Businesses fail to deliver consistently positive customer experience

Even though enterprises believe that consistently delivering positive customer interactions is very important to business success, nearly six in 10 industry leaders say their businesses aren’t very successful at doing so, according to a customer experience (CX) and customer interactions survey by Harvard Business Review Analytic Services in association with Tata Communications.

Analysts surveyed 264 members of the Harvard Business Review audience who are familiar with and engaged in decisions about their organisation’s customer interactions strategy, approach and future plans to transform CX. The resulting Power of customer interactions report also featured in-depth interviews with academicians and industry experts, highlighting the evolving world of customer interactions.

The survey proposed that each customer interaction is a building block that shapes their perception of an organisation or brand. These interactions, it said, add up to create the overall CX. This makes it clear that individual interactions, positive experiences and business outcomes are inextricably linked.

Yet Tata Communications believes the data revealed some “startling” insights. Even though as many as 94% of respondents acknowledged that it was “very important” that organisations consistently deliver positive customer interactions for business success, just 38% regarded their own firm as very effective at consistently delivering them.

The main challenges holding businesses back were found to be a lack of collaboration across teams (48%), a lack of available talent (40%), siloed and disorganised customer data (39%), a lack of data analysis capabilities (39%), different digital tools or dashboards used across the organisation (35%), and siloed data (39%).

Singling out the top issue, the report noted the lack of collaboration across teams as a challenge that could be hindering a unified customer journey. Almost two-fifths identified siloed and disorganised customer data, which likely makes it difficult to personalise experiences, and 35% saw the use of different digital tools or dashboards across the organisation as a challenge, potentially creating friction for both customers and staff.

Worryingly, just under half of respondents didn’t feel their organisation had the right technology in place to support strong customer interactions.

“Brands encounter multiple challenges when trying to deliver excellent customer experience, the most prominent being siloed data, lack of collaboration across departments, and working with multiple partners across different channels,” said Mauro Carobene, vice-president and global head of customer interaction suite at Tata Communications. “Brands that work on individual touchpoints, rather than seeing each interaction as part of a journey, lack a 360-degree view of their customers.”

Looking to the future, the study further revealed that making cross-channel customer interactions more seamless, consistent and personal would be paramount. Encouragingly, 97% of respondents said their organisation was focusing on one or more improvements to customer experience over the next 12 months and more than half (53%) said their organisation planned to increase the use of customer data analytics and customer relationship management (51%) tools over the next 12 months. Additionally, 46% planned to increase their use of process and workflow automation, while a similar proportion (44%) intended to increase the use of customer experience or engagement tools.

“This research underscores that the experience a company provides is often as important as its products or services in terms of customer satisfaction and loyalty. Enhancing the customer experience isn’t just the job of customer service and marketing teams; every team involved with the customer should have the capability to collaborate and contribute,” said Alex Clemente, managing director of HBR Analytic Services.

“Technology can be a big help in driving exceptional customer interactions across multiple channels. With the right tools, organisations can analyse customer data more effectively, personalise interactions, make that data accessible across the organisation, and create a seamless experience for both customers and employees.”