⚽ From the Sidelines to the Field: Why Great Customer Experience Is a Team Sport

Imagine the playing field of great customer experience.

I’ve played soccer. I’ve coached it. I’ve watched it - sometimes nervously - from the stands as my daughter played, and still hear her offer “helpful critiques” from the couch when we watch matches together. There’s something about the game - its energy, its simplicity, its complexity that stays with you.

Soccer, or more appropriately, football, is the most global of sports. Its low barrier to entry - a ball, a field, and some passion - means it can be played almost anywhere. But that doesn’t mean it’s simple. Quite the opposite. It’s one of the most fluid, strategic, and nuanced games out there. And the more I’ve evolved as a leader in business, the more I’ve realized: customer experience works the same way.

You can coach from the sidelines. You can design the best playbook. But the game - the real game - is won on the field. It’s your players, your team, your people who execute in real time. And their instincts, empathy, and passion make the difference between just showing up… and winning.

From “Pushing Ideas” to Building Teams

In the earlier stages of my career, I believed that if you had a great idea and a few smart allies, you could push it forward and succeed. But over the years, I’ve learned that leadership - like coaching - isn’t about pushing. It’s about listening. Facilitating.

Challenging thoughtfully. And ultimately, stepping back to let the team on the field do what they were trained, trusted, and empowered to do.

You can’t see every opening from the sidelines. You can’t call every play. You prepare your team with the right culture, mindset, and support - and then you trust them to move the ball forward.

The Lineup: Who’s On Your CX Field?

Let’s break it down. Just like in football, every position in your customer experience strategy has a role to play. Here’s what a great CX lineup looks like.

⚽ Striker – Proactive Customer Engagement

The striker’s job is simple: score goals. In CX, this is your moment-maker - anticipating needs, creating delight, and delivering memorable experiences before the customer even asks.

📌 Example: A brand that personalizes an offer before you’ve even considered your next purchase. Or a frontline employee who recognizes a repeat customer and greets them by name.

📌 CX Strategy Tip: Identify high-impact moments and invest in personalization and surprise-and-delight tactics that move beyond expectation.

🪽 Wingers – Field Coverage & Agility

Wingers stretch the play wide and create opportunities where others see none. In CX, they ensure your customer journey is seamless across all platforms - physical, digital, social, and mobile.

📌 Example: Ensuring a customer can begin a return online and complete it effortlessly in-store. Or offering real-time chat support while someone is browsing your app.

📌 CX Strategy Tip: Audit your customer journey regularly - look for drop-offs, pain points, or inconsistencies across channels and bridge them with agility.

🔄 Midfield – The Everyday Experience

Midfielders do the most running, carry the most responsibility, and set the tone of the game. In customer experience, this is your core team - in the field, on the phones, behind the scenes - making it happen every day. They are the consistent engine that keeps things moving - resolving issues, guiding customers, and making the experience feel effortless.

📌 CX Strategy Tip: Empower service teams to be not just problem-solvers, but proactive advisors. Train them in both empathy and agility so they can flex to the customer’s needs.

🛡️ Defenders – Operational Strength

Defenders don’t always get the glory - but they prevent the disaster. Strong operational processes, clear training, and proactive problem-prevention are your CX defense line.

📌 Example: Implementing smart self-service tools that prevent common issues before they reach your agents. Creating frictionless feedback loops that alert you to issues in real time. Or building operational processes that are understandable, repeatable, scaleable.

📌 CX Strategy Tip: Focus on “friction mapping” - not just solving problems but preventing them before they begin.

🧤 Goalkeeper – Crisis Management & Recovery

Your goalkeeper is the final line of defense. They don’t touch the ball often, but when they do, it’s critical. The same is true in customer experience - when something goes wrong, your escalation team or social media response needs to deliver.

📌 Personal Story: We once faced a major web outage at the worst possible time. Our phones lit up, inboxes filled, and social feeds flooded. And then… our social media lead posted a meme. You know the one - the cat pounding the keyboard with urgency. Captioned: “Our team right now, working to get the site back online.”

I cringed at first. It wasn’t what I would’ve done. But her instinct was spot on. She humanized the situation. The tide shifted - customers started defending us, saying “Give them time, they’ve got this,” and even applauding the humor. One post, one save, one human moment turned the whole narrative around.

📌 CX Strategy Tip: Empower your team to use judgment and personality. Sometimes, a quick save and the right tone can win more loyalty than a perfect experience ever could.

The Hidden Ingredient: Perspective

What I’ve come to value most in great CX players - whether they’re frontline associates or executive peers - is perspective. The ability to see beyond your own view. To listen. To challenge. To step into the shoes of the customer and the company at the same time.

That’s what turns process into progress. That’s what separates a decent interaction from a transformational one. Mistakes will happen. But if your team understands the mission, embraces empathy, and carries that perspective, they’ll win far more than they lose.

Technology Can’t Replace the Game

Let me be clear: I love what technology can do. I see the promise of AI, automation, data modeling. These tools are powerful enablers. But they are not - and should never be - the game itself.

Watching my favorite team, Fulham FC play, I’m reminded how passion, presence, and preparation matter more than any equipment. You need a ball. A field. Players who care. That’s how you win.

I never want to watch a soccer match between humanoids. I don’t want a game where everything is pre-programmed. And I feel the same about customer experience. The magic happens in the imperfection - the quick pass, the gutsy play, the creative assist.

Final Whistle: So, What’s Your CX Team Training For?

Great customer experience isn’t about perfection. It’s about presence. It’s about giving your team the clarity, confidence, and trust to play their positions - and adapt when the moment calls for it.

So here’s our challenge:

• Are we coaching from the sidelines or micromanaging the moves?

• Are we investing in tools and instincts?

• Are our players empowered to win - or just following the playbook?

  
  

The best CX teams - like the best soccer teams - don’t just play the game. 

They elevate it!

After all, “Football is life!” - Danny Rojas (Ted Lasso)