New channels and experiences will ultimately disappoint if those features aren’t built on a solid CX foundation.
After several years of improvement and optimization, there's a sense that current CX levels could be slipping. The average consumer uses two channels to engage with an organization and 30% use three or more in order to resolve issues or obtain information.
There’s a growing appetite for self-service and chatbots, and genuine curiosity about using new forms of engagement such as video calling and even virtual reality as ways of navigating the customer journey.
However, the most popular channels are still email, telephone and online chat. Consumers are basing their opinion regarding wider customer experience (CX) standards on the use of these foundational forms of communication.
And that opinion could be a problem, because globally, one-in-three consumers feel that over the past 12 months, standards have been slipping — only 41% of French and U.K. consumers and 38% of German consumers think they’ve seen a positive change in CX in 2022.
Even in the U.S., fewer than half of consumers are convinced average CX levels are better today than a year ago.
Only
of U.S. consumers think they’ve seen an improvement in CX levels in 2022.
Customer expectations and preferences can and do change, but the definition of a positive CX remains constant. Helpful and friendly staff is the single most important aspect of a positive experience and the speed and accuracy of the service is second.
And likewise, although individual technologies or tools change, the overall approach an organization can — and should — take to optimize its existing CX delivery doesn’t.
As such, 2023 needs to be the year when brands go back to their current setup and examine individual and collective channel performance in search of continuous improvement and adopt the right blend of technologies, tools, processes and talent that will make a positive difference to the customer experience today, so that it can serve as the platform for future development.