How to Use CX Benchmark Data to Strengthen Your Strategy: A 6-Step Guide

Introduction: Why KPMG CEE Data Is Relevant for You

KPMG's Global Customer Experience Excellence report isn't just an academic exercise. It's the most comprehensive data-driven answer to the question: What drives customer loyalty and NPS?

With 80,594 interviews, 2,684 brands, and 16 countries, it gives you:

• Benchmark data for your sector
• Prioritization basis for which CX dimensions to invest in
• Documentation to convince leadership of the value of CX investment
• Best practices from the world's best customer experiences

This guide gives you a practical, 6-step approach to turning KPMG's data into action.

Step 1: Know Your Sector's Benchmark

Start by understanding where your sector stands in the global CX landscape:

Action: Identify your sector's CEE score. Are you above or below average? What's the trend? Use this as a starting point for your ambition level.

Step 2: Understand What Drives Value in Your Context

The six pillars drive NPS and loyalty to different degrees:

Action: Decide whether your primary goal is NPS (willingness to recommend) or loyalty (retention). This affects which pillars you prioritize:

• For NPS: Focus on Integrity and Personalization
• For loyalty: Focus on Personalization and Integrity (in reverse order)
• For both: Both pillars are critical regardless

Step 3: Measure Your Performance Across the Six Pillars

NPS alone tells you how satisfied customers are, but not why. To take action, you need to know which pillars are strongest and weakest.

How to Measure the Pillars

Add questions to your NPS survey covering each pillar:

Integrity: "To what extent do you feel [company] is honest and transparent in its communication?"

Personalization: "To what extent do you feel [company] understands your specific needs and adapts its solution accordingly?"

Expectations: "To what extent does [company] live up to the expectations they set?"

Time & Effort: "How easy is it to work with [company] on a day-to-day basis?"

Resolution: "When a problem arises, how effectively does [company] resolve it?"

Empathy: "To what extent do you feel [company] understands your situation and acts in your interest?"

Action: Implement pillar measurements in your next feedback round. Use a 1-10 scale for comparability with CEE benchmarks.

Step 4: Identify Your Gaps and Prioritize Efforts

Once you have data, you can identify:

1. Strongest pillars: Where you already perform well — maintain and reinforce
2. Weakest pillars: Where there's the greatest potential for improvement
3. Highest-weight pillars with lowest scores: The combined analysis that gives the best prioritization

Prioritization Matrix

Plot your pillar scores against their relative weight:

• High weight + low score = Top priority (greatest potential impact)
• High weight + high score = Maintain and reinforce
• Low weight + low score = Secondary priority
• Low weight + high score = Hygiene factor — maintain

Action: Create a prioritized action plan based on the gap analysis. Focus on a maximum of 2-3 pillars at a time.

Step 5: Design Actions That Address the Pillars

For each prioritized pillar, design concrete actions:

Integrity Actions

• Review pricing and terms for clarity
• Implement proactive communication about changes
• Ensure consistent delivery across channels

Personalization Actions

• Integrate CRM data with feedback for a unified customer view
• Implement AI-powered analysis of open-ended responses
• Design personalized follow-up flows based on customer segment

Time & Effort Actions

• Automate feedback collection and distribution
• Reduce the number of clicks and touchpoints in customer interactions
• Implement self-service that actually works

Resolution Actions

• Design Close the Loop processes for all detractors
• Set SLAs for follow-up on negative feedback
• Train teams in service recovery best practices

Empathy Actions

• Train customer-facing teams in empathy and active listening
• Implement sentiment analysis that captures emotional nuances
• Give frontline employees autonomy to act in the customer's interest

Action: Choose 3-5 concrete actions per prioritized pillar. Assign responsibility and deadlines.

Step 6: Measure, Report, and Iterate

CX is not a project — it's an ongoing discipline. Establish:

Cadence

• Monthly: Dashboard review of NPS and pillar scores
• Quarterly: In-depth analysis of trends and improvements
• Bi-annually/Annually: Strategic evaluation and benchmark against KPMG CEE data

KPIs

• NPS development (overall and per pillar)
• Close the Loop rate (% of detractors contacted)
• Response rate (engagement with the feedback process)
• Business KPIs (churn rate, customer lifetime value, upsell/cross-sell)

Reporting

Connect CX data with business outcomes. KPMG's data shows that organizations investing in trust, personalization, and integration outperform competitors. Use this to document ROI.

Action: Establish a fixed reporting cadence and tie CX KPIs to business outcomes.

Summary: 6 Steps to KPMG-Informed CX

1. Know your benchmark — Where does your sector stand?
2. Understand the drivers — What drives NPS and loyalty in your context?
3. Measure the pillars — Add pillar questions to your feedback
4. Prioritize gaps — Focus on high-weight + low-score pillars
5. Design actions — Concrete initiatives per pillar
6. Measure and iterate — Continuous improvement, not a one-off project

How SurveyGauge Helps

SurveyGauge's model of Platform + Administration + Advisory covers the entire process:

• Platform: Measure NPS and the pillars with flexible surveys, AI analysis, and real-time dashboards
• Administration: We handle distribution, follow-up, and data quality, so you focus on action
• Advisory: Our CX experts help with gap analysis, prioritization, and action plans based on KPMG data and your specific context

Source: KPMG Global Customer Experience Excellence 2025-2026