NTT has revealed the findings of its annual Global Customer Experience Benchmarking Report titled “The Connected Customer: Delivering an effortless experience.” According to the research, only 5 per cent of organisations in Europe are delivering a fully functioning experience, yet more than half (51 per cent) consider CX to be a primary differentiator.
Organisations struggle to align their CX strategies to voice of customer (VoC) feedback, with 59 per cent having no formal process for considering this data and 14 per cent which capture no feedback at all. Only 16 per cent fully define and track the value contribution of CX and less than a third (32 per cent) are able to connect data relationships between channels – leaving the rest operating ‘blind’ with no full view of the customer ecosystem. That said, the collection of VoC feedback by organisations is improving year on year – there has been a 45 per cent improvement globally since 2019 in those capturing some form of feedback and 7 per cent now perceive their VoC programme to be at an advanced level across all channels.
“Customer expectations are higher than ever – businesses cannot afford to fail in CX,” said Rob Allman; SVP customer experience at NTT Ltd. “However, most companies are missing valuable insights that are integral to better connect with and stay relevant to customers across every touchpoint. By listening to the voice of the customer, integrating data across systems, in addition to adopting emerging technologies like AI and RPA, companies have the unique opportunity to gain a competitive advantage.”
Listening starts with strategy
A successful CX strategy is proven to improve customer and brand engagement and drive commercial performance, yet many organisations are still stuck in the developmental stage due to siloed technology systems, inconsistencies in experience, and a lack of clear processes. Specifically, challenges include:
- Faltering technology systems: Nearly one in three (29 per cent) say their technology systems are failing to meet current needs and many teams still struggle with legacy systems (40 per cent) and the integration of multiple technology systems (44 per cent). Additionally, the inability to secure budgets (44 per cent) remains a concern and skills shortages is seen as a growing concern (28 per cent).
- Siloed channels and internal business organisations: Almost two thirds (65 per cent) of organisations agree there is only partial collaboration between functions when it comes to designing CX, and 14 per cent don’t collaborate at all. Nearly two thirds (64 per cent) still have no cross-channel contact management strategy and less than a quarter (21 per cent) claim to have good or complete consistency across contact channels.
- Inconsistent priorities: Personalisation capabilities have surged from 55 per cent to 83 per cent in one year, but just 17 per cent of organisations place “customer delight” as the top driving force behind their customer journey design strategy. This may account for why over a quarter (28 per cent) of assisted-services enquires fail to be resolved during first contact, while automated channels fare worse with a 38 per cent fail rate.
Creating a smarter CX with data analytics
While almost three quarters (73 per cent) of organisations indicate that they are satisfied with their customer satisfaction capability, only 10 per cent of their customers rate customer experience at ‘advocacy’ level. Worryingly, just 2 per cent of AI and robotics users say customers rate their experience at advocacy level, exposing the gap between emerging technologies and satisfaction levels.
This demonstrates that businesses need to create a smart strategy which bases AI on optimum data, organisations must learn to fill the gap between data management and integration, and prioritise an efficient data management platform. As it stands, less than half (41 per cent) of data capture needs are defined and aligned to desired business outcomes, and just 26 per cent have a dedicated team managing the company’s entire data lake. In fact, 18 per cent have no data management strategy at all. Because of this, data is becoming increasingly difficult to manage. More than half (54 per cent) of all teams are evaluating and learning how to use available data and over a third (34 per cent) do not have the required data management skills or resources to do so.
An increasing number of organisations are moving towards the use of smart data to inform CX decisions but are often overwhelmed by this transformation. Half of businesses confirmed data analytics and data management will be one of the top three tech initiatives prioritised by the CX team. Analytics (54 per cent) is expected to be the top factor in reshaping the CX industry within the next five years. This is closely followed by artificial intelligence (49 per cent), technology integration (43 per cent), and service personalisation (44 per cent).
Overcoming business organisational structure challenges
Many organisations believe AI and automation is the future for creating operational efficiency, hyper personalisation and providing an effortless customer experience. Rules-based robotic solutions “are the preferred option both now and in the short term with AI being the top five year priority.”
The vast majority (78 per cent) of organisations also believe customer operations will be positively impacted by AI and CX robotics in the future, followed by business insight and customer intelligence (53 per cent) and workplace management/operational productivity (51 per cent). However, the implementation of AI remains difficult. Looking forward, businesses must find a solution for the current lack of skills across the business, which is currently considered a challenge for more than half (57 per cent) of organisations today.
“Businesses must look at how technologies such as AI and RPA can work as part of their organisational team structures,” said Allman. “But to do this successfully, AI needs to work with the voice of the customer data which is collected by advanced social listening tools. This data must also be compiled from across the business’s value chain in order to help AI realise its potential. Therefore, design thinking and an ecosystem focused approach is imperative.”
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