The Global State of CX 2017

THE GLOBAL STATE OF
CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE 2017

The biggest CX trends, challenges and investment priorities for the next 12-18 months
In asscociation with: Independent knowledge partner:

DIGITAL CHANNEL INDUSTRY
TRENDS CHALLENGES INVESTMENTS ABOUT
TRANSFORMATION INTEGRATION LEADERS
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION CHALLENGES CHANNEL INTEGRATION
Contents 2 Top challenges for 2017 13 Where are organisations with 27
About the author 3 15 Changes that can help practitioners 15 channel integration? 28
About the contributors 3 overcome these challenges Multi-channel vs omni-channel:
Foreword by Forrester 4 Top tips to overcome CX challenges 16 Understanding the differences
ABOUT THE RESEARCH 5 INVESTMENTS INDUSTRY LEADERS
Top investment priorities for 2017 17 The leaders within customer experience 30
KEY TAKEAWAYS 9 Practitioner investment priorities by function 19 What can you learn from the industry leaders? 31
Investment priorities Top tools, tech and vendors practitioners 21 Inside the most customer-centric team at Aegon 32
Industry trends are looking at
Industry challenges Top investment challenges for 2017 22
Digital transformation
Channel integration DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION ABOUT CX NETWORK
Where are organisations on their digital 23 Partner spotlights 34
TRENDS transformation journey? Join CX Network 35
Top predicted trends for 2017 10 Reaching the next level on the digital 24 2017 report calendar 35
15 Ways in which CX Leaders are preparing for 12 transformation journey CXForum 2017 36
the trends Why CX is at the heart of digital transformation 25
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ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTORS
MARTIN GILL
JUSTIN CONRY
VP, Research Director Digital
Strategy and Experience
Head of Transformation (CRM) ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Three Ireland
Forrester
PHILIPPA SNARE Zarina de Ruiter graduated with a BA in Journalism

RICHARD TATE
EMEA Global Business in the Netherlands, before embarking on a
Head of Digital Insight
Marketing Director global journey, working in offices from North
EE
Facebook America to Australia, and landing in the United
Kingdom in 2010.
CLAIRE HILL SHERYL KINGSTONE She worked for a magazine publisher and TV
Customer Services and Customer Research Director, producer in London for four years, growing
Experience Director Business Applications the digital presence and brand awareness of
Boohoo.com 451 Research business and consumer titles, in addition to
ad hoc work on print publications. She is the
Editor of CX Network, where she produces
a range of premium-level content for senior
AISLING MCCARTHY IAIN OCONNOR
customer experience, service, insight, digital
Head of Customer Experience & Senior Manager Customer
and marketing leaders.
Operations Improvement Experience & Insight Marketing
Bord Gais Energy Aegon
For any questions about this report or the
opportunity to collaborate on future CX Network
content, you can email her on:
CAROLINE WELLS
STEPHAN THUN
Head of Customer Insight
CEO International
and Projects
MaritzCX zarina@cxnetwork.com
Financial Ombudsman Service
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FOREWORD BY
Customer experience is the smell of your new car, Digital transformation demands new skills like design
the smile of the hotel receptionist and the packaging thinking and data science, new ways of working like agile
of your new running shoes, but increasingly customer development, and a cultural mind-set than embraces ABOUT THE AUTHOR
experience is either digital, or digitally enhanced. experimentation and sees failure as a learning point
Your new car is connected, you checked into that hotel on the path to success. This challenges traditional
via a mobile app and your running shoes transmit norms within organisations, and it challenges the
data to your fitness tracker. area where managers have traditionally thrived. Martin Gill is the VP, Research Director Digital
Strategy and Experience at Forrester. He
Digital isnt a channel or a discrete technology. Its But heres where we see some light at the end of the leads the development of Forresters digital
nebulous. Its a concept, a way of operating, a set of tunnel. When asked how their firm can overcome the business transformation playbook, focusing
behaviours, both customer and organisational, thats challenges it faces, customer experience professionals on how firms must rethink their business
challenging the status quo of almost every industry. call out three key things: strategies to compete in the digital age.
Digital is changing the way we travel, the way we shop,
the way we bank, the way we drive, and our expectations Hiring cross-functional management. Customer His research covers digital maturity, helping
as consumers of the customer experience brands deliver. experiences like buy-online and pick-up in-store digital business leaders understand how to
challenge traditional operational boundaries. Breaking evolve their culture, organisational structures, and
Customer experience professionals understand this. down functional and departmental silos and encouraging staffing; their approach to technology investments;
Its no great surprise to see that in this years survey cross-functional working is the number-one way and their success metrics to advance their digital
while customer loyalty and retention are top of mind firms will drive customer-centric digital transformation. sophistication.
for customer experience professionals, digital customer
experience ranks by less than one percentage point Streamlining internal processes. Modern design
as the second most top-of-mind trend, with data and and software development processes are vital if customer key pillar of success, and that means executive support
analytics and channel integration following. These are experience professionals expect to keep pace with and a C-suite mandate to change.
digital trends, and they drive digital transformation. their customers demands. Streamlining strategic
planning, project approval, design, development and These are big themes; transformational themes. If
Theres no denying now that firms grasp the need implementation processes are a must for firms with a firms want to win, serve and retain customers in this
for digital transformation, but many struggle to pivot digital appetite. That, and realigning internal processes increasingly fast-paced and volatile world, customer-centricity
from seeing the need into driving action. More than like stock management and supply chain in service of isnt optional and digital is right at the core.
half of the firms surveyed report that their digital the customer, and mapping success to customer-centric,
transformation efforts are either non-existent or in not departmental metrics will further fuel transformation. This report will dig deeper into the themes Ive outlined
the early stages, with only 13 per cent claiming their here, examining the trends and challenges, the state
efforts are established and a scant handful of firms Having a company-wide CX strategy. Transformation of digital maturity, the blockers, and the success factors
say that they are in the advanced and mature stages cant succeed at a departmental level. Customer experience that are propelling firms to digitally-enabled customer
of digital transformation. Why? Because its hard. professionals identified a company-wide strategy as a experience success.
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ABOUT THE RESEARCH
With The Global State of Customer Experience 20161 being the most popular of CX to sharing their expertise on where organisations are when it comes to hot topics
Networks reports last year, we conducted our in-depth research for the second within the industry, such as channel integration and digital transformation.
year running through a comprehensive annual survey. We gauged the views of
global customer experience leaders across all major industries on the changes We also asked industry experts to provide their own comments on the survey results
that will be defining the industry in 2017. so you can benchmark the progress of your organisation against that of your peers
and competitors, and prioritise your plans for the next 12-18 months accordingly.
For this years edition we had nearly 800 responses from the CX community, each
of the participants providing their insights into the trends, challenges, investment To get a better understanding of the results, you can find a visual breakdown of the respondents
priorities that will be shaping customer experience in the upcoming year, in addition including seniority, company size, industry, geography and budget on the next few pages.
Respondents breakdown:
25%
69%Customer experience
Solution
providers
6%
practitioners
Industry analysts /
researchers / bloggers
1
https://www.cxnetwork.com/cx-experience/white-papers/the-global-state-of-customer-experience-2016
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ABOUT THE RESEARCH: Practitioner responses
Which title best describes your role? In which function do you sit?
Customer experience 35%

