How Technology Can Drive Exceptional Customer Experience

Image from Marvin Meyer on Unsplash

Technology and CX — many people separate these two in a business. Most of the time, the people on each team seldom talk to each other, let alone strategize together. It’s not that they don’t want to, many just don’t. It’s not a normal thing to do in most companies.

Most companies let the technology team focus on building new tools and improving the general tech landscape, while the CX team focuses on servicing customers, improving SLAs, and the like. In fact, if you go to most enterprise companies today and ask the technology team when was the last time they had a strategic discussion with the CX team, you’d probably be surprised that many would say that they have had none in a long time.

The focus of this article is to explain the potential value and impact that a company can have if technology and CX work hand in hand. The benefits are endless.

Digital Transformation in organizations

Digital transformation is not just about implementing agile practices and maintaining a high level of agility. Agile practices are very beneficial and help organizations with transformation. But implementing such practices does not guarantee transformation. So what should be at the core of digital transformation and the key driver of such?

A 2022 GetSmarter survey found that the latest technology tools do not guarantee success; digital transformation must be human-centric, too. “If businesses — and specifically people — fail to prepare, their digital transformation initiatives are doomed to falter.” In fact, 74% of transformation initiatives are unable to reap the full benefits because the people within are not empowered for change. The most common stumbling blocks are poor employee engagement, deficient management support, deficient or absent cross-functional collaboration, and lack of accountability.

Jim Swanson, CIO of Johnson and Johnson and former CIO of Monsanto, agrees. “You could have all those things — the customer view, the products and services, data, and really cool technologies — but if leadership and culture aren’t at the heart, it fails. Understanding what digital means to your company — whether you’re a financial, agricultural, pharmaceutical, or retail institution — is essential.” Partnership between management and the different teams is essential to structure and propel transformation.

The successful outcome of digitalization is vital for every business. You will meet the expectations of digital-first consumers, stay competitive in your market, reduce operational costs, and attract talent. These will improve your bottom-line.

Using the Agile methodology across an organization

Some of the biggest difficulties in implementing digital transformation are adopting complex technology and processes, budgetary limitations, dealing with resistance to change, security concerns, and how to adapt technology to clients’ changing needs. The agile methodology provides a solution to these challenges.

The agile methodology is a framework for software development projects. It does not focus solely on technology. The set of practices and methodologies are based on collaboration between teams, how they adapt to the new technologies, and feedback from customers. In other words, you evaluate the ecosystem as you go and then find ways to deal with any uncertainties or difficulties.

The agile process starts off by dividing a project into smaller parts. Each small part is a feature the user wants in the software. Developers will prioritize and group these into iterations. Each iteration has a deadline, usually two weeks. This process is also called a sprint. Once an iteration is finished, the users will test it and provide feedback. Developers will then change the software to meet the users’ needs in the simplest way. Iterations and sprints are repeated until the project is completed.

An agile approach to the rolling out of digitization initiatives brings many benefits to the entire organization. The core of agile is flexibility. Change is expected and teams can shift to another process that will deliver better results. This leads to continuous improvement. Agile groups are always collaborating, reviewing, and adjusting. Ideas are shared and applied to each stage before moving forward. This kind of culture raises efficiency throughout the organization because teams work together and the people involved understand their specific roles within the process. Sprints and repeated iterations help project managers estimate costs and timelines. Regular tests and changes reduce risks. Issues discovered in the middle of the project are easier to resolve rather than at the end. The teams deliver value quicker, resulting in faster ROI.

A McKinsey global survey found successful transformations employ agile ways of working. The road to digitalization of the entire enterprise is long and challenging, especially for companies that are still using legacy processes. With agile practices, the risk of failure decreases significantly.

Agile is not just used for the adoption of digital transformation within the company. Businesses can also utilize it to upgrade the delivery of customer experience to consumers. Practicing the agile values of relationships over interactions, results over process, engagement over deals, and flexibility over policy will encourage the development of CX strategies that are truly customer-centric. Jeb Dasteel, founder of Dasteel Consulting, says, “We have to consider how to apply these principles — and build the right capabilities for sustained customer acquisition, retention, product adoption, value realization and brand advocacy.”

Customer experience and key areas of focus

How much weight do enterprises put on customer experience? Let’s look at some statistics.

• A Temkin study found that companies earning $1 billion can earn an additional $700 million within 3 years of investing in customer experience.
• American Express research discovered 86% of surveyed buyers will pay more for an amazing CX.
• A PricewaterhouseCoopers survey revealed customers are prepared to pay between 13% to 18% more for luxury and indulgence services because they received a great customer experience.
• Forbes Insights and Arm Treasure data showed 74% of consumers are likely to buy based on their CX alone.
• Empifli reports that 4 out of 5 respondents refuse to patronize a brand after three or more instances of poor CX.

