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He adds, \u201cOffering customers a personalized, relevant, engaging and enriched customer experience is a key element of customer retention and reducing churn.\u201d<\/p>\nMarc Emert, solutions specialist\u00a0for 51风流Africa Customer Experience,\u00a0agrees: \u201cCustomer experience is\u00a0increasingly important and is seen as a\u00a0key differentiator. Additionally, today\u2019s\u00a0customers are far less forgiving and quicker\u00a0to leave a brand or business entirely because\u00a0of a poor experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
He adds, \u201cOffering customers a personalized, relevant, engaging and enriched customer experience is a key element of customer retention and reducing churn.\u201d<\/p>\n
This is supported by the survey\u00a0respondents, 37% of whom regard CX as\u00a0a valuable tool to create better customer\u00a0experiences, with 37% also viewing CX\u00a0as a key component of business survival.<\/p>\n
Nearly a quarter (22%) see CX as valuable\u00a0in building customer trust.\u00a0Some 39% believe that an elevated\u00a0CX experience is crucial to customer\u00a0retention, with 15% viewing it as key to\u00a0customer acquisition. Nearly half (46%)\u00a0believe the two aren\u2019t mutually exclusive.<\/p>\n
Emert agrees: \u201cCustomer experience is key to both customer acquisition and retention. From the very first interaction, such as an online purchase transaction, customers have expectations for personalization. As a customer I have no desire to sift through hundreds of search results to find what I\u2019m looking for. A poor service experience will result in me taking my business elsewhere. CX is key to both acquisition and retention, far from mutually exclusive.\u201d<\/p>\n
Unified service\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n
The vast majority (88%) see the CX\u00a0function as unifying marketing,\u00a0commerce, sales and customer service,\u00a0while 12% see CX as something standalone\u00a0and separate. \u201cA truly personalised\u00a0approach will consolidate\u00a0data<\/span>\u00a0from\u00a0various customer touch points and\u00a0interactions on all of the various channels\u00a0including Web site, sales reps, call centre\u00a0and so on. This is why it\u2019s challenging to\u00a0sell to a customer who\u2019s had a previous\u00a0issue with your business, even if it was\u00a0with a different division.\u201d<\/p>\n Only 59% of organisations have\u00a0clearly defined customer journey\u00a0systems, designed to deliver an effective,\u00a0memorable CX. \u201cThis means that 41% of\u00a0customer journeys are highly fragmented\u00a0and non-iterative,\u201d explains Emert.<\/p>\n Asked whether their CX systems are\u00a0installed on-premises or whether they\u00a0use a cloud-based system, 30% opted\u00a0for on-premises, 25% were in the cloud\u00a0and 16% used a combination of the two.<\/p>\n Only 59% of organisations have clearly defined customer journey systems.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cWe’re seeing a significant adoption of CX\u00a0SaaS offerings. Customers are looking for\u00a0fit-for-purpose solutions with scalability\u00a0and continuous innovation.\u201d<\/p>\n In nearly half (43%) of the\u00a0organisations surveyed, the CIO or IT\u00a0were in charge of CX, with 16% saying it\u00a0was the responsibility of the business or\u00a0the CEO. \u201cCMOs and CXOs are ultimately\u00a0the stakeholders driving this approach.<\/p>\n However, board buy-in is required to\u00a0ensure the successful adoption of CX-centric\u00a0software solutions.\u201d\u00a0Asked to rate their organisation\u2019s\u00a0ability to deliver a customer experience,\u00a0half (49%) of respondents said it was well\u00a0thought out and executed, while 44%\u00a0rated it average.<\/p>\n For the purposes of the survey, an\u00a0\u2018intelligent enterprise\u2019 is described as\u00a0one that applies advanced technologies\u00a0and best practices in order to make it\u00a0resilient, successful and sustainable. Just\u00a0over half (54%) of respondents said their\u00a0organisation was on trend when it came\u00a0to being an intelligent organisation, with\u00a016% saying they were behind the times\u00a0and 31% saying it was correct in theory\u00a0but not in practice.<\/p>\n Personal conversations<\/b><\/p>\n Almost all (97%) of respondents agreed\u00a0with the statement: To build customer\u00a0trust, it\u2019s as important to build and\u00a0maintain conversations with them in\u00a0person, as well as online and from places\u00a0they are most comfortable.