They think they know what’s needed
In this podcast with Rick Denton and Lisa Guzman, Lisa talks about how startups often believe they already know what their customer experience operation needs.
They usually don’t.
Founders are brilliant at product. They’re bold with vision. They’re comfortable with risk. But when it comes to CX infrastructure, many of them assume the basics are already handled.
An inbox becomes a ticketing system. Response volume becomes the performance metric. Support becomes something to react to rather than something to learn from.
“They think they know what’s needed. And they don’t.” – Lisa
Lisa shared a story of a company using Gmail as their support platform. On the surface it worked. Emails came in. Agents replied. Leadership even thought they had productivity metrics because they could count responses.
But the real signals were invisible.
Which issues were trending? Which customers were struggling repeatedly? Which agents were solving the hardest problems versus answering the easiest ones?
Without systems designed for insight, CX becomes reactive noise instead of strategic intelligence.
The real work of CX leadership in startups isn’t simply installing tools. It’s translating operational improvements into business value.
Why this system? Why this metric? Why this investment?
Because when a founder hears “we need a platform,” they hear cost.
When they hear “this will help us retain customers and identify problems earlier,” they hear growth.
Here’s the challenge for CX leaders stepping into growing companies.
You will often inherit hay.
Processes that sort of work. Metrics that feel right but aren’t. Tools that were chosen because they were available.
Your job is to spin it into gold.
Translate support into insight. Translate metrics into decisions. Translate customer friction into product improvement.
Because when CX leaders do that well, they stop being a support function.
They become a growth function.
Your Turn
Where have you discovered “hay” in a CX operation that leadership thought was already gold?
- Listen to the Podcast on CX Passport
Thank you to our colleague Rick Denton and CX Passport for sharing these insights.
