On October 1st, we celebrate CX Day, or Customer Experience Day. This is a great time to take a closer look at the concept, as despite the growing number of companies adopting a Customer Experience approach, many myths and oversimplifications have emerged around this topic. These can leave beginners feeling confused or even discouraged from taking on the challenge of transforming their organization into a customer-centric one. It’s worth clarifying the basic concepts and facts and stating clearly what Customer Experience is not.

Customer Experience is not a method

Managing customer experience is not a method or a tool. There are no simple, pre-prepared, ready-to-use instructions for implementing CX in an organization. Customer Experience is much broader—it is an approach to conducting business. It’s a mindset that considers the customer and their perceptions in all company activities, even treating the customer as one of the organization’s assets. Transforming an organization into a customer-centric one is not an easy, short, or one-dimensional endeavor.

Customer Experience cannot simply be implemented

Transforming an organization into a customer-centric one is a long-term process that can take several years or even decades and affects many areas of the organization’s operations. It requires a complete organizational transformation into one that “thinks about the customer” and understands that positive experiences can build long-term loyalty, optimize acquisition and retention costs, and create lasting value. Every employee must understand their role in delivering great customer experiences. Moreover, a customer who loves a brand is more likely to forgive minor mistakes and will tend to spend more.

Customer Experience is not the responsibility of the customer service department

Customer service should not be confined to a single department; it is the responsibility of the entire company. Customer service or complaint departments only gather information about what went wrong during the customer’s interactions with the company—they are essentially cleaning up after others or even themselves. These departments alone cannot ensure positive customer experiences. Every department, every employee, subcontractor, or business partner—from the CEO to the assistant, from marketing to PR to HR—must be accountable for customer experience. Everyone!

CX is not something you “get into”; it’s something you are

Those who believe that CX “isn’t for them” or who claim they are “not getting into it” are deeply mistaken. Every company participates in the race for customers through the products and experiences they provide—whether they like it or not. The biggest competitors in this race might not even be from the same industry; they are companies that show customers that better experiences are possible. A company must decide only one thing: whether to join this race consciously.