How a CCO turned CX into a revenue powerhouse

The growing importance of CX

Many of us were doing the work of customer experience (CX) way before it even had a formal title. But today, CX has moved from an operational afterthought geared around support, into a strategic growth driver. Today, it’s about creating durable, scalable revenue in a world where predictability and efficiency matter more than ever.

The macroeconomic impact

We’re at a tipping point. Capital is more expensive than it’s been in years. Global supply chains are strained, cyber threats are rising, and geopolitical uncertainty is introducing volatility into nearly every sector. In short, growing a business has never been more complex – or more urgent.

On top of that, our customers are facing their own pressures. I regularly speak with Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) who are juggling 40 or more different security tools. They’re asking hard questions:

“Which of these solutions are delivering real value?”
“Which vendors are helping me consolidate and simplify”?

That’s a massive opportunity for incumbents. If your foot’s already in the door – if procurement has approved you, the CFO has signed the check, and stakeholders already see your value – this is your moment. Expanding your footprint inside existing accounts becomes imperative.

Why expansion is more valuable than acquisition

Growing with existing customers is the most efficient and strategic kind of growth. Why? Because there’s no acquisition cost.

Plus, you already have the relationship and you understand the customer’s business, goals, and pain points. This helps businesses look beyond clients as simply “accounts,” and instead, view them for what they are: your best advocates. Your customers can speak credibly about your value, evangelize your product, and open doors to entirely new opportunities.

But this isn’t just theory. Over the last two years, we’ve seen a seismic shift across the industry. We’ve gone from asking customer success (CS) teams to support growth to asking them to own growth.

Today, I carry accountability for a P&L, gross retention (GRR), and net revenue retention (NRR). That level of responsibility is becoming the norm.

The rise of AI (and the new CX imperative)

There’s no escaping it: AI has transformed the game. Conversations that didn’t include AI twelve months ago now rarely exclude it.

Like the cloud technology that preceded it, agentic AI has moved from “nice to have” to mission-critical – and fast. When I think about it, agentic AI is ingrained in my functions because, at its root, it’s about unlocking new capabilities that help you scale in ways that weren’t possible before.

In CX, AI is already helping us do more, both faster and smarter. Whether it’s understanding customer signals, personalizing engagement, or predicting churn risk, AI gives us the edge we need to deliver value at scale.

My lens is always on three key outcomes: scale, efficiency, and durability. AI helps us deliver all three.

Why retention is taking center stage

Growth expectations are shifting

It’s no secret: net-new growth is slowing. Across the industry, benchmarks show reduced expectations for expansion and new customer acquisition. That shift is putting renewed focus on one thing: retention.

In this environment, just keeping your seat at the table is a win. Ensuring customers are adopting your solutions, realizing measurable value, and trusting you more than competitors?

That’s now the bare minimum for survival.

Admittedly, retention doesn't always feel like the most exciting part of business, but it’s undeniably a high-stakes and high-impact game.

The investment mismatch

Here’s the disconnect: while more pressure is being placed on CX to drive retention and growth, investment levels just haven’t caught up. In many organizations, resources are still disproportionately allocated to traditional sales.

CX teams have long been expected to “do more with less.” But at some point, that approach hits a wall. It stops working altogether. To deliver lasting, repeatable outcomes, we need to do more with more – and that means ensuring CX teams have the tools, training, and support they need to lead.

Consider this a call for proper enablement. But while I’m seeing signs of progress, we’re not quite there yet.

What separates high-performing CX organizations

Across the industry (and even in my own teams), I’ve seen three core drivers that enable CX to evolve from a support function into a growth engine:

1. Strategy and business alignment

Every boardroom conversation today revolves around efficient, predictable revenue. That’s where recurring revenue becomes a strategic lever.

If you retain 92% of your recurring revenue, that’s a baseline your CFO can count on. It de-risks your revenue plan. You then know exactly how much you need to replace – and how much you can build on.

This math resonates; as a recovering engineer, I love it – and so do CFOs!

2. Evolving the go-to-market model

In my experience, go-to-market (GTM) strategy has changed dramatically over the last few years. Where marketing once focused solely on net-new pipeline, they now partner closely with CX to support renewals and adoption – with messaging and campaigns that hit before the renewal date.

