One problem that CIOs face when CX comes to the fore is having the right skills in place. Chief customer officers, according to Forrester, typically come from marketing, sales, and operations. These roles are often capable of coming up with great ideas for better CX. But imagining a better CX is a far cry from actually designing it in all its nitty-gritty detail.

This is where CX becomes UX, for user experience. Having the skills in-house (not via an agency) to translate the CX vision into a detailed design is critical. You can't just interview stakeholders and turn their ideas into requirements and pass them along to developers and expect good results. That way madness lies.

For a better customer experience, you need the skills to interview actual users, turn observations into solution concepts, and then turn those concepts into designs. You need to be able to specify the design with rich detail so you can deliver something that is easy to use while solving a meaningful problem. Without these skills, great CX will remain elusive.

Greg Laugero is co-founder of Industrial Wisdom. He helps companies turn ideas into products with great user experiences.