Customer centricity isn’t just a buzzword—it’s a mindset that shapes how businesses design their products, present their brand, and deliver meaningful customer experiences. Yet, while many companies struggle to be customer-centric, few succeed in turning the idea into consistent, impactful actions.
The statistics are telling: 89% of businesses say they prioritize customer experience (Gartner), but only 30% of customers agree that companies consistently meet their expectations (PwC). This gap often arises because organizations struggle to move beyond intent, lacking clarity on how to operationalize a customer-centric strategy.
In this interview, Annette Franz, founder of CX Journey Inc. and a 30-year CX leader, shares her insights on bridging the gap between ambition and action. From her work with renowned organizations like J.D. Power and Fidelity to her own consulting approach, Annette offers a roadmap to help businesses translate customer-first goals into measurable, lasting results. Whether you’re looking to enhance your CX strategy or seeking fresh approaches to delight customers, Annette’s practical advice provides the tools you need to close the gap and deliver experiences that resonate.
Annette Franz’s journey to CX leadership
Q: Annette, with your 30+ years in customer experience, how did your journey lead you to found CX Journey Inc.?
For many years, I had wanted to go out on my own, start my own business, and focus on the type of projects and engagements that I enjoy the most.
Q: You’ve worked with top companies like J.D. Power and Fidelity. How did those experiences shape your approach to customer-centricity?
Throughout my 30+ years of work in this profession, which I started at J.D. Power and Associates, I have worked on both the client and vendor sides (where I ran consulting services organizations). Various approaches to customer understanding were at the root of that work, which I’ve often noted is the cornerstone of customer-centricity.
You can’t transform something you don’t understand. You can’t be customer-centric without bringing that voice into the organization and designing and delivering through the customer lens.
CX Journey Inc.: transforming organizations
Q: What inspired you to leave established organizations and start CX Journey Inc. in 2017?
Let’s say there was a confluence of events that assured and inspired me that the timing was right to start the business and go out on my own.
The process of building a customer-centric culture
Q: When you start working with a new client, what are the first things you do to help them build a customer-centric culture?
When I start working with a new client, I interview the executive team, a sample of employees across various functions, and some randomly selected customers to get their views on the current culture, employee experience, and customer experience. These interviews provide me with a baseline assessment and understanding of the client’s specific needs, such that that work culminates with a clear roadmap and action plan for what lies ahead.
Ultimately, we begin by ensuring that the leadership team is committed to the transformation and that they are all on the same page/aligned on building, maintaining, and sustaining that culture in the future. At the same time, we work on clearly defining the desired culture and socializing and operationalizing the core values.
Overcoming resistance to customer-centricity
Q: How do you support companies that are hesitant to adopt a customer-centric mindset?
Typically, that requires education and awareness, customer understanding, building the business case, and showing some quick wins regarding the impact of a customer-centric culture.
A lot more detail goes into that, but building a customer-centric organization is a culture shift, a mindset shift, and a behavior shift.
Customer-centric strategies and best practices
Q: You emphasize customer understanding as the cornerstone of customer-centricity. What are some practical steps companies take to get a deeper understanding beyond just surveys?
As I write and speak about often, there are three (buckets of) ways to understand your customers. They are:
- Listen (feedback/data). Don’t just ask customers about the experience; listen, as well. There are a lot of different channels, listening posts, and ways for customers to tell you about their needs and desired outcomes and how well you are performing against their expectations. It also includes the data that customers leave behind as they interact and transact with your brand.
- Characterize (personas). Research your customers. Talk to customers. Identify the jobs they are trying to do. Compile critical personas representing the various types of prospects and customers that (might) buy from you or use your products or services.
- Empathize (journey maps/service blueprints). Walk in your customer’s shoes to understand their steps to do whatever job they want with your organization. Map their journeys to understand the current state of the experience. Ideate future state journeys. And create the service blueprints to understand the people, tools, systems, policies, and processes that are creating and supporting those experiences.
Aligning CX strategies with business objectives
Q: Can you share an example of how aligning CX strategies with business goals led to measurable success?