C-level 8% Marketing 17%
SVP / VP 10% Customer service 13%
Director 21% Other 8%
Head 18% Executive team 7%
Manager 32% Contact centre 6%
Other 11% Operations 6%
Customer insight 4%
Digital marketing 4%
Which area(s) are you accountable for? Which industry do you operate in?
Financial services 22%

CX strategy 57%
Telecoms 17%
Customer insight 52%
IT 7%
Customer service 48%
Manufacturing 6%
Data and analytics 34%
Retail 6%
Contact centre 30%
Travel / Hospitality 5%
Corporate strategy 29%
Healthcare 4%
Operations 27%
Government / Public sector 3%
Training / development 27%
High tech 3%
Market research 21%
Consumer goods 2%
Digital marketing 20%
Education 2%
Digital transformation 20%
Media / Entertainment 2%
Design / UX 17%
Utilities 2%
Offline marketing 12%
Other 19%
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How many employees are there in your company?
0 100 101 250 251 500 501 1000 1001 2500 2501 5000 5001+
18% 8% 9% 9% 13% 13% 30%

Which region(s) are you responsible for?
15% North America UK only 22%

7%
1% Central America Europe 22%

13%
4% Latin America EMEA 22%

7%
19% Other 22% Global APAC 22%

13%
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Who is responsible for investing in new What is your companys annual budget
How many years of CX practice do you have?
CX initiatives, products and services? for CX solutions?
$0 -
17% $50,000
34%
11% I am
Less than 1 year 62%
I am part of $50,000
14%
the influencing $100,000
team
32% $100,000
1 5 years 11%
$250,000
$250,000
21% $500,000
14%
5 10 years
$500,000
10%
$1 million
36% 11% $1 million

10+ years 8%
My direct manager $2.5 million
10% More than

I have no influence 9%
over investment $2.5 million
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KEY TAKEAWAYS
INDUSTRY INDUSTRY INVESTMENT DIGITAL CHANNEL