You get the picture. Today is the age of the customer. And companies know this. Most of their digital transformations began with enhancing CX at the core. They know customer satisfaction will drive loyalty, which provides word-of-mouth marketing and will act as champions for your brand. These have a major impact on business reputation and increase revenue by 20 to 50% of cost base, according to a McKinsey article. When done right, technology can help companies build outstanding CX and eventually reap rewards.

Digital processes that focus on the following elements are critical in creating effective CX strategies:

1. VALUE — it’s not just about offering high-quality products or services; it’s providing and showing value through offers and recommendations that customers are really interested in. When they feel you’ve given them value by offering them what they actually need, they will trust you more. This breeds customer loyalty and advocacy.
2. PERSONALIZATION — makes them feel important and they’re recognized as individuals. Personalization increases engagement and customer satisfaction.
3. CONVENIENCE — ease and comfort for both service and purchase. Customers are happy when they can easily avail of self-serve tools and smooth buying experiences.
4. RELIABILITY and AVAILABILITY — systems and networks must be reliable and available for customer needs, be it customer service or inquiries about the offerings. It is critical that brands are reachable on any channel that customers prefer.
5. SIMPLICITY — ease of use gives customers a buying journey that’s quick and with minimal friction.

Technologies that revolutionize CX

“You’ve got to start with the customer experience and work back toward the technology, not the other way around.” — Steve Jobs

Meeting customer expectations and providing positive customer experience are difficult feats, which is why digital processes and systems exist. And they are continually evolving as customer demands change. Businesses have been using IVR menus, chatbots, live chats, CRM platforms, and social media tools. Here are some of the emerging technologies that may complement what you already have.

Customer experience management (CXM) systems

A CXM system does not just manage customer relationships. It provides a holistic view of the customer experience by collecting feedback and data from all customer touchpoints. Data can also be used to improve interactions with customers and marketing campaigns.

Artificial intelligence (AI)

AI is the driving force behind the growth of top tier CX personalization. Based on customer feedback and real-time behavior, AI and predictive modeling can make personalized recommendations. AI is also effective for customer service. The program can identify customers that need human involvement from those that don’t, which shortens queuing lines. In the next decade, we will see AI advance to a conversational AI-a mix of voice with video and emotion AI. This will enhance communication by better understanding the emotions of all participants, know what their engagement levels are, and building empathy and trust.

Analytics

Analytics can provide insights so brands can identify customer needs and behaviors, correlate customer feedback surveys with employee performance, or evaluate and improve agent performance. To be effective, companies need to act on data results. You can’t get customer satisfaction if you fail to improve what the analytics information shows as “needs correction.”

Virtual reality (VR)/augmented reality (AR)

VR and AR transform how people communicate and engage. They help increase empathy, and enable employees to provide better solutions, similar to the conversational AI. These technologies also give customers an immersive visual experience. Enabling a customer’s visual journey can lead to better engagement.

Customer identity and access management (CIAM)

These digital tools enable businesses to get and manage customers’ identity securely. With these data profiles, companies can control which applications, services, and information each customer has access to without compromising convenience for security. CIAM also helps provide a streamlined customer journey by introducing a single sign-on (SSO) and asking for multi-factor authentication only when necessary. It also protects your customers’ data while keeping your business safe from cyberattacks and fraud.

Use cases of how technology enhanced CX

Image from Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

CXM for Santalucia Seguros

The Spanish insurance company used a CXM tool to provide personalized offers by connecting their customers and products in all its lines of business, which includes home, life, financial, retirement, and pet.

AI-powered data analytics for Walmart

Walmart integrated their supply chain solutions with AI-powered data analytics, enabling them to access customers’ data. By understanding what clients need, they could adjust their marketing efforts and make decisions based on data.

VR/AR campaigns for Timberland and L’Oréal

Timberland used VR and AR to build a virtual fitting room. Using Kinect motion-sensing technology, shoppers could “try on’’ different outfits without the inconvenience of dressing room lines. L’Oréal’s Genius apps let customers apply lipsticks by applying them to their pictures on their smartphones. Shoppers can decide if a particular shade fits them or not before they purchase. In both examples, customers were happy and there were fewer returns.

CIAM for Tesco Bank

PingAccess and PingFederate gave the bank flexible authorization capability in order to deliver a customer-centric experience. A unified customer identity enabled Tesco Bank to gain customer insights and deliver better CX. It also implemented a common security layer that lessened the responsibility of developers and saved cost and time.

Today’s digital world calls for companies to embrace digital solutions. While technology can help solve CX issues, it’s not the ultimate quick fix; it’s an enabler and a facilitator. A consistent positive customer experience that brings exceptional business returns are driven by humans AND machines working together. The human element must be rooted within the automation. A logical strategy, well-trained employees, agile processes, and the right use of digital tools will not only result in excellent customer experience, but an effortless journey for brand and client.