During mergers and acquisitions (M&A), customer experience (CX) is often pushed to the sidelines by legal, financial, and operational work, leading to customer dissatisfaction and undermining deal value, experts say.

The reason is that customer experience is rarely incorporated into the planning process.

"They don't think about customer experience until customers are already feeling the chaos," said Jeannie Walters, founder and chief experience investigator at Experience Investigators. "They completely overlook it because customer experience has no seat at the decision-making table. So customers are left to face all the disruption."

When companies face pressure to integrate quickly, they often underestimate the complexity of consolidating customer data, technology, and operations. At the same time, they assume which factors matter most to customers without proper evaluation.

Therefore, companies should adopt an "experience-first" approach, ensuring integration decisions are anchored to customer priorities, advises J. Neely, global lead for M&A at Accenture.

"Brands should avoid assuming that what works for one company will automatically apply to another. Even if products or services appear similar, customer expectations, service standards, and emotional connections to the brand can differ greatly," Neely said.

But experts point out that the biggest mistake is starting the integration process only after the deal closes.

"The strongest acquirers think about integration when evaluating a deal, because early decisions affect everything downstream," said Daniel Friedman, managing director in the transactions and integration practice at Boston Consulting Group (BCG).

Poor planning also hurts profits. According to BCG, more than half ofM&A deals destroy value. This is largely attributed to employee resistance and, in many cases, soaring service costs at contact centers handling calls from dissatisfied customers.

Loyalty programs and accounts

Experts say loyalty programs are the most common point of failure. This is because loyalty program integration is inherently complex and directly impacts customer value and trust.

"Merging loyalty programs means consolidating different customer databases, points systems, membership tiers, benefits, technology platforms, and policies, while also ensuring customers clearly understand the changes and don't feel they are losing value," Neely said.

Walters noted that Marriott's acquisition of Starwood Hotels is a classic case of failed loyalty integration. After the deal closed in 2016, members had to use two separate loyalty programs and track points separately for nearly two years. They often didn't know which program to use at each hotel.

"It was absurd," Walters said.

In contrast, when Hilton acquired Graduate Hotels, it quickly integrated new members into the Hilton Honors program, but largely allowed Graduate to maintain its original operations, ensuring customers continued to receive the expected experience while enjoying a broader rewards program.

Other account issues, such as changes to service plans, also present challenges.

"Customers may need to migrate accounts, navigate loyalty program updates, or interact with new support teams and service channels," Neely said. "Therefore, it's crucial to minimize disruption through clear communication, careful planning, and a deep understanding of customers' core needs."

Streamlining operations with the customer journey in mind

M&A teams typically identify redundant departments to streamline the newly combined organization, but they don't conduct similar analyses of customer communications or policies, leading to countless problems.

"These challenges are hard to overcome because they cut across multiple parts of the business simultaneously," Neely said. "Changes aimed at simplifying operations can easily create friction for customers if the impact on the customer journey isn't fully understood."

Therefore, it's important for companies to closely monitor customer feedback during the transition. But many companies freeze their "voice of the customer" programs during integration, blinding themselves at the highest-risk time.

"That's exactly when you need it most," Walters said.

Organizations that successfully navigate M&A first identify the moments that matter most to customers and design integration around maintaining trust and minimizing disruption.

"They use customer data and insights to anticipate pain points, test changes before rollout, communicate clearly and transparently, and adopt a phased approach where appropriate," Neely said. "This helps ensure customers experience the benefits of the merger rather than the complexity behind it."

People and culture

Integrating people and culture is often the most challenging part of M&A because emotions can run high.

"M&A leaders have an enormous amount to manage. They must integrate operations, systems, finances, customers, and talent—often under tight deadlines," Friedman said. "As a result, the people side of integration may not receive the attention it deserves, even though it's one of the biggest drivers of long-term success."

While this affects everyone in the organization, smooth integration is especially important forfrontline employees, because their frustration can seep into the way they serve customers.

Culture is particularly challenging because seemingly similar brands can feel very different.

"Even when a deal makes complete strategic and financial sense, differences in decision-making styles, communication approaches, and ways of working can create unnecessary friction if left unaddressed," Friedman said. "Companies that succeed don't assume culture will sort itself out—they make culture an explicit part of the integration plan from the start."

Taking a "one-size-fits-all" approach is another common pitfall, because employee experiences can vary by role and organization. Therefore, both integration strategies and communications must be tailored.

"Winning employee buy-in is just as important as executing the operational plan," Friedman said. "People don't just need timelines and milestones—they need to understand what the change means for them personally."

Ultimately, however, it's important not to lose sight of the fact that M&A should deliver an improved, unified customer experience.

"The key is maintaining customer confidence throughout the transition and ensuring customers view the merger as an improvement to their experience, not a source of disruption," Neely said.