The CX Growth Index: Measuring and Prioritizing Customer Experience Investments in Commercial Banking

Introduction: The New Imperative for Customer Experience in Commercial Banking

In today’s commercial banking landscape, customer experience (CX) is no longer a peripheral concern—it is a central driver of competitive advantage, growth, and customer retention. As digital-first challengers and fintechs set new standards for seamless, personalized service, incumbent banks face mounting pressure to transform their customer journeys. Yet, despite significant investment, many commercial banks struggle to rigorously measure the impact of their CX initiatives and to prioritize investments that drive real business outcomes.

Traditional metrics like Net Promoter Score (NPS) offer a high-level view of customer sentiment but fall short in providing actionable insights that link specific CX improvements to growth, retention, and profitability. To address this gap, Publicis Sapient has developed the Customer Experience Growth Index (CXGX)—a proprietary, data-driven framework designed to help commercial banks measure, benchmark, and prioritize CX investments with precision and confidence.

Why Traditional Metrics Fall Short

While NPS and similar metrics have become industry standards, they present several limitations for commercial banks:

As a result, banks often find themselves investing in broad CX initiatives without a clear understanding of which changes will deliver the greatest impact.

Introducing the Customer Experience Growth Index (CXGX)

The CXGX framework is a breakthrough approach that enables commercial banks to:

The CXGX Methodology: Experience, Expectation, Emotion

At the heart of CXGX is a customer survey framework built around the "Three E’s":

  1. Experience: Did the customer get what they wanted from the interaction?
  2. Expectation: Was the experience better or worse than expected?
  3. Emotion: How did the experience make the customer feel? (Measured across 18 possible emotional responses, from angry to uplifted)

Each customer response is linked to specific touchpoints—such as onboarding, digital channels, live chat, call centers, and branch visits—providing a granular, channel-specific view of the customer journey. This enables banks to pinpoint which interactions are memorable (positively or negatively) and which fall into the "Valley of Meh"—forgettable, unremarkable experiences that neither delight nor disappoint.

Turning CX Data into Business Value

CXGX scores are calculated for each touchpoint and aggregated to provide an overall CX score for the bank. These scores are then correlated with key business outcomes, such as:

The result is a robust, predictive link between CX performance and business growth, enabling banks to move beyond intuition and anecdote to data-driven decision-making.

CXGX in Action: Insights and Impact

Correlation with Growth and Retention

Analysis of CXGX data across leading banks reveals a strong positive correlation between high CXGX scores and:

Banks with the highest CXGX scores consistently outperform peers in acquiring and retaining customers, while those with lower scores see stagnation or decline. This direct link empowers banks to justify and prioritize CX investments based on their proven impact on business performance.

Identifying High-Impact Touchpoints

CXGX enables banks to:

For instance, if a bank’s mobile app scores significantly higher than its desktop website, migrating even a small percentage of users to the app can meaningfully boost the overall CXGX score—and, by extension, growth potential.

Optimizing Digital and Omnichannel Journeys

Commercial banking customers increasingly expect seamless, omnichannel experiences that blend digital convenience with human expertise. CXGX provides the data needed to:

Banks can use CXGX insights to design journeys that are not only efficient but also emotionally resonant—turning routine transactions into memorable, loyalty-building experiences.

Actionable Guidance for Commercial Banks

To maximize the value of CXGX, commercial banks should:

  1. Adopt a rigorous, data-driven approach to CX measurement. Move beyond NPS to frameworks like CXGX that provide actionable, touchpoint-level insights.
  2. Benchmark performance and set clear targets. Use CXGX to compare your bank’s performance against peers and digital leaders, identifying areas of strength and weakness.
  3. Prioritize investments based on impact. Focus on touchpoints and journeys where improvements will drive the greatest gains in growth, retention, and cost efficiency.
  4. Optimize digital and omnichannel experiences. Use CXGX data to streamline onboarding, enhance digital servicing, and ensure seamless transitions between digital and human channels.
  5. Link CX improvements to business outcomes. Track how changes in CXGX scores translate into customer growth, retention, and revenue, building a robust business case for ongoing investment.

The Publicis Sapient Advantage

Publicis Sapient’s CXGX framework is uniquely positioned to help commercial banks:

By adopting CXGX, commercial banks can move from reactive, intuition-driven CX management to a proactive, strategic approach that delivers tangible results—for customers and the bottom line.


Ready to transform your customer experience strategy?
Contact Publicis Sapient to learn how CXGX can help your bank unlock new growth, deepen customer relationships, and lead in the next era of commercial banking.