Intelligent CXO Issue 26 | Page 71

FINAL WORD

The State of Customer Experience , a new report by Genesys , has stated that 86 % of consumers worldwide believe that a company is only as good as its service . The study discovered a growing disparity between customer expectations and the experiences businesses can provide . Consumers believe that fewer industries provide exceptional client experiences and except for voice , satisfaction decreased across all channels .

Meanwhile , CX leaders admit that keeping up with rising customer expectations is their most difficult challenge and meeting expectations is only the starting point . Organisations must consistently exceed expectations to please their customers and foster customer loyalty .
When it comes to poor customer service , consumers have little patience and will go elsewhere if their needs are not addressed . After five or fewer unfavourable customer service interactions , more than 74 % of respondents stated they ' d switch brands . One out of every 10 people would leave a company after a single negative interaction . One-third of consumers have switched brands in the last year due to bad service .
Not only are customers frustrated but bad interactions elicit strong emotions . A quarter of consumers admitted to losing their cool and more than one in every 10 ended the conversation in tears . Dropped calls , dead ends and having to repeat themselves are the most vexing issues . These problems are the result of technology failure , silos or bad process design . results in inconsistent and fragmented consumer experiences , resulting in revenue losses or missed opportunities to personalise and generate loyalty .
Employees are also affected by this siloed environment . Almost half of CX leaders ( 48 %) say their organisation currently does very little or nothing to make contact centre jobs easier . One of the top three problems for CX leaders is having personnel constantly trained on new tools and processes . This is hardly surprising given their self-reported turnover rates of 30 – 40 %.
Employees take centre stage in CX
Organisations now regard employee experience as their top strategic objective which they intend to improve by adopting new technologies or linking existing ones . These technological expenditures include customer experience platforms , customer data platforms and unified agent desktops to simplify the experience and empower employees . Furthermore , nearly half of the CX leaders surveyed , ranked workforce engagement management in their top three strategic priorities for the next one or two years .
The report demonstrated how important digital channels are for boosting consumer experiences . Two-thirds of customers believe that customer service is generally better . However , the only channel they are more satisfied with is voice . This finding also lays emphasis on the crucial role employees play in providing high-touch individualised experiences that lead to increased loyalty .
Lack of progress in Digital Transformation
Customer experiences are the key moments when loyalty is either won or lost . Enabled by a comprehensive Digital Transformation , efficiency , effectiveness and empathy in the customer journey are the foundations for success . Nonetheless , The State of Customer Experience report found that Digital Transformation is severely lagging .
Only 13 % of organisations have a fully connected omnichannel approach . The absence of omnichannel results in data silos , missing chances for personalisation and a lack of visibility into business performance .
More than half use a ‘ multichannel ’ model , which includes many customer engagement channels but separate or partially integrated underlying technology and data . This strategy inevitably
Amr AlMasri , Regional Director , Genesys , Middle East www . intelligentcxo . com
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