The secret weapon in building customer strategy: the Chief Customer Officer

Abstract

Purpose

This paper articulates the significant value of the role of the Chief Customer Officer, namely in the CCO's ability to create and leverage customer strategy.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper offers a view of the evolution of the CCO over six years based on recently completed in‐depth interviews with more than 50 CCOs at Fortune 500, mid‐cap, and smaller companies.

Findings

The article describes the three most common reasons why CEOs hire Chief Customer Officers. The CCO role is evolving and rapidly increasing in complexity, defying simple categorization that was possible six years ago. CCOs can be classified in two dimensions according to their customer accountability and the organizational authority of their role. CCOs share three common goals: drive profitable customer behavior, create a customer‐centric culture, and driver corporate and customer strategy. Also discussed are the most critical factors that must be in place to ensure CCO success.

Research limitations/implications

While the sample size of 50 out of 300 is representative, the CCO role is evolving quickly and is adapted as necessary within each company to fit the specific organizational needs.

Originality/value

The majority of the material is new. This research begins to codify the most critical factors in the CCO role to provide structure for CEOs and Boards considering installing a CCO. CCOs should evaluate their key performance indicators to ensure they are tied to profitability so as to better justify and defend their value. Growth companies must bear in mind the need to migrate the CCO from line ownership to process ownership to properly manage complexity.

Citation

Bingham, C.N. (2009), "The secret weapon in building customer strategy: the Chief Customer Officer", Business Strategy Series, Vol. 10 No. 4, pp. 183-192. https://doi.org/10.1108/17515630910976325