Some prominent CX advocates and authors claim that customer experience is *the only* sustainable source of competitive advantage. But is it true?

A competitive advantage is a benefit that allows a business to outperform rivals. There are two tests:

1. Superior profitability to your strongest competitor (you can’t claim superior performance otherwise).
2. Stable or growing relative market share (its also hard to claim advantage if you’re losing customers).

Examine the businesses that pass these tests and you'll see their advantages typically stem from these 6 things:



Chain-linked activities where an entire, complex value chain must be copied.
Unmatchable economies of scale or low costs.
Customer lock in through high switching costs, reduced interoperability or ecosystems.
Physical location (a hotel maybe).
Government protection (state monopoly or IP law).
Network effects (locking customers in and rivals out).

In reality then, customer experience — while important — is quite unlikely to be a genuine source of competitive advantage full stop, and to boast that it's the only one is absurd.

Why does it matter? Because these kinds of bogus, hyperbolic claims harm our industry in the long run, leading people to make impossible promises that can't be kept.

See this post on LinkedIn