Customer experience, or “CX,” is all the rage in marketing circles nationally. Customer experience refers to how a customer experiences your company at every point of their buying journey—from marketing to sales to customer service, and everywhere in between. It can be tangible actions, such as emails and phone calls, but it also can be the feelings that coincide with the buying journey.

Businesses around the country have realized the importance of providing a great CX, and the resulting return on investment (ROI) from customer loyalty. In past years, Gartner reported that “customer experience is the new battlefield.” In fact, my quick Indeed search for CX jobs brought up more than 61,000 postings nationally.

Despite all this, I’d like to make the case that small manufacturers need to refocus from CX to EX, the employee experience, if they want to grow and succeed in the years to come.

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