Thought Leadership

TL;DR: A four-year study shows that companies with a strong customer experience consistently do better financially than their rivals.Key points: The companies with the best customer experience had better stock market returns than their industry averages. The gap between CX leaders and those with the worst CX grew to 23 percentage points by the end of 2024. Strong CX capabilities help companies learn from customer feedback, share those findings, and act on them quickly. This creates strategic readiness, which is a key advantage when customer loyalty is dropping. The full content is about a 5-minute read. https://www.qualtrics.com/blog/cx-leaders-consistently-outperform/What's an example of a time you've seen a company's strong customer experience efforts directly lead to a positive business outcome?

TL;DR: XM Institute identified three types of AI—Analytical, Generative, and Agentic—and explains how businesses can use each to improve customer experiences by gaining a better understanding of their customers and automating actions.Key points: Analytical AI helps businesses understand customer behaviour by analysing data for patterns, sentiments, and root causes, which allows them to make predictions. Generative AI is for creating content and contextual responses, for example, powering chatbots and virtual assistants to have more human-like conversations. Agentic AI takes action, orchestrating complex tasks across different systems to achieve specific experience goals, such as automatically creating a ticket or sending a personalised follow-up. The article offers real-world examples for each AI type, such as a university using Analytical AI to predict student retention risks and an insurance provider using Generative AI for an internal claims chatbot. The full content is about

You're invited to the first-ever in-person local gathering for the Experience Community. We're launching free local gatherings, and London, you're first on the list!This is your chance to learn from leading experts and meet like-minded professionals who can help you take your experience management strategy to the next level. The Experience Community is your gateway to growth, innovation, and professional connection.Whether you're looking to exchange ideas with peers, or to learn directly from the best minds in the industry, this event is for you. You'll for the insights and stay for the connections.🗓 TBC📍 Qualtrics WeWorks - 10 York Road, London, SE1 7ND More details to follow. 

Not only popular search engines but within this community too, the use of terms like low engagement, survey fatigue and declining response rates seem to confirm the trend that surveys are rapidly losing their effectiveness. Certainly in B2B environments with their complex buying groups and multiple stakeholders, surveys often fail to capture the full customer sentiment. This transition is not a question of if, but when, organizations must adapt their customer experience strategies. So what is your organisation doing to compensate for the shortcomings of the old fashioned survey? What new ways are being found and developed to gain different and better actionable insights?

A question for the community - I’d love to hear any insights: How do you discover emerging trends, innovative methodologies, or potential disruptions in the world of Experience Management (XM)? Do you allocate time for this each week/month/quarter? And are there any unconventional or unexpected ways you and/or your teams try to learn and develop in this area?🤔

Hi allFor those based in or near Sydney and Singapore there are some upcoming In-person events that could be of interest. They are focussed on increasing your response count and quality. For other cities, more events will be coming later in the year and we will share details here when we have them. Jump over to the Events tab to find out more or follow the link below. https://community.qualtrics.com/events?tab=upcoming&type=In-Person%20EventThanksPete

Im looking forward to the discussion with Chris Johnston from ​@Adoreboard on all things AI and its role in creating Loyalty and Trust, it has a big role to play 🙌If you can’t make the webinar live, we will have a recording for you to watch back at your leisure that we will attach to this conversation. Whether you joined the webinar live or watched the recording, both Chris and I are keen to continue the conversation so please add any comments or questions - To join the discussion, comment below! ⬇️ ⬇️ ⬇️PS. You will need to Register to be able to get involved, here is how 👈

We continue to see a decrease in customer trust and feedback, especially in the government space. I'm curious to learn how other organizations approach community engagement surveys. How often do you conduct them, what sample sizes do you typically aim for vs the size of your community, and what types of questions or themes do you focus on? I'm especially interested in understanding how you balance getting meaningful feedback with avoiding survey fatigue. We seem to be surveying our residents more than other local municipalities, and I don’t know if we are gaining any value fromt that. 

Hi everyone, I came across this excellent post about embedding empathy and Human-Centered Design into the research process.It’s a great reminder that to get powerful insights, we need to move beyond what customers say and truly understand why they feel and act the way they do.The original post has some great, practical tips for applying this mindset. If you're involved in customer experience, user research, or product design, it's definitely worth a read.You can check out the full post and join the discussion here:  

Hi all, sharing a question for the community from X4 Sydney recently for anyone that couldn't attend: What does ‘meaningful interaction’ with your customer look like in 2025? 

Join us for our June "Ask the Expert" session featuring Nikhil Chauhan ​@nchauhan, a Customer Experience expert and thought leader. You can discover actionable strategies for building stronger customer relationships, driving loyalty, and achieving business growth through exceptional experiences. Bring your challenges, your curiosities, and all of your questions at any stage this week and Nikhil will reply below with his perspective. Reply to this conversation to post your questions to Nikhil!We’re open for questions from Monday 2nd of June until Friday 6th of June.

