Customers today demand more flexibility and convenience than ever before. According to Gartner, by next year, 40% of all the data analytics projects that companies run will be related to customer experience. Companies know that they need to deliver the meaningful interactions that delight their clients. If you’re not supporting your customer on the channels and devices they prefer, then you can’t compete.
West is a company dedicated to making communication easier. As we all know, communication is at the heart of customer experience today. Your comms strategy is how you make sure that you can connect with your customers. However, it’s also how you ensure that your employees are adequately informed to solve client problems. I spoke to West’s UK and Ireland acquisition country lead, Cohan Daley, senior director of information technology, Sadam Iqbal, and vice president of sales for EMEA, Martin Wyatt to learn more about their insights into the CX evolution.
How Has the Process of Building a Solution for a Customer Changed?
As end-user demands transform, the expectations that vendors have of vendors like West are sure to change as well. West told me that the process of building solutions for customers is becoming more complex and focused.
“I think, when it comes to things like omni-channel communication, people get caught up with the buzzwords. They suddenly decide that they want a chatbot, but they’re not sure why they want one. When you tell them about all the training that goes into creating a bot, they’re confused and overwhelmed. I think what people need is someone that they can have a deep conversation with about their needs.”
Building a solution for customers in the current age means looking carefully at the buyer journeys that they’re supporting. “One of the things that we’ve been doing over the last year has been to focus on creating a platform for technology that allows us to move capabilities in and out of business systems. This allows us to develop something that’s uniquely suited to the customer at any given time.”
How Is the Conversation around AI and Big Data Evolving?
Today, the conversation around customer experience often leads to a discussion of things like analytics and data. Sadam told me that analytics are becoming increasingly essential. West has its own data science team that’s constantly mining and evaluating data.
“We’re looking for ways to make technology like this more accessible to everyone, not just the big enterprise. Things like speech analytics is something that any business could benefit from. However, most can’t afford the complex tools. We’re working on developing tools that allow people to train models more easily – just by doing their job.”
“For instance, your bot can learn consistently from the recordings and information it gathers from your agents”
As the demand for AI grows greater, companies like West that focus on making this technology more accessible are sure to lead the way.
Do People Need More Professional Services These Days?
Ultimately, the West team told me that people are still restricted by the amount of time, resources, and staff they have. “The people who operate technology in a business don’t necessarily have the time to implement everything they want to use. These days, more and more people don’t have time to manage things themselves, which is where services come in.”
As technology continues to evolve, organisations that want to bring in the latest applications need to find the right balance. Those who don’t have the resources to develop the solutions on their own might need some additional help. “Not everyone has AI and bots powered by their own independent data science team. Our models that teach themselves make it easier for companies to implement some of the latest solutions without added services.”
Where is CX Heading?
The West team told me that customer experience is becoming a highly emotional consideration for many companies. Businesses need to deliver the right device and the right channel or else risk upsetting their customers.
“The way that people buy has completely changed. People want to buy things quickly, get confirmation of their purchase and move on. If you get a good experience, you’ll go back to the same business again. If you get a bad experience, then your customer will end up going to your competitor instead. Today’s customers are happy to pay more for a good experience. The cheapest option isn’t necessarily the best anymore.”
A critical point that the group told me was that there needs to be a balance in the CX strategy, between digital, and human support.
“It can’t just be bots – there needs to be something that allows people to go from robot to human contact depending on the complexity of the situation”
One example West gave was of the healthcare industry. If someone has a problem that means they need to go to hospital, they need to speak to a human who can provide empathy and guidance. But cancelling an appointment is something that can easily be automated. It’s about finding the right blend.
How Can Companies Blend Their Solutions?
The main problem for today’s companies, according to West UC, is that an end-to-end platform for implementing the solutions that they need don’t exist.
“The hard reality is that there is no real end-to-end solution. People are struggling to access the assets they need in their existing platforms and alongside their on-premises systems. At West, we’re embracing things like UCaaS, CPaaS, and CCaaS to embody this aggregation model. We’re telling people that they can pull the things that they need together.”
West ensures that their clients don’t have to have all their eggs in your basket.
“You can have the flexibility you need to compete in customer experience”
