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This week I attended my first CX Leaders Advance conference. First, I want to give the Customer Experience Professionals Association (CXPA) my immense thanks for putting on such a well-organized event! I’ve never felt such a 

sense of community at a conference, which is due in part to the diligence of the organizers, but also the welcoming nature of the CX community. I met so many inspiring people and was awed by the overwhelming desire to learn from and share with one another. Here are the top 5 things I learned at my first CX Leaders Advance conference.

1. CEOs don’t care about customer experience. That’s not to say the CEO doesn’t care about the customer; they care about what the customer does. The number one goal of the C-Suite is growth. As Jim Tincher, CCXP said in his session: “if you don’t impact growth, you shrink.” So, we as CX practitioners must speak the language of CEOs – we must tie our work to growth and tangible data. We have to understand our company’s financials and uncover how our work impacts the bottom line.
2. Find your Power Core. These are leaders in Product, Operations, Sales, Marketing, Finance, and Technology. Who does the CEO talk to the most? Where does the money go? If we want a piece of the pie, we have to show value in the same way as Sales and Marketing and we have to understand the business goals of each. Only then can we tie CX into the overall business strategy.
3. You have to have a CX maturity model. Not only that, but you have to revisit it regularly to assess progress. Socialize it. Tell your stakeholders how the maturity model helps them achieve their goals. It doesn’t matter which model you use, just that you have one.
4. “You’re not buying a product, you’re buying an experience.” Referenced by Todd Unger in his inspiring keynote, “customer experience starts with the customer, not the product.” The customer journey is shorter than ever, and CX should be used as a lever to solve friction in the process and drive growth. Experiences drive results.
5. Storytelling is key. Every conversation with a stakeholder needs to be in the language they understand. Tie measures and metrics to value for the organization. Make it easy for them to say “yes.”

And a sixth honorable mention, I'm convinced the spicy shrimp cocktail at St. Elmo’s will 100% cure your sinus infection.

Reflecting on my time at the conference, I am honored to be part of such an inclusive community of practitioners. I returned to the office with renewed motivation and equipped with new strategies to enhance customer experience at CDW . I look forward to sharing these insights with my team and contributing further to the organization's success.