Too often, “customer-first” means “agent-last.” 😑 It doesn’t have to be that way.
I’ve consulted with CX orgs where every metric was tied to customer satisfaction, but agent turnover was out of control. Why? Because leadership was managing the customer relationship and ignoring employees.
A reality most dashboards don’t show you is how high customer satisfaction scores can mask high employee dissatisfaction. And the long-term cost of that tradeoff is massive.
🚩 Agents are told to de-escalate angry callers, but they get no training on how to decompress.
🚩 CSAT targets are enforced without giving reps the authority to solve real problems.
🚩 Frontline staff are blamed for friction caused by poor policy or bad process.
🚩 Burnout rises. Retention drops. And customer experience suffers anyway when all is said and done.
Leadership isn’t about caving to every customer demand. It’s about balancing service quality with operational culture, and that starts with supporting your people.
✅ Design feedback loops where agent experience informs CX strategy
✅ Incentivize managers to coach and retain, not just hit CSAT targets
✅ Prioritize tools and workflows that reduce friction for both sides of the call
Customers can feel when they’re talking to someone who’s underpaid, unsupported, and two weeks away from quitting. And they can feel the difference when they’re talking to someone who’s empowered. You don’t fix customer experience by optimizing the customer. You fix it by investing in the people delivering it.
If your CX strategy doesn’t start with agents, it won’t end with loyalty.