Brands risk aggro by failing to fix known CX problems

Brand owners are spending hundreds of thousands of pounds evaluating their customer experience strategies, but, even when they discover issues, most are making a rod for their own backs by ignoring them, potentially missing out on returning customers – and higher profits.

So says a new global report from enterprise software specialist IFS which polled more than 1,700 executives and more than 12,000 consumers, finding that two-thirds (66%) of brands invest at least $250,000 (£180,000) a year on evaluating their CX performance.

Once the results were analysed more than four-fifths (82%) of companies were not able to recall a single positive example of a frictionless customer experience but of those who spotted “inflection points”, almost a third (29%) did nothing about it.

Nearly a fifth (18%) said they were simply too busy to tackle the issues, while others (15%) claimed they proactively sought to pre-empt problems.

The consequences for businesses which decide to take no action, are “significant”, IFS claims.

A quarter of consumers said a single bad experience would make them never want to engage with a brand again, but just over half (52%) appear more forgiving, insisting they would give the company a second or even third chance. Even so, nearly two-thirds (58%) would still share their negative perceptions with their friends and family.

The report suggests that by adjusting the key components of CX strategies – namely processes, technology and human coordination – companies can deliver what IFS calls “a quality moment of service”, where everything operates smoothly to create a positive result for customers.

IFS chief customer officer Michael Ouissi said: “When it comes to delivering a positive customer experience, businesses have a limited opportunity to get it right. And if they neglect a single inflection point, they are gambling with their outcomes, including profits and margins.

“There are many points where you can either delight or disappoint a customer and consumers are willing to voice their opinions either way.

“Companies must rethink their operations, to harnesses a combination of packaged functions and technologies to deliver outcomes and adapt to the pace of business.”

Earlier this summer, it was revealed that almost half (48%) of all marketing chiefs say the CX their organisation delivers falls below or significantly below their customers’ expectations, despite nearly 8 in 10 (79%) recognising that delivering a premium customer experience is a powerful competitive advantage.

The findings, from a study of 200 chief marketing officers in the UK, France and Germany, commissioned by Treasure Data, in partnership with MarTech Alliance, also showed that over half (53%) of CMOs cited insufficient skills in data management and/or knowledge of the right technology as the biggest barriers to realising their CX vision.