Currently, only around 10% of customers say the companies they buy from are meeting their expectations for a “good experience”. When these consumers have unlimited choices for where to purchase goods and services, the 90% of brands lagging behind need to either update their strategy, or risk losing their audience.
Fortunately, there are a number of innovative tools emerging throughout the technology landscape to help business leaders impress, engage, and retain their customers. From CCaaS solutions built to unify multiple channels for communication, to CRM centres for tracking the purchasing journey, there’s something to fit virtually every use case.
In this environment, some vendors have begun to separate themselves from the crowd, by producing a range of more innovative, creative solutions. Here are just some of the top vendors leading the way to the future of customer experience.
8×8
One of the top vendors in the UCaaS and CCaaS landscape today, 8×8 provides companies with the tools they need to create a custom strategy for success. The organisation specializes in everything from omnichannel communications to workforce management and engagement. One of the most interesting solutions introduced by 8×8 recently, is its “XCaaS” platform.
The XCaaS ecosystem from 8×8 combines contact centre functionality with UC tools for collaboration via voice, video, and chat. With this all-in-one landscape, brands can simultaneously synchronize their team members, reach clients across every channel, and collect valuable insights into customer experience. 8×8 even supports endless integrations for other leading tools, for a true single pane of glass experience for service agents and employees.
Genesys
Named a leader in the CCaaS landscape by Gartner no less than 8 times, Genesys has proven itself as a phenomenal vendor for companies focused on CX. Not only does the brand offer a phenomenal cloud contact centre environment, but it also supports brands with tools for customer journey management, automation, and AI-driven self-service.
The Genesys Cloud CX platform aligns employees in an easy-to-use environment where they can manage and control customer journeys from start to finish. There are even custom apps and integrations available to extend the functionality of the platform. What’s more, Genesys can help with employee experience too, with a powerful Workforce engagement platform.
NICE
Another world-recognised leader in the CX space, NICE offers a comprehensive CX platform designed to enhance every journey. The CXi environment is one of the few in the industry today to focus on the entire “Total Experience” space. Not only do companies gain access to a comprehensive cloud contact centre environment, but they can also access tools for journey orchestration, automation, intelligent self-service, and employee management.
NICE has a comprehensive ecosystem capable of transforming every part of the CX space. Brands can use the technology to create proactive conversational AI tools and chatbots, engage the workforce and track quality management. NICE also provides phenomenal tools for conversational analytics, reporting, and robotic process automation.
Salesforce
There’s a good reason why Salesforce is commonly considered to be the number one CRM provider of all time. This unique company focuses on providing businesses with the insights, automations, and intelligence they need to create powerful customer journeys. With Salesforce, brands can improve their marketing, sales and service strategies using a host of intuitive, forward-thinking tools.
Not only can Salesforce give businesses a place to store all of their information about their target audience, but the platform also makes it easier to draw meaningful conclusions from customer data. With in-built AI tools and automations, organisations can boost employee productivity, guide their team members towards incredible outcomes wherever they are, and track customer satisfaction. There are even special tools specifically intended for different industries.
Annex Cloud
At a time when companies are struggling to retain the loyalty of their customers more than ever, Annex Cloud has the solution. This all-in-one loyalty experience platform combines a range of tools designed to help brands form and preserve deeper relationships with their customers. Trusted by top enterprises around the world, Annex Cloud offers a portfolio of tools covering loyalty experience management, AI insights, and omnichannel engagement.
Using the Annex Cloud stack of tools, brands can leverage everything from word-of-mouth feedback from customers to powerful insights for hyper personalisation. Products range from omnichannel loyalty programs and gamification tools to incentive engines and influencer management systems.
Calabrio
To thrive and excel in the new age of customer experience, companies need to first think about the employee experience they give their agents. Calabrio is leading the way in this area, with tools built specifically to enhance and optimise workforce performance. The Calabrio ONE ecosystem offers access to interactive recording for compliance and monitoring purposes, as well as quality management, and in-depth analytics.
There are AI-powered workforce management tools available to help businesses perfectly balance customer demand, operational excellence, and employee satisfaction. What’s more, Calabrio makes it easier to manage and leverage your data in a secure, aligned environment. There are tools for remote and hybrid work, as well as customer experience management, with conversational analytics.
Verint
Focused on the emerging landscape of Customer Engagement, Verint provides companies with a range of tools and platforms intended to strengthen client relationships. With the Verint ecosystem, businesses can create end-to-end customer journeys, enhanced by real-time analytics and insights. The cloud platform comes with access to valuable AI tools and analytics, as well as secure data management for privacy and compliance.
Verint focuses not just on the customer experience, but on the employee experience too, with workforce engagement features intended to enlighten and align team members. There are even opportunities to use AI to automate certain repetitive tasks within the workplace, and boost overall team productivity and efficiency.
Zoho
Quickly emerging as one of the go-to vendors for both workplace and customer experience management, Zoho has become a valuable player in the CX space. The Zoho portfolio is packed with tools for sales insights, CRM management, marketing, and customer contact options. Brands can leverage everything from in-depth collaboration and productivity tools to suites built specifically for industries like marketing and finance.
Zoho One, the unified platform created by Zoho aims to replace disconnected tools in the standard CX landscape with an all-in-one environment for success. The tool helps to track consumers along the purchasing lifecycle, while giving agents access to a range of valuable tools for insights and analytics. Companies can even leverage out-of-the-box AI and business intelligence features.
