Founder, Nord CX · Atasun Kaşbaş
Customer experience strategist, speaker and writer. Drawing on more than 25 years of practice, Atasun helps organisations put the customer at the centre of every decision, and prove what it delivers.
CXM Stars is the UK-based Customer Experience Magazine’s annual ranking of CX professionals worldwide, chosen by an expert jury and a community vote. On the 2026 list, Atasun is 7th of 150 and 1st among names from Türkiye.
Across the US, Europe, the Gulf and Africa, Atasun has chaired or sat on customer experience award juries dozens of times, including as jury chair at the Gulf CX Awards 2026, the International CX Awards 2023 and 2025, and the Türkiye CX Awards 2023.
Atasun has been a board member of the Customer Institute since August 2023. The institute runs international certification and assessment programmes in customer experience, and Atasun contributes to its CX research, reports and work on professional competencies.
Before moving to Canada, Atasun spent years teaching Customer Experience Management in English to industrial engineering students at Istanbul Kültür University’s Faculty of Engineering.
Nord CX’s work follows one path: five steps from Stage to Podium, all pointing north.
Each step is a service family. You can commission any one on its own, and what it produces stays with your organisation. Wherever your organisation is on the path, that is where we start.
The north stays fixed
The star in the logo is the Pole Star: the sky turns, it stays put. The path’s five steps are five constellations turning around it. Each constellation is a service family, each star a service.
Stage awakens, Radar reveals, Compass sets direction, Route delivers, Podium proves.
The sky turns as you scroll. Tap a star; your choice stays until you change it.
The room starts speaking the same language.
Stage family · 4 services
Leadership believes in CX, but we can't get it onto the agenda.
This family puts CX on the agenda, for the room and for leadership: a shared language takes hold and the work gains a clear sponsor.
Flagship service
A talk shaped for your audience that builds a shared language. Its title is revealed on stage; at the end, everyone writes down their own commitment.
Flagship service
90 to 120 minutes with the executive board: three questions, three decisions and a sponsor who will own the work.
Flagship service
A day open to the whole organisation, on or around the first Tuesday of October: a talk, a short workshop and a session for employees.
Module
A moderated conversation on stage with your organisation's real customers. The room hears the customer in their own words.
Every team sees the customer from the same angle.
Radar family · 6 services
Every team tells its own part; the customer's unfinished business gets lost in between.
This family shows, with evidence, where the customer really gets stuck.
Flagship service
Different teams examine the same customer moment around one table. Everyone writes down what they see, each table picks a project, and the first follow-up step is agreed.
Flagship service
An evidence-based diagnosis across ten dimensions, built on an adviser-led interview. Self-assessment and evidence sit side by side; the report maps to the CXPA and Forrester frameworks.
Card set
Does the customer know when their refund is complete, and what proves it? The workshop card for that question.
Card set
The workshop card that finds the moment new customers give up, before they see the first benefit.
Card set
The workshop card for listening to customers who leave without complaining.
Card set
The workshop card that gives one owner to the work that falls between the organisation and its partner.
Where does the money go, and who owns the work?
Compass family · 4 services
We can't explain the return on CX to leadership.
This family makes clear what the money goes to and who will own the work.
Flagship service
Builds the case for CX investment in the same language as finance. Effort and cash are written down separately; the decision rests on evidence.
Flagship service
Shows on a single page who makes which decision about the customer.
Module
Sets out which promise you make to which customer, and what comes first.
Module
A calculation engine that makes the investment case to leadership and prepares the board pack.
The decision becomes how the team works.
Route family · 9 services
The workshop reached a decision; then everyone went back to their day job.
This family gives the decision a timetable, an owner and a measure of success, so the work becomes a lasting process.
Flagship service
Turns the trial chosen in the workshop into a lasting process within ninety days. Actual results are reviewed on days 30, 60 and 90.
Flagship service
A six-module programme and learning paths, each tied to a real assignment inside the organisation. The team puts what it learns to work in its own job.
Module
A sprint that finds the root cause of a recurring complaint and fixes it.
