CX Appeal - How Powerful is Your Customer Connection?

15 Mar 2016

The convergence of customer experience and collaboration strategies must be the CIO's priority in 2016...

Customer experience (CX) is at the very core of any modern organisation's survival. Forward thinkers have initiated a paradigm shift, a shift where digital is enabling the "art of the possible."

Digital capability has broken the mould of traditional CX, quickly becoming an entry-level fundamental for the modern business. Omnichannel customer experiences, based on a clear understanding of where a customer journey can and should be personalised, is the future.

And with technology solutions developing so quickly, that future is now! Zero defect end-to-end encounters across connected interaction points is today a core expectation. The only real differentiator now is the solution design.

Results from the 2016 Global Contact Centre Benchmarking Report show that CX is the underlying and common base for 83% of companies. In fact, CX has been deemed the most important strategic performance measure according to 78% of executives. It's replaced cost reduction as the top reason for offering digital services, although 77% say they've achieved this as an added benefit. Three quarters of organisations related CX performance to increased revenues.

Digital Darwinism

In the digital revolution, all but the fittest survive. A digital Darwinism if you like, where customers dictate the speed of adaption required for organisations to prosper.

In most organisations, the breadth of contact channels and depth of touchpoints has never been greater - both for consumers and employees. The danger is that new channels will exacerbate knowledge silos and create barriers, instead of improving ease of business.

Knowledge empowerment is crucial as complexity grows. Collaboration tools must facilitate how colleagues across the organisation continuously improve products and grow the value of the customer base.

Unlocking the possibilities of richer collaboration...

According to the 2016 Connected Enterprise Report, 81% of organisations say that collaboration has enhanced their CX ability without it being a core priority. Imagine the possibilities with more focus? Even with most benefits being proven accidental for now, 66% of our respondents say that collaboration has met expectations for improving customer service, with another 20% saying it's exceeded them.

The omnichannel customer experience is a technology enabled mega-trend that provides customers with ease and choice. Successful service, sales, marketing, product management and distribution - all these requires enterprise wide collaboration.

And the success of an organisation's collaboration is that "moment of truth" when, based on how powerful a connection has been created, the customer determines which outcome they choose.

Read more about the 2016 Connected Enterprise Report.