In 2014, I was awarded the CXPA’s CX Impact Award for work I did with an insurance provider, specifically around customer understanding for customer retention (the goal). As a result of this work, in which the client listened to customers, followed up with Detractors, resolved issues, and rebuilt relationships, the client was able to save an unheard of 63% of at-risk customers in less than a year, which translated into more than $11 million of saved revenue.
Insights from Annette Franz’s books
“Customer Understanding: Three Ways to Put the "Customer" in Customer Experience (and at the Heart of Your Business)”
Q: "Customer Understanding," introduces a six-step journey mapping process. Which step do you think is the most crucial and why?
The six steps in the process are:
- Plan: all the prep work to get ready for the workshop, including identifying the personas for which you'll map, the objectives, scope, outcomes, and success metrics of the map, and the workshop participants. It may also include customer interviews about the specific map(s) scope(s) if we still need to do those as part of your more considerable customer experience strategy work.
- Empathize: map what customers are doing, thinking, and feeling; add data and metrics to the map; bring the map to life with artifacts (e.g., pictures, videos, documents); and assign owners to the customer's steps.
- Identify: identify and prioritize moments of truth and research issues, conduct root cause analysis, develop action plans, and assign owners and deadlines to the plan.
- Introspect: look inward and create a service blueprint corresponding to your mapped customer journey. You can't fix what's happening on the outside, what the customer is experiencing if you don't fix what's happening behind the scenes.
- Ideate: conduct future-state mapping workshops, ideate solutions to customer and backstage pain points, and design the future state.
- Implement: prototype and test the new design – fail fast; implement the new experience; share the maps and train employees; close the loop with customers; update maps to reflect the new experience.
Which step is most crucial? Well, each builds on the previous one, so the most crucial one is the first step, which is to plan properly and accordingly, leading to success in each subsequent step. But I can't overlook the importance of step six, which is implementing the new design based on what you've learned throughout the process. Action speaks louder than words.
“Built to Win: Designing a Customer-Centric Culture that Drives Value for Your Business”
Q: In your latest book, "Built to Win," you focus on creating a customer-centric culture. What are the biggest challenges organizations face when trying to become customer-centric?
Just some of the challenges include:
- Lack of executive commitment and alignment
- Siloed organizations and disparate data
- Resistance to change manifested in a variety of ways
- Ineffectual tools and processes
- Inadequate support for employees, including training and empowering them
Mentoring and advice for CX professionals
Q: You’ve mentored a lot of people in the CX field. What advice do you give to newcomers in customer experience?
Educate yourself about CX—understand what it truly means to design and deliver exceptional customer experiences.
Build your network by joining organizations like the CXPA, where you can learn from peers, share insights, and grow together in the field.
Staying passionate about improving experiences
Q: What is one piece of advice you would give to leaders who are just beginning their journey toward customer-centricity?
Don’t forget that culture is the foundation, and the employee experience drives the customer experience. Fix the culture, fix the outcomes.
Q: Lastly, after three decades in customer experience, what keeps you passionate about this field?
The fact that employee experiences and customer experiences are so bad – and the need to continue to work hard and fight to improve them day in and day out!
Recap on the insights from Annette Franz
Annette Franz draws on more than 30 years in customer experience to share how passion for CX led her to founding CX Journey Inc. With a background that includes shaping strategies at J.D. Power and Fidelity, here’s a fundamental truth: customer-centricity starts with understanding your customers. This involves listening intently, creating detailed personas, and leveraging journey mapping to uncover pain points and opportunities.
Her track record proves the impact of aligning CX initiatives with business goals. For instance, her guidance helped an insurance provider retain 63% of at-risk customers—a testament to the measurable results of a well-executed CX strategy. Annette’s six-step journey mapping process—from planning to implementation—guides companies in transforming their cultures and improving CX outcomes.
Looking to enhance your own customer experience? Automation is key. By automating repetitive tasks, businesses can free up time and resources to focus on what truly matters: their customers. Platforms like Help Desk Migration streamline the process, securely transferring tickets from sources like CSV, Gmail, or Outlook to your preferred help desk solution. This seamless transition helps you integrate automation into your customer-centric strategy without missing a beat.
Annette’s advice for businesses is simple but powerful: prioritize building a customer-centric culture, empower employees to act, and start small. Incremental steps can drive impactful changes, paving the way for lasting impact and stronger customer relationships.
