Partnership for Public Service: Government Must Invest in CX Budgets of Agencies
The U.S. federal government needs to fully fund the CX budgets of official agencies if it wishes to invest in the capacity of those bodies to compile and use customer data to improve IT systems, states a new report issued by the Partnership for Public Service, a nonprofit and nonpartisan organization based in Washington, D. C., that aims to inspire a new generation of civil servants and to transform the way the government works.
The report, co-authored with Accenture Federal Services, says agencies lack the resources to consolidate data from qualitative interviews and surveys of customer groups to be able to share insights with the technology teams designing and developing modern digital platforms. Long-term funding is also needed for agencies to establish closed-loop feedback systems for resolving issues that customers may have with the digital services being provided by the government.
Based on interviews with federal officials and national research and academic institutes, the report makes seven recommendations. Among them are measures calling for deputy secretaries to be empowered with CX data, staff, and performance management systems; streamlining data sharing; investing in digital talent, solutions, and infrastructure; and co-designing digital services with customers.
The report also suggests four broader actions that government can take to improve CX, including fully authorizing agencies to hire in accordance with their CX needs; allowing for cross-agency investments, programs, and resources; using emerging technologies and centralized data-sharing authorities and agreements for secure information exchange; and redesigning regulatory and statutory CX frameworks to streamline recertification, access, and eligibility.
“Administration, agency, and congressional leaders must work together to redesign a government that is capable of not just understanding all its customers’ needs but also of building solutions for them and being accountable for how well those customers’ needs are met,” the report notes.
Emplifi: 2023 Will Be the Year of Authenticity and Other Social Media Marketing Predictions
Announcing its top social media marketing predictions for 2023, unified CX platform provider Emplifi says 2023 will be the year of authenticity, with brands turning to customer influencers, user-generated content (UGC), and tapping into the power of TikTok for product discovery.
As part of the push for authenticity, brands will use social media to encourage customers to share their content and experiences, with brands tapping into UGC to meet content demands in 2023, boosting business while galvanizing customer participation.
Short-form video will still dominate, Emplifi says, with TikTok’s massive growth providing proof that customers continue to demand short-form video content.
Customers will also turn to social media platforms to connect with brands on service-related issues, with brands offering more support touch points via social media. As an example, baby stroller brand Orbit Baby and British retailer Currys have already implemented live video into their social media care strategies, enabling customers to receive the same expert advice from wherever they may be located, just like what they would get from in-store professionals.
Lastly, brands will invest more in TikTok advertising, Emplifi states, with brands tapping into TikTok not only for brand awareness but also for TikTok’s contribution to sales.Brands will get more creative on TikTok, predicts Emplifi, as they look to influencers to increase the visibility of their advertising campaigns, with TikTok emerging as a key platform for product discovery.
Qualtrics: Bad CX Puts $3.1 Trillion in Annual Global Consumer Spending at Risk
Organizations risk 6.7% of their revenue—an amount equivalent to $3.1 trillion—when they lose customers due to poor CX, reveals new research from experience management provider Qualtrics. This is because bad CX leads directly to lost revenue, as a negative interaction can mean losing customer loyalty and the potential for additional spending in the future.
Related Article: Bad CX Accounts for $4.7 Trillion in Global Consumer At-Risk Sales
With consumers feeling the pinch of inflation, and given how easy it is for consumers to switch to a different brand, companies must focus on the overall experience they are creating to maintain loyal customers, the report states. On average, consumers say they have very negative experiences with organizations 16% of the time, and half will either reduce their spending with an offending brand or stop spending on the brand altogether following a negative experience.
The stress of the holiday season is likely to amplify the impact of experiences, the report notes. Because emotions are often heightened during the holidays, loyalty can solidify with organizations that get it right, but extra risk also accompanies those interactions that leave customers unhappy. Three of the top five industries most likely to lose customer dollars after failing to meet expectations are directly connected with holiday shopping. Online retailers, department stores, and parcel delivery companies have had at least 56% of consumers decrease or cease spending after a bad experience, the report discloses.