Marketing, sales, and CX now work in tandem as equal partners in the customer journey. That alignment is essential. It ensures we’re driving value and revenue together, not in silos.

3. Cultural transformation

CX teams have often been labeled as “support” or the “connective tissue” of an organization. Early in my career, I even used those terms myself, but they don’t reflect the full value CX delivers.

Today, we need to be seen – and see ourselves – as strategic drivers of growth. That means earning a seat at the table with product, engineering, and leadership. It also means showing up differently with customers: speaking confidently about roadmaps, outcomes, and strategic value.

This shift requires buy-in from the top: board, C-level, and senior leaders. But it also requires structure to back it up.

Building the scaffolding to support transformation

Transformation isn’t just about vision; although that’s important, it’s also about execution, and execution needs structure.

We’ve spent the past few years putting that structure in place. We reworked our incentive plans, so our renewal reps are now rewarded for both renewals and expansions. That’s key. If you don’t align incentives, you’ll miss growth opportunities simply because no one’s motivated to chase them.

We also revamped our processes – how we plan targets, map accounts, and align teams around the highest-value customers.

These moves may seem tactical, but they’re what turn strategy into results.

A maturity model for CX revenue ownership

While there’s no one-size-fits-all approach for revenue ownership, in my experience, most organizations progress through three stages of revenue maturity in CX.

Stage 1: Retention-led

Here, customer success owns retention, and sales focuses solely on new business. This is a great starting point – especially for companies new to revenue accountability in CX.

Retention may not be glamorous, but it powers the bulk of recurring revenue. Doing it well requires rigor, consistency, and a clear understanding of customer outcomes.

Stage 2: Retention and expansion support

Once you’ve stabilized retention, you layer in expansion. This often requires a different CSM profile – someone more commercially aware, proactive, and comfortable leading growth conversations.

In technical spaces like cybersecurity, it may also mean hiring CSMs who can engage deeply with technical stakeholders.

Stage 3: Full revenue ownership

The most mature model is where CX owns both retention and growth – complete with P&L accountability. You may also add logo-based metrics, like net logo retention or customer graduation, to track long-term customer evolution.

This is where CX truly becomes a business-driving function.

7 must-haves for CX-led revenue

Wherever you are on the journey, these seven elements are critical to making it work:

1. Invest in the role

Don’t ask CSMs to drive revenue without giving them the skills, tools, and support to succeed. Training and enablement are non-negotiable.

2. Align with leadership on outcomes

CX must connect its work to what leadership cares about: predictable, scalable, efficient revenue. Speak in business outcomes, not just adoption metrics.

3. Build strong data and telemetry

You can’t grow what you can’t measure. Get clear on which segments are at risk, where growth is most likely, and how customers are progressing.

Pro tip: Build your “recipe for growth” before you run the playbook.

4. Productize your services

We’ve created a bundled offer we call “Customer Experience as a Service.” It combines success, support, professional services, and education into one cohesive package. It’s easy for customers to consume – and it accelerates value.

5. Align incentives

People behave based on how they’re compensated. Early on, you might double-compensate sales and CX for the same outcome – and that’s okay. Over time, refine it to match your strategy.

We spent two years getting this right. It’s worth the effort.

6. Operate as one team

CX is just one part of the system. To succeed, you need tight collaboration across product, engineering, sales, marketing, and ops.

Marketing supports customer advocacy and renewals.
Product works directly with CX to address customer feedback and prioritize enhancements.

7. Start where you are

If you’re wondering where to begin, here’s what I suggest:

Start in your own house. Identify high-potential segments. Define offers that meet real needs.
Invest in data. Don’t fly blind.
Transform your talent. Equip your team to deliver the outcomes you’re promising.

None of this is overnight work, but it’s 1000% foundational.

Final thoughts

Customer experience has evolved. It’s no longer just a post-sale function – it’s a strategic lever for growth.

The companies that recognize this – and act on it – will be the ones that win. So start where you are, build the right foundation, and bring your whole org along for the ride.

Because CX isn’t just about helping customers succeed.

It’s about helping your business grow.

This article is based on a live workshop Harini gave called "Transforming CS into a Revenue Powerhouse" at Customer Labs in June 2025.

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How a CCO transformed CX into a revenue powerhouse