As all too many companies have discovered, increasing customer satisfaction, loyalty and advocacy is easier said than done – and customers today have a lot more channels to complain on if you don’t achieve it.
Avaya’s recent Customer Experience in Banking Survey, for example, shows that approximately 38% of consumers would change their bank as a result of poor customer service. One in three would make it a point to share their bad customer service experiences with friends and acquaintances, with nearly 16% voicing those frustrations on social media platforms. While those numbers may not seem high, this was an avenue that didn’t really exist even a few years ago.
Consider just how much has changed even over the last decade in terms of technology and how that has impacted the customer experience. Ten years ago, the first iPhone was announced in the US, while social media platforms like Snapchat and Instagram wouldn’t be released for another three or four years. Yes, interaction channels like social media and web chats were available to enhance the customer experience, but for the most part businesses weren’t adopting them.
The reality is that companies are now competing in an era of countless customer touch points. They’re tasked with matching today’s rapid pace of innovation and anticipating customers’ evolving needs. This has made the concept of an omni-channel customer experience integral for success.
Research shows, however, that companies across the board are still struggling to get omni-channel right. Again, according to Avaya’s Customer Experience in Banking Survey, getting the same level of experience and service regardless of how they choose to contact their bank was cited as a top-three priority for consumers in nearly every market surveyed. The insight here is that customers want to see “one bank”, and banks need to see “one customer” regardless of the channels through which they communicate.
However, one 2017 study of the retail industry found that 44% of companies struggle to provide a seamless, omni-channel customer experience. In industries like finance and utilities, this number can be as high as 90%.
Fortunately, today’s advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) and analytics are at the forefront of reshaping customer experience design. These technologies ultimately help customers to do what they want to do as fast and effectively as possible.
By deploying artificial intelligence ‘chatbots’ and using AI to automate and enhance typical processes that customers would undertake, businesses can respond to their customers faster and reduce waiting times for key services.
The use of advanced analytics—enabled by AI—can also provide businesses with deeper analysis of customer interactions by bringing together relevant data previously siloed across SMS, web chat conversations, social media platforms, phone calls, and video interactions.
The bottom line is that consumers today expect nothing short of a highly-sophisticated customer experience. Bold technologies within an increasingly digital economy have thrust enterprises into a world of limitless capabilities…one that’s just getting started.
To see how your organisation can Go Beyond the Digital Experience, visit Avaya at GITEX Technology Week 2017 at stand Z-C20 in Za’abeel Hall.
Guest blog by Yaser Alzubaidi, Engagement Solutions Sales Leader at Avaya International (EMEA/APAC)
