81.4% of boardrooms recognise CX as a competitive differentiator (Dimension Data), and yet, over half of organisations surveyed in the latest Contact Babel UK CX Decision Makers’ Guide 2019/20 reported that their CX technology was “unacceptable”.
Almost half of organisations stated that their CX Technology was either “poor” or “average” (ContactBabel, 2019), something which is deeply concerning given that over 80% of companies say that in 2019 they expect to be competing mostly or completely on the basis of customer experience (Gartner, 2019).
So why is there such a discrepancy between the prioritisation of CX initiatives, and the design of the technology created to support them?
Whilst improving the customer experience is the most common motivator for change in the technology used within the contact centre (cited by 82% of respondents to the 2018 Ventana Research Value Index Contact Centre in the Cloud Report) nearly three quarters (73%) of organisations have reported that their current systems lack the functionality needed to provide information and support needed actions.
Key Reasons:
One reason could be a lack of input from an organisation on the design of the technology that supports their Customer Experience. Just 49% of organisations surveyed in 2019 reported that they enjoy more than a limited involvement in the design of new CX technology (Dimension Data).
Indeed, issues around siloed channels and technology complexity have still yet to be resolved among the majority of contact centres, with 80% of organisations reporting that agents typically have to access multiple systems when supporting customers (CCW Digital, 2019). Despite the fact that omnichannel (facilitating natural channel hopping to provide consistent experience) is one of the top business visions, just 8.4% of organisations report that all their channels are connected and almost a quarter – 23.9% - still have no channels connected (Dimension Data, 2018).
It’s highly important that organisations have an input into the design of the technology solution they use in the contact centre in order to offer meaningful and effective CX, tailored to their customers and their journey.
One of the widespread findings in the recent CX Decision-Makers’ Guide was that there was not always enough time and resource for CX improvement.
On the resource side of things, nearly half of organisations reported that whilst they had a culture which was “customer centric”, they were lukewarm about the number of dedicated CX employees available (Contact Babel, 2019).
Just 18% of organisations report that they are fully cooperating on processes at an organisation-wide level. Only 15.1% have mechanisms in place to share intelligence (Dimension Data, 2018).
Indeed, in one study of 1400 executives, 86% felt that a lack of collaboration was the reason for most workplace failures (UC Today, 2018).
Many organisations report difficulties in bridging the strategic desire to evolve and address the siloed management operating model that hinders digital optimisation, and it is predicted that in the coming year we will see more companies accepting that they must focus on cultivating their business processes around the customer experience and then reorganise the business to align (Dimension Data, 2019).
Coupled with the challenges organisations face with siloed communications channels, a lack of organisation-wide cooperation poses a significant threat to overall CX strategies. When considering the need for input into technology solutions, organisations should be prepared to draw from numerous areas of the business in order to ensure the provision of a joined-up solution. With a lack of time and resource available, organisations invariably cut corners and end up losing customers when they have a poor experience - 17% of consumers will take their business to a competitor after just 1 bad experience (PWC, 2018).
All Reports Referenced in this Blog:
The Evolution of Customer Experience: A Look Ahead to 2020 (Dimension Data, 2018)
Key Findings from the Gartner Customer Experience Survey (Gartner, 2019)
Ventana Research Value Index Contact Centre in the Cloud Market Report (Ventana, 2018)
Disrupting the Chat Experience 2019 (CCW Digital, 2019)
Customer Experience Trends to Prepare for in 2019 (Dimension Data, 2019)
The Future of Customer Experience (PWC, 2018)