Customer Feedback Has an Owner. Does the Leadership Response?
Customer feedback usually has a clear owner: someone gathers it, analyzes it, and presents the findings. But when the same problem keeps appearing, it is worth asking who owns the leadership decision needed to address it. For CX and EX leaders, that gap can make valuable insight difficult to translate into progress.
My background spans organizational psychology, employee experience, customer experience, and sales leadership. That combination leads me to look beyond the feedback itself and ask what leaders may be doing, rewarding, or tolerating that allows a problem to persist.
A practical place to start is with one recurring customer issue. In your next review, work with the relevant business leader to agree on three things: (1) The decision: What policy, incentive, resource allocation, or expectation needs to change? (2) The owner: Which leader has the authority to make that change and is accountable for following through? (3) The check: When will we review progress, and what evidence would indicate that the customer’s experience is improving?
Consider this example: customers repeatedly say they feel rushed during support calls. If managers emphasize short calls with quick Average Handling Time (AHT) , another round of listening-skills training may leave the underlying pressure intact. The support leader could test a change in coaching and recognition, then review repeat contacts and customer feedback alongside call length.
Dr. Steven Kerr (not the Golden State Warriors basketball coach) described the broader problem in his classic article, On the Folly of Rewarding A, While Hoping for B: organizations can reward behaviors that conflict with the outcomes they say they want. His work offers a useful lens for examining the incentives behind recurring customer problems.
The experience team can bring the evidence and help evaluate progress. The leader with authority over the underlying decision needs to own the response.
What has helped you move from presenting customer feedback to securing a specific leadership commitment and following through on it?