Criteria for the CCO of the Year
The first CCO was hired in 1999 at Texas Power and Light.
In 2003 there were fewer than 20 people in the world with the obscure title of Chief Customer Officer.
There are now more than 500 officially titled Chief Customer Officers in the world and perhaps hundreds more serving the same role but without the formal title.
Fewer than 35 of the Fortune 500 companies have a CCO
The CCO is responsible for profitably aligning the company's deliverables with strategic customer needs and values.
It is far easier to install a CCO in a smaller company of perhaps less than $100M in revenue, often because the CCO can directly influence all the employees.
The CCO role is the most fragile in the C-suite, with an average tenure of 29.4 months, with some notable exceptions on either side of the average.
It takes at least two years for the CCO's activities to flow through the company and make a significant impact on top and bottom-line results.
Approximately 60% of CCOs are promoted from within and the remainder is hired from the outside.
The CCO has a three-fold mission: 1) increase profitable behavior, 2) increase customer centricity, and 3) drive sustainable growth.
Jasmine Green, Chief Customer Advocate, Nationwide, named 2012 Chief Customer Officer of the Year, Read More
The hallmark of the CCO is the ability to create and drive customer strategy across the company.
The technology sector alone accounts for 26.7% of all CCO employment.
Each year, the Council recognizes the CCO that has made the greatest strides on improving customer centricity within their company. The award is presented at the annual CCO Summit, in recognition of the marvelous work a Chief Customer Officer has performed and the value that CCO has contributed to the community.
The award recognizes CCOs that have made the greatest strides in:
- Elevating the role of the CCO
- Improving customer relationships
- Driving profitable customer behavior
- Creating a customer-centric culture
Recipients of the CCO of the Year award have one thing in common: their customers recognize that the CCO is truly an advocate and is driving visible changes that improve the overall customer experience. In this fashion, one of the measures of the CCO’s effectiveness is through the voice of the customers impacted by the CCO.
The CCO of the Year will also be instrumental in creating a culture where employees are fully engaged in understanding customer needs and proactively solving them, and where it as widely understood that employee engagement yields customer loyalty.
The CCO of the year will have made significant contributions to raising the stature of this role.
Because the CCO role is quite new and undefined , it is imperative that CCOs reach out to assist each other to “float all boats” on the rising tide. Perhaps most importantly, the Council recognizes the CCO who has made the most significant impact on other CCOs to help them achieve similar results.