TRENDS CHALLENGES PRIORITIES TRANSFORMATION INTEGRATION
The top three predicted This years top challenges In our 2016 research we Last year saw a large Looking at where organisations
trends from the practitioner for customer experience discovered alignment predicted increase of are when it comes to the
side have, interestingly, leaders sees little change between the predicted organisations moving from integration of their customer
remained the same compared from the 12 months prior, industry trends and where the established to the contact channels, the majority
to last year. Long-term with building a customer-first CX leaders were focusing advanced stages of their are currently split between
trend customer loyalty and culture still topping all three their investments, so its digital transformation. At having just one or two channels
retention still reigns at lists. Linking customer interesting to see that the time, 24 per cent of in place and having a mul-
the top, closely followed by experience initiatives to ROI while customer loyalty and businesses aimed to be in ti-channel model, with just 9
digital and data & analytics. is a new entry to the top retention is still the top the established phase in per cent agreeing they have
Channel integration is a five, consistently appearing trend, more investments 2017 and 15 per cent in the a consistent and seamless
new entry to the top five, in the second spot across are actually going towards mature one. Theyve far omni-channel experience.
with CRM having dropped all three prediction lists. customer journey mapping. exceeded their expectations, However, the plan for 2017 is
off entirely. The vendors Last year this only made the This highlights how many as the established category encouraging with 49 per cent
surveyed for this years list of predictions from the of the predicted trends has grown significantly from of businesses aiming to offer
trends unsurprisingly have solution providers so itll be link into one another. After 21 per cent of organisations their customers a multitude
tech front of mind when it interesting to see if any of all, a successful customer in 2016 to 39 per cent this of channel choices and 32
comes to their top predictions, the other challenges cited journey mapping strategy is year and the advanced one per cent aiming to achieve a
with buzzwords AI and by them this year - such as build by utilising data and from a mere 5 per cent to a true omni-channel model.
chatbots making an emergence customer data management analytics effectively (the decent 16 per cent in 2017. Though the majority of
in their answers; an en- and recruitment - will also third investment priority in Encouragingly, their plan for businesses admit they dont
tirely new entry into the come to pass in the next this years top ten) and will the next 12 - 18 months is differentiate between
lists compared to the 2016 12 months. Additionally, ultimately lead to a higher for the advanced category multi-channel and
results. And, lastly, industry creating actionable insights, retention rate as customers to double to 32 per cent omni-channel internally yet
commenters and analysts are managing customer data and are more satisfied and for the mature stage to - so this is something that
data-focused with both data ensuring channel consistency with the experience they increase by more than half needs addressing before
& analytics and customer appear across the lists, receive as a result of good from 6 to 14 per cent. they can achieve their
insight making their top three. highlighting this years focus journey mapping practice. omni-channel goals for 2017.
on data & analytics.
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TRENDS Top predicted trends for 2017
In our survey we asked respondents what they predict will be the biggest trends impacting the customer experience industry in the next 12-18 months. It has been
interesting to compare the top answers for each audience category to see where they are aligned and where opinions differ, in addition to comparing the results
year-on-year.
Top 3 CX trends practitioners predict Top 3 CX trends solution providers predict Top 3 CX trends industry commenters predict
to impact their role: will impact the industry: will impact the industry:
Customer loyalty and retention 36% Artificial intelligence / Chatbots 32% Data and analytics 45%
Digital customer experience 35% Channel integration 31% Customer insight 30%
Data and analytics 29% Data and analytics 29% Employee engagement 26%
Channel integration 28% Digital customer experience 27% Customer loyalty and retention 23%
Employee engagement 27% Rising customer expectations 25% Digital customer experience 19%
Rising customer expectations 23% Emotional engagement 23% Channel integration 17%
Digital transformation 20% Customer loyalty and retention 20% Customer feedback 15%
Emotional engagement 19% Personalisation 19% Customer journey mapping 15%
Self-service 19% Digital transformation 18% Digital marketing 15%
Personalisation 14% Human-centred design 13% Personalisation 13%
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TRENDS Top predicted trends for 2017
Comparing the results of this years key trends to at Boohoo.com, advises that you need to put yourself engagement is to understand how your own people
that of 2016, the top three predictions from the in your customers shoes, regardless of channel. From feel about the service theyre providing and how they
practitioner side have, interestingly, remained the a contact centre perspective, she adds, you need to be feel about the organisation as a whole.
same. Long-term trend customer loyalty and aware of the reach of customers and avoid templated,
retention still reigns at the top, closely followed by canned responses when dealing with social contact Ask yourself the questions: How do other people see
the impact of digital and data & analytics. Channel channels. them? Is it a place they feel proud to work? They are
integration is a new entry to the top five, with CRM all factors that have a big influence on the engagement
having dropped off the list entirely. Tone of voice in keeping with the brand is imperative, employees feel.
particularly in the public space, Hill says, however,
Why does customer loyalty and retention consistently when dealing with issues getting the balance right She continues: Communication is key. Be clear about
top the trends list? Philippa Snare, EMEA Global between respectful, appropriate and on-brand can how long itll take and be upfront that it might not always
Business Marketing Director at Facebook, attributes be tricky. Examples of where companies have done run smoothly. Also invite people that know this stuff
this to the challenge of it not being built by just having it well are useful. And while giving employees license and have been involved before dont assume you can
a fantastic product or service. Instead, she says, its to take a risk and potentially get it wrong is scary, it is do it all yourself.
created by having a real connection with the customers the only way to come across as genuine.
where they feel the brand or service share the same You can have the grandest plans in the world but if
values as them, almost like a new way of looking at The vendors surveyed for this years trends unsurprisingly you dont describe them properly or take people with
corporate social responsibility. have tech front of mind when it comes to their top you its at your own peril. A lot of change management
predictions, with relatively new buzzwords AI and programmes focus heavily on tech and processes and
She explains: The millennial generation, especially, chatbots making an emergence in their answers; an getting to the finish line and the real fundamentals
is looking for companies that share their values and entirely new entry into the lists compared to the 2016 of employee engagement get lost.
ethics on how things are being produced and delivered. results.
Its the entire supply chain; how you get the product to And, ultimately, the top three trends all go hand-in-hand,
the person, which causes companies to re-evaluate. Human-centred design, personalisation and rising according to Justin Conry, Head of Transformation
Its more important than ever that people you partner customer expectations are also new, whereas (CRM) at Three Ireland. I think those three are
with reflect the same values you believe in. Customers employee engagement is a constant from last year, absolutely key, he says and they work together
then feel much more forgiving if a product or service continuing to appear in all prediction lists for the next very well for us. For example, it is only through using
has some points of failure in it. 12-18 months. data and analytics, correlated with CX data, that you
can really achieve proper robust customer loyalty. So
If youre looking to increase your focus on digital Caroline Wells, Head of Customer Insight and were investing in all three areas and are reacting to
customer experience, another key trend, Claire Hill, Projects at the Financial Ombudsman Service, the insights that were seeing from customers to
Customer Services and Customer Experience Director explains that the key to achieving that elusive employee reinvest further.
TRENDS 15 Ways in which CX leaders are preparing for the trends
We asked our practitioner respondents how they are preparing for these predicted trends, and key answers include examining best practices from similar organisations,
employee training and education, and finding the right vendor to partner with.
Switching to mobile platforms to engage with customers

