
During our second season of CX Chats, we conducted in-depth interviews with 19 leading industry experts to explore how they measure the success of customer experience. Here are the enlightening perspectives they shared.
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Samantha Conyers – CXO – First Retail Group
Success in CX is measured through customer-centric and traditional sales KPIs. Samantha integrates customer feedback tools and employee satisfaction metrics into the performance appraisal process. This holistic approach prioritizes operational efficiency and customer satisfaction, creating a balanced scorecard that drives overall business success.
Watch Samantha Conyers’ entire interview
Julie Fox – Global Director of Customer Success – Cin7
Customer success is measured in various ways, depending on the initiative. For Julie, metrics like customer engagement, product adoption, and upsell performance are critical. While some metrics, like churn, can be challenging to measure in the short term, her team focuses on leading indicators to proactively address potential issues.
Watch Julie Fox’s entire interview
Sumitra Narayanan – Manager, Customer Success, Scale – Braze
Success is measured across these pillars using key metrics such as GRR (Gross Renewal Rate) and DBNR (Dollar-Based Net Retention). Adoption is tracked through feature usage, while advocacy is monitored by customer engagement in advocacy events, like providing referrals or participating in case studies.
Watch Sumitra Narayanan’s entire interview
Jim Iyoob – Chief Customer Officer – Etech Global Services
In Jim’s view, success in CX should always be data-driven. At Etech, success is measured by key metrics that align with the company’s vision and core values. Continuous optimization of systems and processes is vital, debunking the ‘set it and forget it’ mindset.
Watch Jim Iyoob’s entire interview
Angeline Gavino – Vice President of Customer Success – Katalon
Success in Angeline’s CS team is measured by retention and revenue. While ARR (Annual Recurring Revenue) remains a North Star metric, other indicators like usage, engagement, and customer satisfaction help guide their progress. Aligning CS goals with overall business objectives ensures that the team’s impact is clearly understood and appreciated.
Watch Angeline Gavino’s entire interview
Anika Zubair – Head of Customer Success
Anika strongly advocates tracking metrics that directly align with customer value. One key measure she focuses on is the time first to value or time to first revenue—how quickly a customer moves from signing a contract to deriving value from the product. Griffin has been improving this metric by streamlining onboarding processes and refining support documentation, resulting in quicker implementation times and faster customer success.
Watch Anika Zubair’s entire interview
Alex Farmer – Chief Revenue Officer – Nezasa
Success in CX is measured through a mix of qualitative and quantitative data. Alex tracks time to value, net promoter scores (NPS), and customer sentiment surveys. He emphasizes the importance of understanding both end-user satisfaction and executive sponsor feedback. At Nezasa, these insights inform product development and ensure the company remains customer-centric.
Watch Alex Farmer’s entire interview
Samma Hafeez – Senior Vice President – Insight Partners
For Hafeez, measuring a CS or Voice of Customer (VoC) program’s success is closely tied to the stage of growth of the business. Key focus areas include successful onboarding, adoption, retention, and outcomes, with metrics evolving alongside the business. One example she shared includes a portfolio company that generates over 50% of its expansion leads and roughly 25% of referrals through the Customer Success team, thereby significantly reducing customer acquisition costs. Her approach underscores the importance of aligning these success metrics with the company’s growth and changing priorities.
Watch Samma Hafeez’s entire interview
Kevin McCahill – Founder – MasteryCX
Success in CS, according to Kevin, is measured not just through satisfaction scores or usage analytics but also through the level of engagement and education provided to customers.
Watch Kevin McCahill’s entire interview
Debra Squyres – Chief Customer Officer – Bonusly
Debra describes herself as a “metrics nerd,” focusing on both qualitative and quantitative data. Key performance indicators like gross and net revenue retention are balanced with team engagement surveys, employee pulse surveys, and customer experience metrics, providing a comprehensive view of the health and success of both customer and employee relationships. Central to Debra’s priorities is the belief that focusing on employee engagement and satisfaction ultimately translates into customer experience excellence. Debra’s team also looks at metrics at each stage in the customer journey, including insights from post-onboarding surveys, a customer relationship survey, Net Promoter Score, and feedback and themes from technical support interactions.
