A few years ago Walker Research came out with a study reporting that by 2020, customer experience (CX) standards would overtake price and all other factors to be the top brand differentiator. That time is here and it’s no longer enough to have a CX focus, senior CX leaders also need to be staying on top of the competition and engaging the newest tools and trends. Here’s what we see as the top four trends for 2020 if you’re serious about leading the field in CX.
1. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is getting smarter.
AI can help you deliver customised and contextual messages to your customers and as its abilities have grown, so has its adoption among your competitors.
The return on AI investment has never been better. A study of AI spend in the insurance industry found that found that companies who invest in human-machine collaboration to improve the customer experience see a 10x return on their investment. Additionally, the researchers found that AI could lead to a reduction in operating costs by up to 30% when deployed intelligently.
From more sophisticated chatbots to agents utilising omnichannel communication tools, when you effectively use data to transform your CX from responsive to predictive your brand will see major returns. Make it a goal to get smarter about harnessing the power of AI to engage your customers this year.
2. Measure your CX goals meaningfully. As the focus on CX within organisations grows, so will the need to quantify its successes and benchmark performance.
2020 is the year to focus on improving your CX data collection so that you can meaningfully measure your progress. Here are some questions to ask within your organisation to align your thinking on measurement.
· Are you measuring your Net Promoter Score (NPS)? The NPS is a simple and efficient way to benchmark yourself against past performance and your competitors. By asking “How likely are you to recommend us to your family and friends?” you’ll get a baseline understanding of your overall current CX performance.
· Are you sharing loyalty data with your CX teams? The data that comes from a loyalty program can be a goldmine of information about how your customers respond to your CX efforts. Tracking frequency of visits, customer drop-offs and change in spend will all yield valuable insights for your CX leadership.
· Lifetime Value – Calculating the lifetime value of a customer is tricky and for that reason a lot of us have skipped it in the past. No more! Knowing the average, yearly or lifetime spend or a customer is fantastic but knowing the length of your customer relationships will help you accurately communicate your CX program to C-level executives.
3. Call Centres matter in the experience economy.
New CX Tech can be extremely effective but it isn’t replacing the human touch of a call centre employee anytime soon. In fact, now that most customer interactions are digital-first, call centre employees can be a major differentiator for brands. In a survey of consumers, Qualtrics found that 78% of people had permanently changed their opinion on a brand after one single call centre interaction.
Focus on CX in the call centre in 2020 is about adopting the right mix of tech and talent. Utilising new tools like Robotic Process Automation will free your agents up from time-consuming tasks that don’t contribute to the customer experience. Visual Interactive Voice Response (IVR) on mobile devices to efficiently route inquiries and increase first-contact resolution rate. When you enable first-rate call centre teams with forward-thinking tech, you’ll be amazed with the CX results.
4. CX roles are hot and will continue to be one of the most in-demand job sectors in Australia and globally.
There has been a 1000% increase over the last five years in the number of executives with the title Chief Customer Officer, chief experience officer, senior or executive vice presidents of customer experience. As CX operations mature the need for top talent that understands the evolving CX business environment will only continue to grow. Companies who take customer satisfaction seriously need to have a plan to find, attract and retain Customer Experience superstars.
If you’re looking to be a Customer Experience industry leader contact Tenacity CX today to discuss how we can connect you to the best Senior, Technical, Specialist and Executive CX talent across Australia.