Launching a pilot with a start-up to bring
new offers to our key markets
Examining best practices of

Seeking a vendor to aid with our transformation similar organisations
Reorganising
internal teams
Developing an internal
customer focus within Keeping
Joining our companys culture executives
customer experience Researching and understanding informed and
professionals trends and benchmarks engaged
organisations
Helping our
people understand
Reviewing changing technology
the purpose for the
and improving technology
changes, gaining their
Outsourcing digital capabilities already in-house
buy-in and moving the
where needed organisation
forward
Increasing interactions with customers
Looking into targeted investments

and initiatives Training and educating key employees to
support steady state after transformation
CHALLENGES Top challenges for 2017
The second part of our research was about the challenges faced by customer experience practitioners. What are the biggest stumbling blocks for them when they want
to increase the customer-centricity of their strategies and keep up with constantly rising customer expectations? We also asked the vendor and analyst communities
for their predicted top practitioner challenges so we were able to compare their answers, and assess perception versus reality.
Top 3 challenges as predicted by Top 3 CX challenges as predicted by

Top 3 CX challenges for practitioners:
solution providers: industry commenters:
Building a customer-first culture 39% Building a customer-first culture 39% Building a customer-first culture 43%
Linking CX initiatives to ROI 29% Linking CX initiatives to ROI 32% Linking CX initiatives to ROI 26%
Competition priorities 26% Creating actionable insights from data 26% Understanding the customer 22%
Moving from a product focus to customer focus 24% Understanding the customer 20% Creating actionable insights from data 20%
Creating actionable insights from data 21% Ensuring channel consistency 18% Digital transformation of the business 20%
Gaining senior management buy-in 18% Moving from a product focus to a customer focus 17% Gaining senior management buy-in 20%
Understanding the customer 18% Competing priorities 17% Managing customer data 20%
Ensuring channel consistency 16% Managing customer data 16% Ensuring channel consistency 17%
Digital transformation of the business 15% Digital transformation of the business 15% Recruiting the right people 17%
Upgrading / working with legacy systems 13% Recruiting the right people 14% Competing priorities 15%
CHALLENGES Top challenges for 2017
This years top challenges for customer experience Three Ireland. One of our core company values is We She explains: We are lucky to have an extremely
leaders sees little change from the 12 months prior, focus on the customer, so the CX programme was dedicated and focused group of people, so building
with building a customer-first culture still reigning pushing an open door in getting executive and employee a customer-first culture is definitely a massive focus
at the top of all three lists. While its good to see that support. I believe that building a customer-first culture area for us. Our customer feedback is reviewed on a
this continues to be a key focus area for organisations, and CX can live harmoniously within most company weekly basis by our executive team. We dont just give
why is this still a challenge? cultures. And that for me is the key. it lip service, but also funding, support, and authority
to do what we need to do. I think we are slightly ahead
Caroline Wells, Head of Customer Insight and So how can businesses go about integrating this into of the curve, maybe thats too bold, but I certainly
Projects, explains: Businesses can struggle to their existing culture? think were in a very good position.
really hold onto a customer-first culture as it tests
endurance to the limit if you do everything you can Conry explains that it is important to understand the Linking customer experience initiatives to ROI is a
and people dont respond how you want them to. prevalent culture of your organisation first and then new entry to the top five, consistently appearing in the
consider how to entwine CX within that, as opposed to second spot across all the prediction lists. Last year
So how can you make customers respond to your efforts? replacing the existing culture. After all, all companies this only made the list of predictions from the solution
have their own unique culture or identity, which is very providers so itll be interesting to see if any of the other
Wells says its a continual look at what is reasonable, often what makes them successful. challenges cited by them this year such as customer
whats expected, and how far you want to go to data management and recruitment will also come
delight people. She advises not to chase a pot of gold to pass in the next 12 months.
at the end of a rainbow, but focus on real knowledge I believe that building a customer-first culture
of customers needs at each touch point, and not fall and CX can live harmoniously within most Though data in itself does appear in all three top ten
into the trap of assuming you know what they need. company cultures. lists, with creating actionable insights on the back of
Sometimes the simple answer is to give your customers the customer information gathered being a challenge
what they want - and leave the bells and whistles to that has really gathered traction in the last year.
another, more appropriate time. He concludes: My advice is: dont seek to replace
that secret sauce with CX seek to have CX work with Richard Tate, Head of Digital Insight at EE, shares his
In addition to giving customers what they want (which it, to improve it, to offer a further edge and ultimately top tip for overcoming this obstacle: For me interpreting
might not always be possible in todays environment competitive advantage. the data is the easy part, but telling the story is the
