Emerging new technologies such as automation, artificial intelligence, and the Internet of Things have made digital transformation a significant issue for many organisations. As services, people, and processes become more dynamically connected today than ever before, companies are facing an ongoing demand for simplified, digitised, and integrated organisational structures.
However, there’s something missing in the majority of today’s plans for digital transformation, and that’s a focus on the customer experience (CX). It’s not as though companies aren’t aware of how important customer experience is when it comes to digital transformation. Rather, it’s that most are failing to understand their customers’ needs well enough to come up with a more customer-centric and digitally-transformed environment. Around 55% of companies consider evolving customer preferences and behaviours to be the primary driver of digital change. However, the biggest challenge that faces executives today revolves around the ability to understand customer behaviour.
Stats to Get You Thinking About Your CX Strategy and Digital Transformation
So, which stats do you need to think about when it comes to changing your CX strategy in conjunction with digital transformation?
- 52% of Companies share no customer intelligence beyond the contact centre: This means that more than half of companies limit the customer journey to contact centres, even though it usually takes place across various key areas of business, including marketing, sales, HR, and more. Businesses need to ensure that customers have the right resources at the right time, not just in contact centre environments, which means sharing customer data across all teams.
- 60% of investments into digital analytics will be spent on analytics into customer journeys by 2018: The customer journey is key in today’s smart and digital world. Companies are constantly investing in this area as a way to identify opportunities for digitisation, process improvement, automation, and competitive differentiation.
- 60% of customers change contact channel depending on their circumstances: Organisations need to start focusing less on service, and more on situational and contextual awareness. Businesses need to create a seamless experience regardless of location, channel, or device, supported by situational and business context.
CX is Crucial to Digital Transformation
The truth is that customer experience is crucial to digital transformation in any company. A huge part of digital transformation involves the ability to create a CX strategy, though customer-centric focus remains a challenge for many companies.
Perhaps the best way to begin your focus on CX will be to act as a customer in your own organisation. Walk in your customer’s shoes, interact with your teams, and see your organisation as your customers would. Think about whether the mobile app worked well for you, whether you had a connected experience and begin to build from there.