Watch Debra Squyres’ entire interview
Alex Mead – Chief Customer Service Experience Officer – Total CX
Success for Alex is not just about profit margins; it’s about creating an impactful customer experience that translates into real business outcomes. Whether it’s improving customer retention, reducing service times, or integrating feedback loops, Alex believes that success comes from a holistic view of customer satisfaction and operational efficiency.
Watch Alex Mead’s entire interview
Sally Roberts – Head of Customer – Legatics
In discussing the success of her CX strategy, Sally is clear about the key metrics that matter at Legatics. They closely monitor the number of legal matters processed through their platform, using this as a primary indicator of engagement and value. However, Sally’s team goes beyond just usage statistics. They also gauge success through customer responsiveness, event participation, willingness to provide case studies, and reference ability. Despite the challenge of balancing manual and automated processes, Sally emphasizes the need for diverse data points to understand and enhance customer satisfaction.
Watch Sally Roberts’ entire interview.
Jeremy Watkin – Director of Customer Experience and Support – NumberBarn
According to Jeremy, measuring CX success is a work in progress. While traditional metrics like customer satisfaction and NPS are important, he also integrates CX into quality assurance processes. He believes in evaluating whether customers would be satisfied with their interaction and continually refining their AI and self-service tools. The goal is to balance efficient customer support with a personalized touch.
Watch Jeremy Watkin’s entire interview
Caroline Quinlan – CX Design Manager
For Caroline, success in CX is measured through key metrics such as CSAT (Customer Satisfaction), NPS (Net Promoter Score), and customer ease. Benchmarking these metrics and tracking trends over time helps understand the impact of CX initiatives. Caroline emphasizes the importance of using qualitative and quantitative data to build compelling stories that humanize the data and highlight the emotional drivers behind customer behavior. This approach ensures that customers are seen as more than just numbers.
Watch Caroline Quinlan’s entire interview
Arjun Menon – Sr. Manager, Customer Success Management – Salesforce
While traditional metrics such as churn and retention remain important barometers of success, Arjun emphasizes the significance of focusing on tangible outcomes and impactful results. In his view, true success lies in cultivating a legion of loyal advocates who passionately champion the product—a sentiment that underscores his approach to measuring success.
Watch Arjun Menon’s entire interview
Lynn Hunsaker – Chief Customer Officer – ClearAction Continuum
For Lynn, success in CX is not just about revenue generation but creating and sustaining customer value. This focus on lifetime value means balancing short-term gains and long-term customer relationships. It’s a holistic approach that considers the company’s overall health and profitability.
Watch Lynn Hunsaker’s entire interview
Eddie Christian – VP, Customer Success & Customer Experience
Eddie adopts a multifaceted approach to measuring the success of CX initiatives. Utilizing metrics such as Net Promoter Score (NPS), Customer Satisfaction (CSAT), and qualitative feedback from account managers provides a comprehensive understanding of customer sentiment. By aligning these metrics with the overarching goal of retention, Eddie ensures that CX efforts directly contribute to business success.
Watch Eddie Christian’s entire interview
Jill Crimm
For Jill, success is both internal and external. Internally, metrics like team effectiveness and speed to market were critical. Externally, the focus was reducing friction, increasing engagement, and improving retention. Voice of the Customer (VOC) programs, powered by platforms like Qualtrics, played a crucial role in tracking these metrics.
Watch Jill Crimm’s entire interview
Donna Drehmann – Director Customer Experience – Eargo
Donna’s approach to measuring success is multifaceted. At Eargo, success is gauged through repeat sales, customer satisfaction (CSAT), NPS, and service cost. These metrics provide a comprehensive view of how well the company meets customer expectations and where there are opportunities for improvement.
Watch Donna Drehmann’s entire interview