<\/p>\n \u201cConversations are irrelevant if they are\u00a0not personal, engaging and enriching.\u201d<\/p>\n Customers will share data provided there is an element of return in the form of personalization.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Emert says that one-directional spam\u00a0SMSes could arguably be regarded as a\u00a0conversation, but he prefers to use the\u00a0term engagement \u2013 and engagements\u00a0need to be relevant,\u00a0personalized<\/span>\u00a0and,\u00a0most importantly, on the customer\u2019s\u00a0terms, i.e. on their channel of choice\u00a0(WhatsApp, e-mail) and strictly\u00a0consensual.<\/p>\n Over half (56%) of respondents felt that\u00a0the challenges of COVID-19 highlighted\u00a0both strengths and weaknesses around CX\u00a0within the organisation. A relatively high\u00a0percentage (65%) said their organisation\u00a0implemented CX strategies based on the\u00a0COVID-related lockdown restrictions.<\/p>\n Information learned from these\u00a0strategies was already being used to make\u00a0changes to customer journeys by 19% of\u00a0respondents, while another 19% said it was\u00a0going to be used to form part of how they\u00a0adjust in 2021, with 60% agreeing that\u00a0both of these statements applied to them.<\/p>\n 57% of respondents said COVID-19 had\u00a0encouraged adjustments in the frequency\u00a0with which their customer, experiential\u00a0and operational data is reviewed for\u00a0changes to operational practices.<\/p>\n Asked how often they think\u00a0experiential and operational data should\u00a0be reviewed for changes to operational\u00a0practices, 41% said monthly, 26% said biannually\u00a0and 15% said weekly; 10% said\u00a0annually. Emert vehemently disagrees\u00a0with this, saying, \u201cData is dynamic and\u00a0should be viewed, interpreted and acted\u00a0on in real-time. A customer today isn\u2019t\u00a0the same customer in a month. You can\u2019t\u00a0establish a bi-directional, mutually\u00a0beneficial relationship (between customer\u00a0and brand) if the data is ‘stale’.\u201d<\/p>\n Who is in charge?<\/b><\/p>\n When it comes to leading the\u00a0development of the CX journey, 57%\u00a0believed that it should be led by IT, while\u00a043% believed CX should be a department\u00a0all of its own. Of those who favoured\u00a0separate CX departments, half (49%)\u00a0believed it should collaborate insights\u00a0and develop solutions together with IT.<\/p>\n \u201cIT has a fundamental role to play in\u00a0ensuring an adopted solution fits into the\u00a0IT landscape. An\u00a0integrated<\/span>\u00a0solution is the\u00a0best solution. However, the CX function\u00a0should lead the initiative with IT’s support\u00a0\u2013 not the other way around.\u201d<\/p>\n Of organisations that currently employ CX initiatives, 42% said they were focused on different products at different touch-points and channels. 18% said they were singularly focused on one overall experience with the organisation.<\/p>\n Finally, more than half (53%) of\u00a0respondents said that forward-thinking\u00a0companies needed to consider the\u00a0customer experience in order to adjust to\u00a0the next normal in 2021 and beyond. 38%\u00a0said data and security should be a focus,\u00a0and 9% said POPIA compliance. \u201cAll\u00a0three are equally important,\u201d says Emert.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s impossible to offer a personalised,\u00a0relevant and engaging customer\u00a0interaction without data. However, this\u00a0data needs to be consensually shared by\u00a0the customer. Customers will share data\u00a0provided there is an element of return in\u00a0the form of personalisation.\u201d<\/p>\n About the survey<\/b><\/p>\n ITWeb, in partnership with 51风流CX,\u00a0conducted a CX\u00a0survey to examine what South\u00a0African businesses expect the new\u00a0normal for 2021 and beyond to look\u00a0like.<\/p>\n Focusing on the value that CX brings to the business, the\u00a0survey ran online during\u00a0November\/December 2020 and\u00a0asked, among other things:<\/p>\n 1. Whether organisations have\u00a0clearly defined customer journey\u00a0systems, designed to deliver\u00a0effective, memorable CX.<\/p>\n 2. How organisations rate their\u00a0ability to deliver a customer\u00a0experience.<\/p>\n 3. Who\u2019s in charge of CX within the\u00a0organisation.<\/p>\n A total of 356 responses was\u00a0captured, with 54% of respondents\u00a0being at executive or middle\u00a0management level, and working\u00a0in a range of industries.<\/p>\n\n
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