Hi CommunityJoin next week for an interactive, one-hour live webinar that will explore the evolving role of the CX professional. You'll discover how major forces like AI, the demand for clear ROI, and rapidly shifting customer expectations are fundamentally transforming CX strategy and career paths.This isn't just a presentation – it's your chance to:Engage in discussion with global leaders. Share your insights and hear from your peers. Gain practical takeaways you can apply immediately.Meet our incredible panel of global CX experts:Marlan Hardie, Advisor, Stage 1 Ventures Bruno Guimaraes, Founder, Amigos Do CX James Scutt, Principal XM Catalyst, Qualtrics XM Institute Diane Magers, CEO, Experience CatalystsClick here to sign up🗓️ Date: 30th May 2025: 15:30 - 16:30 CET / 09:30 - 10:30 EST📍 Where: Online Webinar (https://community.qualtrics.com/events/webinar-the-shifting-sands-of-the-cx-professional-264) 

I had a brilliant time at a recent networking event! 🚀 The energy was fantastic, and so many genuine smiles - testament to a great atmosphere for making real connections.Shout out to BT for hosting, and to Hannah Louise Cox for capturing the vibe and organising this event!Loved chatting with insightful people and sharing perspectives on AI in CX with insights from Amazon Prime Video too. Came away feeling inspired, with fresh ideas and new contacts!If you are networking online, explore the in-person - there's something so engaging about in-person networking. 👍

Customer experience can feel like a non-stop race to keep up with new ideas. But rushing into every new trend often leads to wasted effort and no real gain. 🏃‍♀️Instead of chasing every shiny new thing, let's focus on smart, strategic thinking. It’s about knowing what truly helps your customers and sticking to it. 🎯Understand your customer's real needs. Pick innovations that actually fit your business. Measure what works, and ditch what doesn't.What's one "must-have" CX trend you've seen fizzle out quickly? Share your thoughts below! 👇Find out more: https://cxm.world/customer-experience/replacing-fomo-with-strategic-thinking-tackling-the-rise-of-rapid-innovation-in-cx/Credit to Mr Matt Trickett for this article together!

Hi everyone,I'm hoping to tap into the collective wisdom of this community regarding a challenge I'm facing with our customer experience program.We've noticed a drop in our survey response rates year-over-year, even though key factors like our target audience, survey length, timing, and incentives haven't significantly changed.One potential factor I'm considering is whether there's a growing general distrust among recipients about clicking on links in emails, perhaps due to increased awareness of phishing and security concerns. We're definitely not phishing, but it's possible people are becoming more cautious overall. ​@JamesScutt and I are curious to know: Are others experiencing similar declines in survey response rates? Do you suspect link distrust is playing a role? What strategies or alternative methods (beyond standard email links) have you found effective for boosting response rates? (e.g., Has anyone had success with vanity URLs, short links, QR codes in emails, embedding the f

This is a 2x2 matrix describing “flavors” of digital CX based on high and low human involvement, and digital vs. physical media. (Thanks to ​@EdenHaha for an illuminating recent conversation about digital experiences!) I think it could be useful for framing customer journeys and personas, but am wondering how much this aligns with other CX practitioners. (We are a national library that delivers the vast majority of our experience virtually.) I’m curious to see your thoughts!

The rise of agentic AI is transforming the way we work and lead. Are you prepared? 🤔Join Qualtrics for an insightful FREE digital event, "Leading Through the Agentic AI Revolution," and discover how to harness the power of AI while maintaining effective leadership.This event features expert insights and practical strategies to help you navigate this exciting new era. Don't miss out on this opportunity to gain a competitive edge!Register here:  The webinar may be over, however, you can watch it on demand here! ⬅️

Companies and organizations use different methodologies and frameworks to guide and structure the way they work. Although some are industry specific, most share common aims like wanting to increase efficiency & consistency, improve the quality of their outputs or having to meet certain regulatory requirements to name just a few. Some of these resonate strongly with the Client Centric philosophy like Service Management as defined by the ITIL framework which I've championed for example. But I'm curious to the thoughts and experiences of the Thought Leaders here!With which industry best practices or business frameworks does the XM methodology work best with in your view? 

TL;DR: This report looks at how companies are handling customer experience (CX), focusing on what their CX teams do, what's stopping them from getting better, and how they're using AI.Key points:Most companies aren't that great at CX yet, with many just starting to get their act together.     Companies that do CX well tend to have bosses who care about it and are willing to spend money on it.     A lot of CX teams find it hard to show that what they're doing is actually making the company money.     AI is becoming a big deal in CX, with loads of companies using it for things like chatbots.    The full content is about a 5-minute read. (You must be logged in to download this research)How is your company measuring the success of its CX program?

Join us for our inaugural "Ask the Expert" session featuring Topher Mitchell ​@TopherM, a seasoned Value Realization expert, with a proven track record in helping organizations achieve tangible business value from their investments.Topher will be on hand to answer your questions. Whether you're struggling to secure resources, orient your program around business value, or measure the impact of your initiatives, this is your opportunity to gain practical insights and actionable advice directly from a leader in the field.Reply to this conversation to post your questions to Topher!We’re open for questions from Monday 14 April until Friday 18 April.