I Learned That Maintaining Customer Relationships Meant More Than One-Time Transactions and That Everything From Design to Production to Marketing to Sales to Support Played a Role in Those Relationships: Roy Atkinson, CEO of Clifton Butterfield, LLC

Roy Atkinson serves as CEO and Principal Advisor for Clifton Butterfield, LLC, and is a member of HDI’s Strategic Advisory Board. His expertise has been featured internationally in print, on podcasts, webinars, and conferences. Roy is one of HDI’s Top 25 Thought Leaders for 2025. He is a Top 50 Thought Leader in Customer Experience and a Top 10 Thought Leader in IT Strategy and IT Operations according to Thinkers360. He received HDI’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2019. He holds a master’s certificate in advanced management strategy from Tulane University’s Freeman School of Business and several industry certifications. 

Clifton Butterfield, LLC has won multiple international awards for its advisory work in Service Management, Customer Experience, and Employee Experience.

In a recent conversation with SME Business Review, Mr. Atkinson discussed leadership, customer experience, and the evolving role of technology in business success. Here's what he had to say.

Interview Excerpts

Could you start by telling us a bit about your career journey and what initially sparked your interest in becoming a Customer Experience (CX) leader?

During my working life, I have been lucky enough to have been exposed to many aspects of customer relationships, both B2C and B2B. I had several retail customer-facing roles, worked in consumer lending at a commercial bank in New York City, and provided inside sales support at a very large manufacturer. Each position offered lessons on how business worked, what customers liked (and didn’t like), and how my fellow employees responded to change and formed working relationships. I learned that maintaining customer relationships meant more than one-time transactions and that everything from design to production to marketing to sales to support played a role in those relationships.

What are some of the significant challenges you faced during your journey, especially while leading efforts to improve customer experiences, and how did you overcome them to drive meaningful results?

The challenges I faced in my work came in two forms—policies that were written without consideration of the customer viewpoint and managers who failed to see that improving the customer experience would positively impact revenue. Both are difficult to overcome. Rewriting policies to be more customer-centric is often seen as “giving away the store,” and the positive effects of CX initiatives are often denied or dismissed as “too slow.” Carefully adjusting policies and demonstrating positive trends in repeat business and word-of-mouth-driven market share can help overcome objections. In general, CX won’t change tomorrow’s bottom line, but it will change next year’s. Small changes now lead to larger effects later. Measure the right things, and measure them over time.

Could you share a defining moment in your career that significantly shaped your path as a CX leader, and how that moment influenced your approach to creating impactful customer experiences?

One event—or series of events—had a substantial effect. It occurred when the company I was working for decided to force defective products on one of its large customers. It was done quite stealthily, but I had learned to document everything. As a result, the customer had to close its largest plant for several days. I reported every aspect of the events to a regional VP and built awareness of the catastrophic consequences for the customer. If this had happened and become public in the age of social media, it might have taken down the entire corporation.

Who are your typical clients, and what industries or sectors do they represent?

Our clients often develop technologies intended to enhance CX. We provide insight into how their products can be used within their customer organizations and help them communicate their message in clear, understandable terms. We also work closely with solution providers in the IT industry.

What advice would you offer to aspiring CX leaders who want to turn their passion into a successful career, and which key skills or strategies should they prioritize to drive meaningful impact in the field?

To become a “CX leader” first focus on doing a good job in your role. Incorporate the philosophy of experience-driven business into your work. It’s easy to fall into the mistaken idea that CX is a department or a role; it isn’t. It’s part of everyone’s role. So learn about CX and build it into whatever it is that you do.

What are your long-term goals, and how do you plan to achieve them?

I really only have one long-term goal: Leave the concepts and practices of CX better than I found them. I will continue to teach, comment, coach, and write about CX.

Do you have any final thoughts or comments before we conclude?

One thought for business leaders: Understand that CX should be a part of every aspect of your business. If you understand and respect that, your rewards will follow.

Roy Atkinson, CEO & Principal Advisor, Clifton Butterfield, LLC

“I had several retail customer-facing roles, worked in consumer lending at a commercial bank in New York City, and provided inside sales support at a very large manufacturer. Each position offered lessons on how business worked, what customers liked (and didn’t like), and how my fellow employees responded to change and formed working relationships.”

“I will continue to teach, comment, coach, and write about CX.”