Cisco has released a whitepaper on post-pandemic CX behaviours that has revealed among other key takeaways that a staggering 87% of global IT decision makers believe the pandemic will force organisations to accelerate their migration to the cloud.
In the company’s brand-new report, An Enterprise-wide Approach to Connected Customer Experiences, also revealed that a massive 74% of business leaders reported a surge in call volumes during the pandemic.
The whitepaper lists customer needs that have been not only shaped by the expectations of improved technologies but the pandemic too.
Cisco states these customer needs in order:
- Quick service: Digitally savvy customers won’t wait on hold and expect real-time responses and single call resolution
- On-demand: CX any place, any time is today’s baseline expectation
- Omni-channel: Effective CX is more than just supporting multiple channels and should be based on using their preferred channels, not the ones of the business
- Self-service: Digital customers are amenable to self-service, so long as it’s intelligent and low effort
- Proactive: Most customer service is reactive, but proactive forms like notifications and alerts are now part of customer engagement
- Low effort: Any method of engagement must require less effort for the customer.
The report adds: “Note how these needs have largely been shaped by digital technology, with the result being heightened expectations that most contact centres struggle to meet. When the business needs that follow this are considered, it should be clear that balancing both is a challenge that goes beyond the realm of contact.”
The whitepaper also gives reasons businesses should implement a centralised data management model. These include:
- More operational systems and platforms, each with distinct sets of data
- More customer touchpoints for engagement – mobile devices, PCs, monitors and kiosks
- More channels for customers to communicate and interact with your organisation – voice, chat, SMS, video, email, social and bots
- More customer journeys to manage – browsing, buying, paying, returning and troubleshooting
- More customers to support as you grow – existing, new, former and prospective
The whitepaper adds: “Adopting a centralised data management model isn’t just about deploying new technology; it also requires thinking differently about how best to serve customers. The same data sets flow through the models depicted above, but only with a centralised model can all the data have a unified focus.”
