Trending and comparing results from the CXMB corporate and consumer surveys provides deeper insights into perceptions vs. performance.
As advocates for strong customer success strategies, most of you already know that data is imperative, and that how you analyze and trend that data is even more crucial. We often see organizations put a strong emphasis on the results of the customer experience they are currently delivering, and ultimately, customer satisfaction results. This is fundamental for companies that are trying to enable customer success within their service experience. However, what we don’t see as often is organizations exploring and measuring what their customers “want” from the service experience. The combination and mapping of this data is very powerful and offers great insight into where organizations need to channel their future growth plans.
The belief in the power of this data combination is what created “The Customer Experience Management Benchmark Series.” This collaborative effort between Execs In The Know (execsintheknow.com) and Digital Roots (www.digitalroots.com) helps organizations gain insight into industry knowledge, data and trends in customer experience. This year’s report marks the third in the Corporate Edition and the fifth in the Customer Experience Management Benchmark (CXMB) Series. As we delve deeper into the CXMB Series, we are afforded the opportunity to compare the findings with last year’s Corporate Edition and this year’s Consumer Edition. In doing so, we arrived at a number of interesting observations, including the following:
- There continues to be a strong disconnect between corporate and consumer perception toward channel preference and expectations met.
- In 2014, growth across all channels was virtually even compared to a significant imbalance favoring mobile growth in 2013.
In the final report, we explore these and many other areas in great detail. In the meantime, I wanted to share some select findings. The most compelling of which are those focused on meeting the expectations of our consumers.
Meeting Expectations
Interestingly, brands perceive that they offer a level of care that meets or exceeds the needs and expectations of consumers. Meanwhile, consumers hold a very different view:
Consumer Perception (2014 Consumer)
Do you feel that the customer service departments of today’s companies generally meet your needs and expectations?
YES: 22% NO: 78%
Corporate Perception (2014 Corporate)
Do you feel that your customer care organization generally meets the needs and expectations of your customers?
YES: 88% NO: 12%
Avoiding the False Positive
Our data suggests there is a serious disconnect between how organizations feel they are meeting the needs of the customers and the feelings of the customers themselves. Although individual organization results will differ, there is a broader message we can conclude from these findings. Excellent results are only possible if what they are measuring is significant and meaningful. Leaders need to ask themselves, if their measurements are a “false positive.” Are we measuring what is truly important to our customers? Are we asking the right questions? Is the data being used in the right context that drives the right business decisions?
Liz Ryan, a contributor for “Forbes,” had an interesting view on what Corporate America measures: “Measurement is our drug in the business world, because we believe that by measuring everything and sending the good news upstairs to the C-suite we can ward off the bogeyman of business, namely Getting On the Boss’s Bad Side. Measurement is our favorite CYA activity. It’s an inherently fear-based process, because the reason we measure everything in business is to prove to someone who’s not in the room that we did what they told us to do.”
By no means does this suggest that organizations aren’t measuring some of the right things. However, I believe it is a strong reminder that with a continually changing landscape in the customer experience world, and with an ever-changing customer, we need to step back and review what we are measuring to ensure that it is truly reflective of customer success.
Channel Growth
For the first time in three years of surveying, the indication of “most growth” was nearly uniform across all channels. This could be due, in large part, to the initial launch of programs within the emerging channels. In last year’s survey, mobile are dominated the other two emerging channels, whereas this year, mobile was the least indicated channel of “most growth.”
While traditional care edged out the other channels in terms of “the most growth,” a higher percentage of companies saw an increase in traffic in interactive and social media care channels. This could indicate that these channels are growing more broadly, albeit at a slower pace, than traditional. These channels also experienced little to no decrease in traffic, unlike traditional care, which experienced a decrease in traffic among a very significant 23% of respondents. (See Figure 1.)
Channel-specific Findings
Channel-specific findings form a sizable chunk of the 2014 Corporate Edition, of the CXMB Series. Figure 2 provides a few compelling stats.
Final Report Provides Comprehensive Analysis
The complete 2014 Corporate Edition will be released in early March 2015. In the complete report, you will find an area titled, “Customer Management Overview,” which focuses on Operations, Strategic Insights and Team Composition. In addition to these sections, we have also added two new sections: Fortune 500 Findings and Connected Consumer Comparisons. As the section names imply, we shine a spotlight on the specific results of Fortune 500 participants, and we provide a comprehensive analysis that compares and contrasts the results of the 2014 Consumer Edition with those of the 2014 Corporate Edition.
The connected consumer has changed and will continue to change the customer experience landscape. The importance of understanding your customers’ view of the service experience is paramount, as is understanding the changing service environment. Organizations always run the risk of growing obsolete and habitual in their practices. Understand where you are compared to your competitors, as well as other industries, and even more importantly, understand your customer.
To learn more about this exciting installment in the CXMB Series, please visit: http://bit.ly/1EhqhzK