of the entitled customer), how can companies go thing you have to crack. It starts with the message -
about creating a customer-first company culture? Aisling McCarthy, Head of Customer Experience and be really clear about what action the insight should
Operations Improvement at Bord Gais Energy, further drive, understand who your audience is and tailor the
For us, the customer-first culture is very important, adds that creating a customer-first culture is an message for that audience. Always be clear in your
says Justin Conry, Head of Transformation (CRM) of opportunity, rather than a challenge. mind what outcome you are looking for.
CHALLENGES 15 Changes that can help practitioners overcome these challenges
We asked our practitioner respondents what can help them overcome the cited challenges and key answers include more clarity from solution providers on the value of
their products, hiring a cross-functional manager at the very top and case studies from other organisations.
Practical guidelines and

more free tool kits to drive Case studies of what has
Bringing in
experience management Better clarity from worked for other organisations
an external
vendors on what value agency
their product delivers
Having digital natives
Leadership on board
change
Having access to the right technology and people
resources to help with meaningful data and using it
to influence change
Willingness by
Constant team management to
building and lead by example Breaking
engagement A faster pace of change across the organisation down the
organisational
silos
Streamlining
Implementation of a cross-functional Find an IT solution to avoid the
processes
manager at C-suite level legacy integration nightmare
Bringing in an external agency Effective recruitment and the right talent
CHALLENGES Top tips to overcome the biggest CX challenges
We asked our customer experience community to share their top pieces of advice for organisations facing one of the challenges found in this years research and you
can find their top tips below.
On linking CX investments to ROI On creating actionable insights from data
Often customer requirements for customer experience products and services can be summarised as - faster, For data and analytics its the implementation and then driving
better, cheaper. Companies that are unable to deliver a measurable return on investment will not be able to the usage and integration with existing systems that I see
make a case for their work. To create ROI proof points it is not sufficient to just collect customer feedback and most companies struggle with - especially if they are not digital
present the data at the end of the project. natives and have large legacy systems that need to be navigated.
The cost of not addressing this quickly is where unseen pain,
One can only operate sustainably, by not solely conducting classical customer satisfaction surveys, but by also delays and cultural rejection can come. Ultimately the success
integrating unstructured data, social media feedback and additional organisational figures into an automated or failure of the tools you implement are often at the
real time analysis, which derives concrete measures. With the support of modern software these measures can much-underestimated resistance of existing muscles both
be forwarded to the relevant employees and the implementation of these monitored. infra and culturally. My tips to overcome this challenge are:
Stephan Thun - CEO International, MaritzCX 1 Reserve one day per quarter as a contacts amnesty; surrender
your contacts into the system, clean your details and update
your loved ones. You would never let a good friends contact
details go stale, so dont do that at work.
On building a customer-first culture
2 See if you can get anyone that would be happy to keep your
At Three, we are very lucky as the executive team was supportive from the very start and indeed centred much database clean there are plenty of people who are highly
of our company strategy around building advocacy from our customers. I think that intrinsically executives capable and just dont want full-time hours. Find them, ask
understand the value of CX, what it delivers in terms of loyalty and what that then delivers in terms of the them and work with your legal or HR team to do this well. Its
bottom line. My advice would be to keep it pretty simple and dont over - engineer things in terms of explanations. more cost effective than you think.
Obtain clear and consistent CX measurement and dont seek to change what you measure too much, as it
dilutes the insight. Having obtained credibility and consistency on the measures, the key is to actually make 3 Start small, even if it is just one area of your business, like
positive changes based on insights and let the data inform strategy, plan and tactics, creating a virtuous circle events leads, or existing customers, or an email newsletter.
of insight - action - insight. Use the motions you have to ask customers to update themselves.
Most customers now are used to this and its in their interest
I believe that a customer-first culture, if done correctly, can lead to a better employee experience and customer if they understand why, or what will be better as a result.
experience pure and simple, and that will lead to you keeping your customers longer and selling them more.
Philippa Snare -
Justin Conry - Head of Transformation (CRM), Three Ireland EMEA Global Business Marketing Director, Facebook
INVESTMENTS Top investment priorities for 2017
For the third key area of our annual research, we asked our practitioner survey respondents for their three biggest investment priorities for the next 12-18 months, and
our vendor and analyst communities to predict these investments. This provides insights into whether actual investments align with industry predictions, or whether
there are any surprises on the lists.
Top 3 CX investment Top 3 predicted CX investments as Top 3 predicted CX investments as

