Embedding Purpose into Customer Experience

Customer experience is shaped most clearly in unscripted moments. Embedding company purpose into CX empowers employees to make the right decisions when processes fall short.

Many companies talk about being “customer-centric”, but the real test of this appears in those unscripted moments when a frontline employee makes a call that goes beyond processes—and demonstrates the underlying values of the company. 

To illustrate, think of these now-famous cases:

• A child lost a Lego minifigure and contacted support, and Lego sent him a replacement, along with a letter saying the “Sensei Wu” had approved this decision;
• An American airline ordered pizza for passengers after they delayed;
• When a child left his beloved stuffed giraffe behind, Ritz Carlton personnel photographed the toy living its best life before sending it home.

None of these decisions were dictated by policy; no CX script instructs staff to throw a pizza party. These moments happen when employees instinctively act from the company’s purpose—when culture, not compliance, guides judgment.

These gestures often go viral, not because the company promotes them, but because customers feel that someone genuinely cares. 

Another example: in 2016, Zappos, an online shoe and clothing retailer, set an internal record for the longest support call, exceeding ten hours. The conversation obviously ranged far beyond the topic of the order itself. 

For inDrive, a mobility company which prioritises fairness and challenging injustice, this would not be a sensible decision. However, for Zappos, which positions itself as a service company that happens to sell attire, and whose purpose is to please the customer and “create a little fun and weirdness”, this was a good decision. 

Empowering Employees to Take the “Right Risks”

As a rule—certainly for mobility companies like inDrive, which prioritises fairness as a value—customer support systems need to standardise processes as far as possible; it’s been said that the three C’s of customer experience are “consistency, consistency, consistency.” 

However, it’s impossible to standardise 100% of processes; so, in a situation where there is uncertainty, we want frontline support to act independently – informed by purpose. 

For this to happen, they need to feel safe to take risks. This depends on company culture:

• Knowing leadership will back them up;
• Having managers who respond to mistakes with feedback, not punishment;
• Knowing escalation is always an option;
• knowing that going beyond the KPI when it matters isn’t treated as failure.

Purpose is a Key Part of a Company’s CX Toolset

So, psychological safety is the first part of this equation. The second is equipping employees to make good decisions—i.e. providing them with a broader framework to guide their decisions, so they reflect the company’s values and purpose. 

This rests on several pillars:

1. Communication: 

The company’s purpose must be defined, explained, and illustrated until everyone understands what it means in practical terms. 

In effect, you’re equipping employees with a value system—a GPS that guides them when they have to go off-script, so that while they may no longer have explicit directions, they still know which way is north.

2. Education:

People need training to interpret purpose correctly, to understand what good judgment looks like and learn when to escalate and when to take action. 

3. Leading by Example: 

If senior leadership says “experiment, learn, put the customer first,” but middle managers punish every deviation, the company’s purpose will never reach the frontline. 

4. Keep Evolving: 

Establish a continuous feedback loop. When someone makes a mistake, help them to understand how to do better. And when a “mistake” is actually the right thing to do, good managers turn the exception into a new standard, so that processes keep evolving to better realise the company’s purpose and values.

5. KPIs Should Reinforce Purpose: 

Purpose doesn’t replace typical KPIs: For example, in the mobility industry, speed, quality, CSAT, and first-contact resolution remain crucial. But employees need to understand these in terms of purpose, so that they know when it’s right to break a KPI for a higher-order value. The goal isn’t robotic KPI completion: It’s judgment.

Purpose Fills the Gap Between the Customer and the Process

No company can design a process for every scenario. There will always be novel situations that can’t be predicted; purpose can help address these. When employees feel trusted and equipped to use their judgment—when they act from purpose—those small moments accumulate into a reputation.  

Purpose doesn’t replace process; it completes it by giving employees the confidence and the clarity to make the right decision.

ALSO READ: The State of Customer Experience: What 2025 Taught Us