Why CX Battles Start at the Top: Leadership Fixes Retention Leaks Before AI Scales Them

Financial services leaders face a harsh reality. Customers switch banks after one bad process. Teams chase touchpoint fixes while retention drops to 68-78% industry-wide. Real change demands structural shifts first.

The Hidden Retention Crisis in Finance

Customers expect seamless experiences. Yet, fragmented processes erode trust daily. Financial firms report 68% retention rates, lagging top performers at 85%. Churn costs billions as repeat buyers spend 67% more.

Leadership often misses the root. Frontline heroes patch gaps temporarily. Structural leaks persist across functions. This cycle blocks growth in a competitive market.

Data reveals urgency. Banking averages 75% retention, but smaller firms dip to 55%. Proactive firms boost loyalty through end-to-end fixes.

Spotlight: Yemi Oluseun and The Change Hive

Yemi Oluseun serves as Chief Transformation Officer. She specializes in CX, revenue, and operating-model shifts for financial services and ventures. Her background includes roles at JP Morgan, Barclays, and Avalara.

The Change Hive leads transformation advisory. The firm targets retention-led growth and CX governance. It applies a “streamline first, then scale” method to seal leaks in clients, cash, and credibility.

Yemi captures the core issue precisely:

“CX will be won or lost at the leadership and decision level, not the touchpoint level.

Touchpoints may attract customers, but retention is driven by outcomes.

AI and personalisation amplify those outcomes – but only where trust, ownership, and incentives are clear.

In practice, the strongest CX performance comes from organisations that address structural issues first:
→ Fragmented CX ownership across functions
→ Misaligned KPIs that reward activity over retention
→ Automation layered onto broken customer journeys

Where these leaks persist, AI doesn’t improve the experience; it simply accelerates distrust.”

— Yemi Oluseun, Chief Transformation Officer, The Change Hive

Leadership Ownership: The First Structural Leak

CX fails without clear leadership accountability. Functions pull in silos, creating inconsistent journeys. Integrated teams lift Net Revenue Retention by 25%.

Sales owns acquisition. Service handles complaints. No one owns the full lifecycle. This fragmentation hits financial services hard, where trust underpins long-term bonds.

Case in point: A financial firm mapped journeys company-wide. Over 40% of staff joined walkthroughs. They uncovered process gaps masked by frontline efforts. Quick wins emerged, sparking 15 major projects.

Misaligned KPIs: Rewarding Effort, Not Outcomes

KPIs drive behavior. Most reward activity like ticket volume over retention metrics. Leaders chase short-term wins, ignoring lifetime value.

Financial services average 75-80% retention when trust holds. Yet, misaligned goals push volume metrics. Result? Customers feel transactional, not valued.

Shift focus works. Zendesk integrated CX insights, boosting retention 20%. Salesforce unified strategies, lifting loyalty similarly. Tie bonuses to churn reduction and expansion revenue.

AI Pitfalls: Amplifying Broken Journeys

AI promises personalization. It boosts retention up to 20% when foundations hold. But layered on leaks, it accelerates distrust.

Klarna learned painfully. AI chatbots replaced 700 agents. Satisfaction plunged on complex issues like fraud. Customers fled faster.

Stats confirm risks. 74% of CX AI programs fail from poor data and strategy. Automation handles scale, but humans need depth. Fix journeys first.

Case Study: Insurer’s CX Transformation Triumph

One insurer embedded CX in operations. They trained 35% of staff on capabilities. Scores doubled. Processing times fell 25%. Retention and cross-sell surged.

Key moves mirrored Yemi’s advice. Leadership aligned KPIs to outcomes. They fixed ownership gaps pre-automation. Employee satisfaction rose 20%, fueling sustainability.

Financial parallels abound. Proactive VoC programs cut churn. 43% of firms enhanced these in 2024. Results? Higher CSAT at 83% and loyalty.

Actionable Roadmap for CX Leaders

Professionals need clear steps. Start with diagnostics, then realign.

• Audit Ownership: Map journeys across functions. Assign single-threaded leaders. Hold quarterly reviews.
• Redesign KPIs: Weight retention 50% in incentives. Track Net Promoter Score against churn.
• Prep for AI: Clean data and processes first. Pilot on fixed segments. Measure trust pre-launch.
• Build Culture: Train executives on CX-business links. Celebrate retention wins publicly.
• Monitor Outcomes: Use VoC for real-time insights. Adjust quarterly based on feedback.

Expanded Implementation Guide: Covering All Structural Leaks

Leaders must tackle Yemi’s three leaks systematically. This section expands the roadmap with detailed tactics, timelines, and metrics for each.

Fixing Fragmented CX Ownership

Assign a CX ownership council. Include C-suite from sales, service, and ops. Meet bi-weekly to align on journey handoffs. Benchmark: Reduce cross-functional friction by 30% in six months.

Conduct ownership audits quarterly. Use journey maps to pinpoint silos. Appoint “journey owners” per segment. Example: Banking apps saw 18% retention lift after single ownership threads.

Empower with authority. Give owners budget veto on conflicting initiatives. Track via unified dashboards. Firms report 22% faster resolution times.

Aligning KPIs to Retention Outcomes

Rewrite scorecards now. Shift 40% weight to retention metrics like churn rate and NRR. Ditch ticket counts for outcome scores.

Cascade incentives top-down. Link executive bonuses to customer lifetime value. Mid-managers get 25% on cohort retention. Finance averages 78% retention post-shift.

Measure rigorously. Use predictive churn models tied to NPS. Review monthly in leadership huddles. Top performers hit 85%+ rates.

Prepping Broken Journeys Before Automation

Map all journeys end-to-end. Identify pain points via VoC and shadow sessions. Fix top 10 before AI rollout.

Layer AI surgically. Start with low-risk segments like onboarding. Scale only after 90% satisfaction baseline. Avoid Klarna’s 15% churn spike.

Test for trust. Run A/B pilots measuring sentiment pre/post-AI. Retrain humans on escalation paths. Success yields 25% efficiency gains.

Practical Takeaways for Lasting Impact

CX pros gain edge through discipline. Address leaks now. Leadership decisions shape retention.

Streamline structures first. AI scales wins, not woes. Financial firms hit 85% retention this way.

Act today. Your customers notice. Growth follows.