priorities for practitioners: predicted by solution providers: predicted by industry commenters:
Customer journey mapping 32% Data and analytics 36% Data and analytics 45%
Customer loyalty and retention 27% Customer journey mapping 31% Customer insight 30%
Data and analytics 23% Channel integration 27% Employee engagement 26%
CRM 23% Customer loyalty and retention 23% Customer loyalty and retention 23%
Voice of the customer 22% Voice of the customer 18% Online customer experience 19%
Online customer experience 21% Customer insight 17% Channel integration 17%
Customer insight 20% Personalisation 17% Customer feedback 15%
Channel integration 18% Employee engagement 16% Customer journey mapping 15%
Customer feedback 16% Online customer experience 16% Digital marketing 15%
NPS 15% Cloud services 14% Personalisation 13%
INVESTMENTS Top investment priorities for 2017
In last years research we discovered a full alignment between To help tackle this challenge and ensure an investment in the data and analytics area will actually
the predicted industry trends and where customer experience result in business success, she shares three tips for organisations to take into consideration when
leaders were focusing their investments, so its interesting to making this investment:
see that while customer loyalty and retention is still the top
trend, more investments are actually going towards customer
journey mapping first, though still closely followed by loyalty 1
and retention as the second biggest investment priority for the Reserve one day per quarter as a contacts amnesty; surrender your contacts into the system,
next 12-18 months. clean your details and update your loved ones. You would never let a good friends contact details
go stale, so dont do that at work.
This highlights the previously integrated approach mentioned by
2
Justin Conry from Three Ireland and how many of the predicted
trends link into one another. After all, a successful customer See if you can get anyone that would be happy to keep your database clean there are plenty
journey mapping strategy is built by utilising data and analytics of people who are highly capable and just dont want full-time hours. Find them, ask them and
effectively (the third investment priority in the top ten) and will work with your legal or HR team to do this well. Its more cost effective than you think.
ultimately lead to a higher retention rate as customers are more
satisfied with the experience they receive with the seamless 3
cross-channel experience as a result of the journey mapping Start small, even if it is just one area of your business, like events leads, or existing customers,
practice. or an email newsletter. Use the motions you have to ask customers to update themselves. Most
customers now are used to this and its in their interest if they understand why, or what will be
While data and analytics is the second-biggest investment priority better as a result.
for the industry in the coming year (even rating top in the
prediction lists from solution providers and analysts), our research
into the biggest challenges for the customer experience industry has Looking at the remainder of the investment priorities for the next 12-18 months, little has changed
also shown that while the willingness to spend money in this area from last year with a continuous focus also on CRM, the online customer experience, customer insight
is there - organisations have a long way to go to making it a success. and the voice of the customer.
For data and analytics its the implementation and then The only noticeable difference in the three lists on the previous page is that while both solution
driving the usage and integration within existing systems that providers and analysts predicted an investment focus on personalisation, this isnt a priority for the
I see most companies struggle with especially if they are not practitioner community just yet or at least not as much of one as the other investment areas cited.
digital natives and have large legacy systems that need to be This will, perhaps, be an area of focus that wont become more evident until next years research.
navigated, explains Philippa Snare, EMEA Global Business
Marketing Director, Facebook.
INVESTMENTS Practitioner investment priorities by function No budget /

