EDITOR ’ S QUESTION

recent Gartner report showed that customer experience ( CX ) drives over two-thirds of customer loyalty , more than ‘ brand ’ and ‘ price ’ combined .

This prioritisation of CX can also be seen regionally . Just months before the pandemic emerged , SAP surveyed GCC businesses and found that 96 % of them considered customer experience a top priority . Of course , the pandemic ensured that regional consumers would live far more of their lives online . Now our discussions turn not so much to great customer experience ( which is a given ) but to the management and analysis of CX – the return on experience ( ROX ).

Most business stakeholders now know that they must provide their customers with always-on , easy-to-use , responsive digital experiences , where the prospective buyer can engage with the brand via their chosen channel . Service continuity and individualisation are also critical . If a business can deliver all this each time with every customer , then brand loyalty – and possibly advocacy – follows . But how do marketers connect digital investments to business outcomes ?

Web and mobile-attribution solutions were created to address this issue . By gathering behavioural data and tying it to the deployment of various capabilities or campaigns , organisations can skilfully navigate the competitive landscape . Optimisation comes from knowing what works and what does not . The right platform will steer stakeholders towards an increase in conversion rates and lower acquisition costs .

Mobile-first companies lead the pack in this regard . They prioritise m-shoppers when apportioning budgets , leading to a cycle of investment , where businesses enjoy returns on their efforts and invest more in CX as a result . But in the SME-heavy economies of the GCC , most companies that start out on this journey will need to be careful with initial investments . After the economic ravages of the past year , they will need to be mindful of ROX at every step .

Success will hinge on people , data and tools . Throughout these campaigns , for coherent information on ROX , enterprises must capture detailed data at every touchpoint to enable actionable insights . Tracking a campaign message ’ s success through an ‘ open ’ to a ‘ read ’ to a ‘ response ’ and onward to installs and sales is the backbone of ROX . Such data leads to insights such as discovering that the most active customers are mobile users that respond positively to a loyalty programme . This is highly actionable information that allows a business to construct a campaign to convert web or offline customers to mobile-app consumers .

ROX is vital to the Digital Transformation journey . This was true before the pandemic and it is true today .

Regional enterprises operate in markets that are CX-oriented and will remain so . If they adopt platforms and tools that allow them to link their technology decisions to business outcomes , they will be able to create superior user experiences across all their channels and funnel more customers towards app installs , thereby increasing the long-term value of each .

With the proper tools , any organisation can focus its technology investments on the right phases of the customer experience . When optimised , the return on the experience will give way to a cycle of profitability that is self-sustaining , driven by enhanced brand loyalty and further investments .

22 www . intelligentcxo . com