Module
A monthly rhythm from measurement to decision. You can see what NPS actually led to.
Module
Writes, tests and measures the rule for handing over from chatbot to human.
Module
A service recovery drill, so that every team makes the same promise when things go wrong.
Module
Clear limits of authority for the front line, and the right words for difficult moments.
Module
Maps the customer's steps from sale to first use, and the work behind them, in one plan; every handover gets an owner.
Module
Once the ninety days are over, a monthly decision clinic for organisations that want one.
Before and after, side by side.
Podium family · 4 services
We did good work, but nobody knows.
This family builds the before-and-after evidence for the work and takes it to the right stage.
Flagship service
Tells the story of good work with before-and-after evidence, and prepares the awards submission. Ethics come first: no submission coaching for a programme Atasun is judging that year.
Flagship service
A network of volunteers from inside the organisation. What they see on the ground regularly feeds leadership decisions; every observation gets a reasoned reply.
Module
Your submission goes through a mock jury led by Atasun Kaşbaş, who chairs juries at international CX awards. You hear the jury's questions before the real one asks them.
Module
Finds the award programmes that suit your organisation: the right award, criteria and timetable.
Nine questions that wake a CX leader at three in the morning.
Pick a question and the sky lights up the step and the service that answer it. The short answers rest on research; the root causes and sources sit beside every question.
Question 01 / 09
Tap a thought; your choice stays until you change it.
We report NPS every month, yet nothing changes for the customer.
Short answer
The score gets reported but never tied to a decision, and the fix usually sits beyond any one team’s authority. Hand the most common cause of low scores to one executive with the authority and budget to fix it, and set a deadline. Don’t turn the score into a bonus target.
Relevant services · 3
Builds separate closed loops for the customer, the process and leadership; every finding gets an owner, a reply to the customer and a set rhythm for leadership review.
The workshop uses the Measurement card set: CX, data, process, operations and finance sit at one table and agree together on each measure’s trigger, owner and proof of closure.
Sets out on a single page who makes which customer decision, so it is clear who decides on, and pays for, a fix that goes beyond one team’s authority.
Evidence · 5 root causes, 7 sources
We report NPS every month, yet nothing changes for the customer.
How these services help
Root causes · 5
Sources · 7
If this question keeps you up too, let’s look at it together.
Talk about this questionIf the question keeping you awake isn’t one of these nine, let’s talk about that one too.
If the question keeping you awake isn’t one of these nine, let’s talk about that one too.
Three answers before the leadership meeting.
The three tools in this section are free and work straight away. Each one answers a question a CX leader asks before meeting senior leaders.
No sign-up, no email, no time limit, and your answers never leave your browser. These are the core versions of the tools we use in Nord CX engagements: help yourself. If you want more, there is a door beneath each one.
Tool 1 / 3 · ten questions
How mature is our customer experience?
First Look maps the ten areas of the CX Maturity Assessment through your own eyes, with one question per area. The CX Maturity Assessment measures the same ten areas with thirty core questions, an adviser-led interview and evidence.
Go deeperCX Maturity Assessment. The same ten areas, with thirty core questions, an adviser-led interview and evidence.
Take a lookTool 2 / 3 · three numbers
What do repeat requests about the same issue cost you each year?
Three numbers, one answer: your own figures, multiplied together.
Example values; type in your own
Calls, messages, emails, branch visits and social media: count them all.
Requests where the same customer comes back about the same issue. If you don't measure it, take your last 100 requests and count the second and third contacts about the same issue.
For comparison: according to a 2020 study by SQM Group, North American contact centres take 1.4 calls on average to resolve an issue, so roughly 29 in every 100 calls are repeats (0.4 ÷ 1.4). It is vendor research without a published method; it is no substitute for your own rate.
Your team's total monthly cost (salaries, benefits, systems, outsourced services) ÷ requests per month.
Waiting for a valid number. The faded result uses the last valid values.
Annual cost of repeat requests
This figure is the value of the time your team spends on this work; it does not flow back into the budget by itself. It only becomes cash when overtime, outsourcing or new hiring comes down.