Im not going to invest in this
Up to 100k
101k 500k
Customer experience investment priorities: 501k+
60%
48% 50%
46% 46%
40% 38%
33% 35% 35%
31%
17%
12% 10% 13% 12% 13%
6% 7% 5% 3%
0%
Customer loyalty and retention Customer centricity Customer feedback Channel integration Voice of the customer
Contact centre investment priorities:
60%
54%
47% 46% 46% 47%
40% 43%
38% 41%
28%
11% 13% 12%

6% 7% 9%
0% 2% 1% 3% 6%
Training and development Self-service Live chat Social media engagement Quality assurance / monitoring
Customer insight, data & analytics investment priorities:
60%
55% 57% 55%
50% 52%
43%
33% 35% 35%
30%
8% 7% 5% 5% 6% 9%
0% 4% 4% 3% 4%
Customer insight Customer data and analytics Business intelligence & reporting Social insights & analytics Customer segmentation
INVESTMENTS Practitioner investment priorities by function No budget /

Im not going to invest in this
Up to 100k
101k 500k
501k+
Digital social investment priorities:
60%
47% 48% 45% 48%

40% 41% 42% 43% 40%
36%
11% 15% 13%

6% 4% 2% 5% 2% 7% 4%
0%
Online customer experience User experience Digital content development Conversion and optimisation Digital design
Marketing investment priorities:
60%
57%
51%
44% 44%
37% 40% 37% 30%
36% 35%
18% 13%
9% 9% 11%
7% 8%
5% 5%
0% 2%
Brand strategy Content marketing CRM Digital marketing Influencer marketing
INVESTMENTS Top tools, tech and vendors practitioners are looking at
Top tools and technology practitioners are looking to Top solution providers practitioners are looking to
implement in the next 12 - 18 months include: work with in the next 12 - 18 months include:
NPS measurements INTERACTIVE VOICE

RESPONSE
Chatbots Video
FEEDBACK MANAGEMENT PLATFORMS chat
SELF SERVICE
Social customer service
MARKETING AUTOMATION WORKFORCE
PLANNING
SPEECH ANALYTICS SOFTWARE
LIVE CUSTOMER SATISFACTION

CHAT RESEARCH
PREDICTIVE Omni-channel
ANALYTICS solutions
Voice biometrics
Customer segmentation
INVESTMENTS Top investment challenges for 2017
We also asked our survey respondents what their top three obstacles are in making their investment priorities a realisation. The results are summarised below.
50% 41% 39% 39% 24%

Demonstrating Finding Integration into Integration into Complicated internal
ROI budget company culture existing tools sign-off process
21% 20% 9% 6% 3%
Lack Gaining board Too much noise in Getting regional Unavailability of
of time level buy-in the vendor market sign-off technology
Other challenges mentioned by the practitioners include market readiness, quality Caroline Wells, Head of Employee Engagement at the Financial Ombudsman Service,
of providers and the need for a company-wide change of mind-set. explains: Customer experience has historically been a separate thing that people
do. If you talk to a number of people from the same organisation but in different
In comparison to last year, gaining board-level buy-in has dropped down, showing roles, CX doesnt gravitate towards them.
an increase in senior-management understanding of the overall value of a
customer experience focus. The new entrant into the top three is integration into To help battle that challenge she advises that any good model has CX at the heart
the company culture, highlighting that now the C-suite is bought in the rest of the of the business strategy, rather than sitting outside the main function. And she says
company needs to follow suit. you should always involve people throughout the entire process, rather than bringing
them in at the end to rubber stamp it.
DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION Where are organisations on their digital transformation journey?
Current stage:
9% 30% 39% 16% 6% 0%

Non-existent
Pre-deployment
Early implementation
Established
Plan for 2017: Advanced
Mature
3% 10% 36% 32% 14% 5%
Last years plans saw a large predicted increase of organisations moving from the a success. One of the key elements he highlights is not being afraid of the changes
established to the advanced stages of their digital transformation. At the time, 24 and actually listening to what customers are asking for.
per cent of businesses aimed to be in the established phase in 2017 and 15 per cent
in the mature one. And when it comes to keeping the customer at the heart of your digital transformation
strategy he adds: Theres one golden rule for us, which is to make the customers
Theyve far exceeded their expectations, as the established category has grown life easy. We call that a frictionless experience and that is the true goal of our digital
significantly from 21 per cent of organisations in 2016 to 39 per cent this year and strategy.
the advanced one from a mere 5 per cent to a decent 16 per cent.
Aisling McCarthy, Head of Customer Experience and Operations Improvement at
Encouragingly, their plan for the next 12-18 months is for the advanced category to Bord Gais Energy, also says its important to not focus on your own problem but on
double to 32 per cent and for the mature stage to increase by more than half from your customers problem when youre going through a transformation.
6 to 14 per cent.
Its about the customer and the problem your customer is trying to solve. And
Justin Conry is the Head of Transformation at Three Ireland and he shares his advice make sure you meet that need, she concludes.
for organisations in the middle of their digital transformation to help make sure its
DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION Reaching the next level on the digital transformation journey
While it is encouraging to see that many organisations are looking to progress to the next level on their digital journey, with an especially large jump from the
pre-deployment to early implementation and established to the advanced categories in 2017, it can be a challenge to reach that next stage.
We asked our survey respondents what would be the main areas of focus to help them reach the next level in their digital transformation journey and the answers are as follows:
Replacing Seeing ROI Finding

