Breaking the bottlenecks: Data, silos and the CX execution gap

CX is one of the most used – and, some might say, abused – acronyms in business speak today. Leaders fall over themselves to track Net Promoter Scores (NPS); they invest millions in CRM overhauls; and they appoint Chief Customer Officers to deliver that elusive ‘delight’ that we know customers seek from brands. 

Despite all these efforts, a persistent execution gap remains. The reason is simple, but systemic: most companies design experiences from the inside out. They build journeys based on departmental structures, legacy data stacks, and internal KPIs. Silos form, trapping valuable customer data and causing context to be lost when customers move through different phases of the journey.  

And, as a result, CX doesn’t quite hit its targets.

Let’s use an insurance claim as an example of where and how bottlenecks form. Imagine a customer who has a car accident. If their insurer is still grappling with silos, then here’s what happens: the customer calls to report the claim, then waits for an email from a different department to upload photos, and then takes a call from yet another different department about finding an authorised repairer. That’s a lot of moving parts – and it all leaves a sour taste in the customer’s mouth.

To bridge the execution gap, we must flip the script. Businesses should be designing journeys from the customer’s point of view and then working backwards into internal systems.

Using that same insurance example, if the journey is designed ‘backwards’ from the customer’s perspective, then it looks a lot different. The customer jumps on a mobile app at the accident site, uploads the photos and books a rental car in one seamless flow. Behind the scenes, data is sent to the adjusters and the repairers. There’s no bottleneck; just one action for the customer to worry about (opening the app and following the instructions).

So how do you get there? Let’s take a look.

First, ask yourself, are your systems and data ready for customer-first CX? With 82% of IT leaders* reporting that data silos hinder digital transformation, it’s clear that most are not. 

To solve this, you need to stop treating data as a byproduct and start treating it as the connective tissue of the customer journey. Consider strategies like:

• Moving toward a unified data layer. To get there, you need to identify where customer data lives – for example, is it trapped in a billing system, a shipping database, or a local spreadsheet? 

• Establishing a common data language across the company to ensure customers are always referred to in the same way. 

• Setting up real-time data streams to ensure that actions taken in one app are immediately visible to other apps and support agents.

• Adopting an API-first strategy to help dissolve silo walls and eradicate the need to cut-and-paste between different systems. 

Once you’re on your way to solving the problem of data fragmentation, you can start designing data-driven customer journeys that truly delight. 

Give your customers even more reason to smile 

Breaking down data silos is a great first step. But you can take it a lot further by considering these three things:

1. Ditch the corporate speak. Often, customer frustrations arise not from technical glitches, but linguistic ones. They don’t want corporate speak – which, let’s face it, can creep in as a byproduct of internal silos where legal, product, and marketing teams prioritise their own requirements over what a customer actually needs. Strip out the jargon and remember, if a customer has to google a word or phrase you use in your onboarding flow, you’re losing them. e.g. On a loan onboarding form, a traditional bank asks for “Tax identification documentation for compliance verification”. A neobank asks, "Where do you pay your taxes?" By using plain language, the neobank reduces cognitive load and anxiety. It still gets the info it needs, but the customer experience is designed for a human, not a database.

2. Give consistent, helpful answers. We’ve all experienced it: the website says one thing, the chatbot says another, and the human agent on the phone says something else entirely. This happens because content is often managed by different teams using different data sources. What’s more, different teams or systems can’t recognise the customer’s intent, so they don’t know how to give the right information at the right time. A first-time browser will have very different needs from a frustrated, long-term customer.

3. Ensure smooth handoffs. One of the most significant bottlenecks in CX is the handoff. That is, when the customer is passed from Marketing to Sales, or from Sales to Service. If they have to repeat their story each time, frustration grows. Every interaction must be incorporated into one continuous thread – from when the customer digitally signs the contract right through to ongoing support. 

Remember, the CX execution gap exists because it is easier to build around a silo than it is to dismantle one. However, the organisations that will thrive in coming years will be those who have broken down silos and prepared data for AI-powered CX that intuitively solves customer issues whenever they arise.  

By prioritising plain language, ensuring cross-channel accuracy, and treating every transaction as a link in a single chain, you can turn a disjointed process into a competitive advantage.