Go deeperReturn Clinic. How much of this figure actually comes off the budget? We work it out at the same table as finance.
Talk about Return ClinicTool 3 / 3 · two periods
Your NPS went up or down. Is it a real change, or just chance?
Enter the NPS and the number of responses for two periods. It works with even a single response.
Adding your passives narrows the interval, so the same difference is more likely to be significant.
Waiting for a valid number. The faded result uses the last valid values.
Even a significant difference does not tell you why it happened; to show that your work caused the change, you need a comparison group.
The calculation uses 95% confidence. If you don't enter passives, it makes the most cautious assumption: no passives at all. It assumes different people responded in each period. If your respondents don't represent your customers (for example, if only people with complaints replied), no calculation can fix that.
Adjusted Wald method (Lewis and Sauro, MeasuringU, 2021; Rocks, 2016). With few responses it pulls the result towards zero and widens the interval, which is why it is cautious. The method's authors note that they did not separately test its accuracy on small samples; with few responses, treat the result as a rough guide.
Each response counts as +1 (promoter), 0 (passive) or −1 (detractor); NPS is 100 times their average. Three virtual responses are added to each period (0.75 promoters, 1.5 passives, 0.75 detractors), so that not even a single response is treated as “certain”. The difference between the two periods is checked with a z-test: if |z| ≥ 1.96, the difference is significant at the 95% level.
The bands show each period’s 95% confidence interval. The difference can be significant even when the bands overlap; the verdict comes from the difference test, not from the bands.
Sources: Lewis and Sauro, “How to Statistically Compare Two Net Promoter Scores” (2021); Rocks, “Interval Estimation for the ‘Net Promoter Score’” (2016).
Go deeperLogbook. Every month, NPS and the voice of the customer are turned into a decision.
Talk about LogbookGo deeper · A Nord CX service
An evidence-based diagnosis of your customer experience across ten areas, built on an adviser-led interview.
The gap between what the organisation says about itself and what the evidence shows is where the real conversation starts. Atasun Kaşbaş personally leads the interview. At the end, the leadership team is left with one question: which gap gets a budget and an owner first?
“We score ourselves well, but our customers are telling a different story.”
Who it's for: CX leaders and general managers, especially where the programme has stalled or the leadership and the team don't see the same picture.
Choose an area to see the three questions the adviser asks there. The selected area stays open.
The adviser's card: the question, the evidence requested and the behavioural anchors for scores of 1, 3 and 5. Each of the thirty core questions is written this way.
How we don't ask it“Do you reply to negative feedback within 24 hours?” A fast reply is not a resolution.
Area · Customer Understanding and Insight
How do you know the problem behind negative feedback has really been resolved?
The adviser's question
What happened, who decided, and what result did you see?
Evidence requested
The record of one complaint: how it was received, how it was resolved, and how the outcome was reported back to the customer.
The rule
A document alone does not earn a high score; we look at how it is used, its scope and its results together.
No record shows a complaint being received, resolved and the outcome reported back to the customer; there is no shared practice and no clear owner for the decisions.
Between two neighbouring anchors: the adviser's reasoned judgement.
One function or team can show a complaint being received, resolved and the outcome reported back to the customer; scope and consistency are still limited.
Between two neighbouring anchors: the adviser's reasoned judgement.
Response, resolution and confirmation of the outcome with the customer are tracked separately, backed by several recent examples across the relevant scope and by outcome follow-up.
From scope to the leadership review. Every answer is tied to a real event, and the basis of every score can be traced.
Together we agree which unit, which customer types and which journeys will be measured. Items that don't fit your organisation (such as the AI items in an organisation that doesn't use AI) are left out of scope with a reason; they don't count as a low score.
Three core questions in each area, thirty in all. Module questions are added to suit your concern; a single area can go as deep as seventeen questions.
We ask the questions in an interview with your managers, in person or online, and tie every answer to a real event: what happened, who decided, and what result did you see?
The evidence requested for each question is written down in advance. A document alone does not earn a high score; we look at how it is used, its scope and its results together.