ISG: Tech Maturity and Needs Shape How Firms Adopt CX Initiatives
Major changes in business operations and consumer behavior since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic have increased demand for advanced CX capabilities, with enterprises adopting new technologies at different rates depending on their maturity and needs, according to a new research report published by global technology research and advisory firm Information Services Group.
The 2022 ISG Provider Lens Contact Center — Customer Experience Services Archetype Report finds that contact center operations are being transformed by automation and analytics as companies adapt to remote, home-based, and hybrid work models. More companies are also embracing AI bots, speech analytics, sentiment analysis, and other tools to improve both CX and employee experience (EX).
Related Article: New Report Finds Plenty of Opportunity Exists to Create Richer CX
The report summarizes the relative capabilities of contact center service providers to meet the needs of typical, frequently encountered categories, or archetypes, of enterprise buyers. Each archetype represents a specific set of business and technology needs and challenges, which vary over time. Most organizations, especially large enterprises, include teams or business units that fit into different archetypes.
The report examines four archetypes within enterprise clients that are looking for contact center services, and evaluates the capabilities of 26 CX services providers to deliver services to these four archetypes, identified by the report as automation embracers, digital connoisseurs, CX evangelists, and work-from-home buyers. Among the providers that ISG evaluated, those named as leaders across all four archetypes included business process management firm HGS, contact center solutions provider Sitel Group, digital transformation company Sutherland, and omnichannel organization Teleperformance.
IDC FutureScape: Predictions for the Future of Customer Experience
Businesses hoping to offer a successful CX to their customers in the future will need to shift focus from providing purely transactional-level experiences to emphasizing relationship-building experiences. And achieving such a shift will require the deployment of strong technology foundations comprising customer data, AI and machine learning (ML), and zero trust architectures.
This and other predictions were made by IDC FutureScape, which presents information on technologies, markets, and ecosystems aimed at helping decision-makers better understand future trends and their impacts on the enterprise. Every year, global market intelligence firm IDC identifies the key external drivers that will influence businesses in the coming years, and IDC FutureScape then establishes 10 predictions derived from those drivers, analyzes the impacts on the IT organization, and proposes recommendations for the next five years.
Among IDC’s top 10 predictions for the future of CX are the following:
- By 2024, 50% of the Global 2000 (G2000) largest companies in the world will adopt customer data platforms (CDPs) as the enterprise customer data service for real-time customer interactions, increasing CX metrics and revenue by 5%.
- By 2025, 50% of G2000 enterprise customers will select their CX platform provider based primarily on the efficacy of the vendor’s customer success services.
- By 2026, 45% of the Global 2000 will use AI/ML to elevate context and nudge customers into unfamiliar and novel experiences that simultaneously improve sentiment metrics and brand-upselling potential.
- By 2027, one-fourth of global brands will abandon customer satisfaction (CSAT) scores as a CX measure and instead adopt a Customer Effort Score correlated to outcomes as a key indicator of journey satisfaction and success.
IDC’s Future of Customer Experience predictions are presented in full detail in the report, IDC FutureScape: Worldwide Future of Customer Experience 2023 Predictions.
Author Information
Alex is responsible for writing about trends and changes that are impacting the customer experience market. He had served as Principal Editor at Village Intelligence, a Los Angeles-based consultancy on technology impacting healthcare and healthcare-related industries. Alex was also Associate Director for Content Management at Omdia and Informa Tech, where he produced white papers, executive summaries, market insights, blogs, and other key content assets. His areas of coverage spanned the sectors grouped under the technology vertical, including semiconductors, smart technologies, enterprise & IT, media, displays, mobile, power, healthcare, China research, industrial and IoT, automotive, and transformative technologies.
At IHS Markit, he was Managing Editor of the company’s flagship IHS Quarterly, covering aerospace & defense, economics & country risk, chemicals, oil & gas, and other IHS verticals. He was Principal Editor of analyst output at iSuppli Corp. and Managing Editor of Market Watch, a fortnightly newsletter highlighting significant analyst report findings for pitching to the media. He started his career in writing as an Editor-Reporter for The Associated Press.
