The "Customer" Taxonomy Trap: Too Many Teams, Not Enough Clarity

Why CX, CS, Loyalty, and Support all sound the same to customers—and how that hurts your mission.

Article

Strategy

Duration

1 minute

Date

August 8, 2024

The "Customer" Taxonomy Trap: Too Many Teams, Not Enough Clarity

Why CX, CS, Loyalty, and Support all sound the same to customers—and how that hurts your mission.

Article

Strategy

Duration

1 minute

Date

August 8, 2024

When you have five different teams all calling themselves ‘customer-focused,’ it confuses both the organization and the very people you’re trying to serve. Clear, well-defined boundaries ensure each team knows exactly where it can add the most value.

John Taylor

Contributor

When you have five different teams all calling themselves ‘customer-focused,’ it confuses both the organization and the very people you’re trying to serve. Clear, well-defined boundaries ensure each team knows exactly where it can add the most value.

John Taylor

Contributor

There’s often confusion among the different functions of Customer Success, Customer Experience, Customer Loyalty, Customer Insights, Voice of the Customer, and more. Without a clear, shared taxonomy, teams may struggle to define responsibilities and align on a unified strategy. This overlap in terminology and focus areas can create friction, duplicated efforts, and missed opportunities for delivering consistent customer value.

There’s often confusion among the different functions of Customer Success, Customer Experience, Customer Loyalty, Customer Insights, Voice of the Customer, and more. Without a clear, shared taxonomy, teams may struggle to define responsibilities and align on a unified strategy. This overlap in terminology and focus areas can create friction, duplicated efforts, and missed opportunities for delivering consistent customer value.

Strategic сhallenges

Many companies assign distinct teams for Customer Experience, Customer Loyalty, and Customer Success, yet the lines between them can quickly blur.

In many organizations, “Customer Experience” might track brand-wide sentiments, “Customer Loyalty” might handle advocacy programs, and “Customer Success” zeroes in on post-sale value realization. When no one has spelled out how these roles integrate, non-CS leaders are left guessing which department is responsible for preventing churn, escalating user feedback, or planning strategic upsells.

Strategic сhallenges

Many companies assign distinct teams for Customer Experience, Customer Loyalty, and Customer Success, yet the lines between them can quickly blur.

In many organizations, “Customer Experience” might track brand-wide sentiments, “Customer Loyalty” might handle advocacy programs, and “Customer Success” zeroes in on post-sale value realization. When no one has spelled out how these roles integrate, non-CS leaders are left guessing which department is responsible for preventing churn, escalating user feedback, or planning strategic upsells.

Customer focus

Why it matters is that duplication and siloed efforts undermine efficiency and progress.

Finance leaders may question why budgets seem redundant—like when both CX and CS request funding to manage the same customer survey platform. Product teams struggle to prioritize feature requests if the “Voice of the Customer” arrives in three different formats with no consolidated analysis. Marketing might be unsure whether to sync campaigns with the CX or CS team, resulting in missed opportunities for upsells or brand consistency. Next steps revolve around clarifying ownership and establishing a single source of truth for customer data. By defining exactly which “customer” function handles post-sale adoption, journey-wide feedback, or brand advocacy, every department can channel issues to the right place without causing internal turmoil. Our complete White Paper provides a structured approach to mapping out responsibilities and uniting all “customer” teams, so you can address user concerns swiftly and keep cross-functional collaboration on track—without leaving non-CS leaders guessing which department does what.

Customer focus

Why it matters is that duplication and siloed efforts undermine efficiency and progress.

Finance leaders may question why budgets seem redundant—like when both CX and CS request funding to manage the same customer survey platform. Product teams struggle to prioritize feature requests if the “Voice of the Customer” arrives in three different formats with no consolidated analysis. Marketing might be unsure whether to sync campaigns with the CX or CS team, resulting in missed opportunities for upsells or brand consistency. Next steps revolve around clarifying ownership and establishing a single source of truth for customer data. By defining exactly which “customer” function handles post-sale adoption, journey-wide feedback, or brand advocacy, every department can channel issues to the right place without causing internal turmoil. Our complete White Paper provides a structured approach to mapping out responsibilities and uniting all “customer” teams, so you can address user concerns swiftly and keep cross-functional collaboration on track—without leaving non-CS leaders guessing which department does what.

Let’s simplify your success

Get in touch with us today to start transforming your Customer Success journey. Together, we’ll turn complexity into clarity and create measurable impact.

Profile portrait of a man in a white shirt against a light background

Mike Carter

Founder - Make It Simple®

Extreme close-up black and white photograph of a human eye

Contact us

Let’s simplify your success

Get in touch with us today to start transforming your Customer Success journey. Together, we’ll turn complexity into clarity and create measurable impact.

Profile portrait of a man in a white shirt against a light background

Mike Carter

Founder - Make It Simple®

Extreme close-up black and white photograph of a human eye

Contact us

Let’s simplify your success

Get in touch with us today to start transforming your Customer Success journey. Together, we’ll turn complexity into clarity and create measurable impact.

Profile portrait of a man in a white shirt against a light background

Mike Carter

Founder - Make It Simple®

Extreme close-up black and white photograph of a human eye

Contact us