How to Sell CX to Skeptical Leaders (Without Using the Word “CX”)

At a recent CX bootcamp, I had a room of marketing professionals eager to join the CX movement. But, they all had leadership problems.

“Your CEO doesn’t want a better experience,” I told the room. “They want fewer problems.”

That line got a mix of laughter and sighs, the kind that say, he’s not wrong.

We were deep into the Bootcamp’s value conversation exercise, walking through how to connect CX to business outcomes. Hands started going up fast. Here are a few of the questions people asked that day, and how I answered them.

Q: “How do I get leadership to care about CX when they think we already ‘take care of our clients’?”

A: You don’t start by talking about CX at all. You start by talking about their pain.

Ask them what keeps them up at night. Recruiting? Retention? Low win rates? Write-offs? Every one of those problems has a client experience component.

Then use what I call the hurt and rescue method.

You quantify the hurt. You walk them into the problem until they feel the weight of it. Then you offer the rescue.

Example: “We lost two project managers last quarter, and it cost us $300,000 in replacement and training costs. Our feedback data shows that overworked teams lead to more client complaints. If we can reduce rework and complaints by just 10 percent, we could save $150,000 next year.”

Now you’re not selling CX. You’re solving a financial problem.

Q: “What if they only want to see the ROI?”

A: Perfect. Show it to them.

We built a calculator for this exact reason. You plug in firm size, average margins, and a few realistic assumptions. Then you show how even a small shift in client retention, fee discipline, or cross-selling converts to real dollars.

When someone sees that a 2 percent improvement in client retention equals an extra $1 million in profit, the conversation changes.

Executives care about math, not adjectives.

Q: “I feel like I’m pitching ‘soft stuff’ in a hard-nosed environment. How do I make it sound credible?”

A: Translate empathy into business language.

Instead of saying, “We need to improve our client communication,” say, “We’re losing 6 percent of our billable revenue each year to rework caused by miscommunication. If we can fix that, we’ll increase our profit margin by two points.”

That’s empathy with teeth.

Q: “What if leadership pushes back and says, ‘That’s not our job — that’s marketing’s problem’?”

A: Then you know you’ve hit a nerve.

When leaders push responsibility away, it’s usually because the problem feels too abstract. Bring it closer to home.

Try this: “Our principals in charge spend 20 percent of their time putting out fires with clients. If we could cut that in half, what would they do with an extra 10 percent of their time? How much time do they spend now on business development? If they could spend 50% more time on BD, how much revenue would they bring in?"

That question reframes CX as operational efficiency, not marketing fluff.

Q: “What’s the right way to start this conversation in my firm?”

A: Ask better questions. Stop evangelizing and start diagnosing.

Don’t walk into the room pitching delight or loyalty or engagement. Walk in with curiosity.

Try this:

• “Where are we leaking profit?”
• “What slows us down or creates rework?”
• “Where do we lose clients after the first project?”

Then listen. Everything they say will lead back to an experience problem you can help solve.

When you can connect empathy to economics, you stop being the person asking for budget and start being the person solving expensive problems.

The Takeaway

Stop pitching CX as a feel-good initiative. Start showing it as a system for removing pain: client pain, staff pain, and financial pain.

That’s how you sell CX to skeptics. You don’t make them feel inspired. You make them feel uncomfortable enough to change and confident that you know how to fix it.

Math and empathy. Same breath.