Every question has written behavioural anchors for 1, 3 and 5; 2 and 4 are the adviser's reasoned judgement between two neighbouring anchors. The organisation's own answer and the adviser's view sit in separate columns. If evidence hasn't arrived, the item is marked “evidence pending”; it doesn't count as a low score.
We review the result across the ten areas and two international frameworks, then give each priority gap an owner and an annual cost.
Comparing periods. The next measurement uses the same questions, the same anchors and the same scope, so before and after sit side by side. If the scope has changed, no comparison is drawn.
Every score carries a separate label saying what it rests on.
The organisation's own account.
Backed by a current document or a real transaction.
Confirmed by a source independent of the organisation's own account.
The layer never quietly changes the score; leadership sees what each result rests on.
Alongside the ten areas, the results are also read against two recognised frameworks.
Five professional competencies
Six CX management disciplines
This mapping is Nord CX's own interpretation. It is not an official CXPA or Forrester score, certification or CX Index result. Sources: CXPA CCXP preparation resources; Forrester, “Avoid These Top CX Misconceptions” (2018).
All ten areas on a single page, with the gaps to tackle first and the owner of each.
Score, evidence layer and outstanding evidence for every area.
The organisation's own answer and the adviser's view in separate columns.
CXPA and Forrester views.
The basis of every score can be traced.
A score is not money. The annual costs of the priority gaps sit side by side, so you can see where to spend first.
From the second measurement onwards.
Scope, version and the items left out of scope.
It measures maturity and tracks progress.It measures your organisation's customer experience maturity with a defined method; when repeated, it shows your progress from one period to the next.
It is not a certificate.The result is not a certificate or an industry ranking; it is a picture of your organisation today, and it comes with its evidence.
It stays with you.The report and the evidence file stay within your organisation.
If you've used one of the tools, you already have a first answer. In 20 minutes, let's test it against your organisation's reality: what should come first, and do you really need the full version? The conversation is free, and you are under no obligation to take the next step.
The button opens your email app; you send the email yourself. Address: atasun@nordcx.com ·
Not ready to talk yet? Hand-picked news and research, regularly in your inbox. The CX Brief ↓
The world's customer experience news. In Turkish, with sources.
The CX Brief is the customer experience news site and newsletter published by Nord CX. Hand-picked news and research from around the world, each with a link to the original source and a short commentary from Türkiye. Read it, listen to it or get it by email. Free. thecxbrief.com (opens in a new tab)
The CX Brief
We scan the news,you read or listen.
Newsletter card: what is happening in CX, with sources. Subscribe to the newsletter for free (thecxbrief.com/bulten, opens in a new tab)
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Every page in the film is real. Have a look around yourself: thecxbrief.com (opens in a new tab)
Selected sources, from analyst reports to trade publications, are scanned every weekday. What reaches you is the news and research that stands out.
Every figure and claim in a story is checked against the source; anything that does not match stays out. Every story links to the original. Nothing is published without the editor's approval.
Every story and study can be played in a Turkish AI voice, at 1x, 1.25x or 1.5x speed. As you listen, the passage being read is highlighted on screen.
Every story ends with “Buradan bakınca”, the view from here: what the news means for CX leaders in Türkiye, in two or three sentences. Atasun Kaşbaş edits and approves it.
AlsoSearch the archive and filter by topic. The calendar lists conference, webinar and award entry dates in Türkiye time. The analysis pieces Atasun Kaşbaş first published in CX Bulletin now live here too, in the Articles section.
Hand-picked news and research, regularly in your inbox. Your subscription starts when you click the link in the confirmation email, and you can unsubscribe in one click.
Atasun KaşbaşEditor · 7th worldwide · CXM Stars 2026
The CX Brief is published by Nord CX.
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Every headline takes you to the full story, with its source.
Customer experience is a team sport. Let’s play on the same side.
No agenda, just a conversation. I’d like to hear what you’re working on, and which question keeps you up at night.
A first conversation
You talk, I listen, and we sketch the way forward together. Online or in person, whichever suits you.
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