A new research report reveals that very few businesses are able to yield financial results through their CX programs. To do so, data integration and stakeholder buy-ins are critical.

The ‘State of CX’ survey, run by Confirmit and Engage Business Media, reveals that despite increasing recognition of the importance of a customer-centric approach to business and investment in CX programs, ROI is the biggest area of failure with only 20% of companies scoring 9 – 10 for seeing a ROI, and 14% scoring 0-2.

Claire Sporton, Confirmit’s vice president – customer experience engagement, said many businesses were able to provide anecdotal evidence or use key metrics to measure CX program success, but very few were able to link the CX program with financial results.

“Without the ability to demonstrate ROI, it is much harder to gain the support of the C-suite, set the right goals for the business and secure the desired improvements and culture change across the business,” Sporton said.

Other key findings of the research include:

• Businesses integrating data from four sources scored a 31% higher ROI than those collecting from only one source
• 88% of respondents are capturing feedback from customers but only 25% are including feedback from suppliers or partners
• Just over 50% are collecting employee engagement feedback, but as a one-off annual employee engagement activity, rather than as a continual listening program, and
• 30% of respondents said that key stakeholders were truly invested in the goals of the program.

“The clear correlation between data integration, lower future investment and low ROI performance pinpointed by the research highlights the very real need to not only better integrate financial, operational and customer data, but also to break down the silos of data lying stagnant in many businesses,” said Sporton. “These could be brought together in a more meaningful way to create a holistic view of the customer and encourage CX innovation.”

Fortunately, CX professionals now have access to technological advances such as text, predictive and social analytics that enable them to listen more effectively to all voices – not just those of the customer – across multiple channels. There is also a growing willingness to harness data from CRM and contact centre records, for example, to create a much more engaging and relevant customer, employee and partner experience.

“The implication for the CX industry going forward is that there will need to be a sea change in the skill sets required by professionals,” Sporton said. “We need to resist the temptation to think that AI is going to solve all our problems – it’s still in its adolescent phase. The focus in 2018 should be on using the machine learning and automation that is already available to do as much of the ‘heavy lifting’ for us as possible, right now.

“We need to blend traditional research skills with behavioural economics and look out from behind the spreadsheet to, instead of ‘measuring’ CX, harness human skills such as empathy and broader business acumen to create authentic conversations that build trust. 

“Only then can we ‘do’ things differently and create the proactive and personalized experience that customers, employees and partners are seeking.”

Image copyright: Andriy Popov/ 123RF.com