Intelligent CXO Issue 08 | Page 67

BUSINESS INSIGHTS and raise the bar of their CX strategies to meet the ever-growing expectations of their customers . And given the new pressure on customer experience , companies have started to create dedicated roles and initiatives to address the new priority : Gartner recently found that nearly 90 % of companies now have a Chief Experience Officer or Chief Customer Officer – or equivalent roles – in their teams , indicating that CX is now a company-wide mission , not just a marketing responsibility .
And yet , despite the growing priority of CX and companies looking for ways to make a difference in real-time , only 13 % of businesses have the right tools and systems in place to be able to provide this type of support according to McKinsey .
2022 : customer-centricity and the importance of trust
To be able to provide the best customer services and compete in a highly competitive landscape , business leaders will have to shift their focus to create unrivalled customer experiences : ‘ good enough ’ won ’ t cut it any longer . Today , many companies have mastered the ‘ new standards ’ of friendly and connected user-service , but they need to go further . Digital portals that allow customers to access their accounts whether by phone , app or the Internet are now a given . So , how can companies go above and beyond and pioneer new customer experiences that will not only drive acquisition but also engagement and loyalty ?
The answer to this question is to get more conversational . Customers want dynamic , authentic conversations that have shed the bureaucracy and formality that they find tiresome . But to converse with our customers , we need to get to know them better . If companies truly know their customers and prioritise their wants and needs , they will win customer loyalty and with it , customer retention .
All customer experiences should be predictive , proactive , personalised and private . To achieve this , companies will need to predict customer behaviour by working backwards through the existing customer journey and collecting and analysing the digital breadcrumbs left behind .
COMPETITION FOR THE ATTENTION AND LOYALTY OF CUSTOMERS HAS MEANT THAT COMPANIES INCREASINGLY SHIFT THEIR FOCUS TOWARDS SUPPLYING NEW , UNIQUE EXPERIENCES FOR THEM TO ENJOY .
The use of Artificial Intelligence ( AI ) will be crucial to achieve this . While AI has long been used to enhance customer experiences , with chatbots , for example , bland automated responses and delays are turning consumers away and are simply not acceptable anymore .
In 2022 , companies will start to invest in more effective , intelligent and intuitive AI solutions that are aimed at hyper-personalisation . Hyper-personalisation allows companies to tailor bespoke , highly targeted experiences to individual customers .
An increasingly available and comprehensive set of data will allow companies to get to know their customers on a personal level , and through the combined use of data , analytics , AI and automation , they will be able to predict customer needs and want , creating targeted and seamless customer journeys .
The increased exploitation of customer data , however , brings with it hazards that must be dealt www . intelligentcxo . com
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