Increasing
legacy systems from current the right
budget
and processes initiatives technology
17% 12% 10%
18% 16% 11% 9%

Having
Learning from Having
buy-in from
others who have senior-management
cross-functional
done this already buy-in
teams
Other answers include: finding the right people to develop the necessary competencies tools arent necessarily compatible with existing systems and processes, theyre so
to lead in a new environment, understanding key moments of truth for customers, new there are only a few (or no) case studies out there to learn from, and theyre
and getting the right people on board. still very expensive so budget is a key issue as well.
Comparing this years result to our last report, we see an almost entirely new top Last year the focus was much more on gaining cross-functional buy-in and having
three, with the struggle of replacing legacy systems and processes, as well as the to prove the ROI of these new digital transformation investments, this time around
need for more budget, both being new entrants to the list. its much more established and employees across different levels of the organisation
understand the value, but its getting access to the necessary tools to make the
The top three highlight the rapid change in technology weve seen in the industry in transformation a success that is the biggest obstacle on the road to success.
the last 12 months and the struggle CX leaders have keeping up with it. The new
DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION Why CX is at the heart of digital transformation
Businesses are struggling to adjust to empowered The future of customer experience and digital
customers and their demands. There are changes transformation is about data, insight and action
businesses must embrace in order to stop asking across the customer journey. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
customers to adapt to company processes or technology
constraints. Additionally, new competitive threats The essence of putting digital at work in a
are not only disrupting existing business models, transformative way is to ensure that data and Sheryl Kingstone is the Research Director of
but also providing faster speeds to market, proven insight are embedded into an automated process, Business Applications at 451 Research, which
agility and superior experiences. Lastly, data is a connecting divisions, back office and front office, to covers the rapid evolution of business applications
critical component to delivering contextually driven eliminate manual processes to more effectively and how they serve in a digitally transformed
engagement. engage customers, partners or employees. As a world. Technologies and applications have a
result, businesses must invest in new technologies profound effect on employees, customers and
These driving factors have given a voice to customers and processes to enhance customer experience. partners as businesses transition from digitisation
who now expect businesses to rise to the occasion. to true transformation.
In this new world order, delivering a differentiated
experience is not a luxury but a necessity to survive A veteran industry analyst, Kingstones research
Customers want to communicate on their terms
as a customers experience is an essential opportunity focuses on improving the customer experience
using their preferred channels.
for real competitive differentiation. across all interaction channels for customer
acquisition and loyalty. As part of the 451 Research
With the age of the customer upon us, how can team she helps businesses make decisions
businesses provide a frictionless customer experience? However, businesses today have primarily invested in regarding the use of customer experience
One of the major benefits of the digital transformation systems of record such as legacy CRM and ERP. While technology, business processes and data, to
is the ability for businesses to achieve a much closer these systems are critical for managing internal boost revenue and optimise business performance.
relationship with the customer. operational processes, they are typically monolithic,
expensive and time consuming to modify.
In the age of the customer, businesses must make Omni-channel orchestration
critical adjustments to their customer experience Now, companies must complement systems of record
that aligns with the overall digital shift in order to with systems of engagement that are more agile to Omni-channel is best described as a seamless, connected
remain relevant in the eyes of customers, partners provide a frictionless customer experience. The experience across all channels of consumer interactions
and employees alike. The Global State of Customer following are three trends driving technology from retail store, social, email and voice to SMS,
Experience research shows that more than half of investments that represent a shift in meeting web and the latest mobile applications (in-app) as
CX practitioners are in the early planning and demands in the age of the customer. well as integration of back-end processes such as
implementation stages of digital transformation. pricing and inventory.
DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION Why CX is at the heart of digital transformation
The approach is critical for delivering a new Customers also prefer mobile customer service. The process for prescriptive action. Business must capitalise
generation of customer engagement that goes beyond mobile phone has climbed 12 per cent as the preferred on comprehensive, real-time data for a more complete
traditional CRM to deliver a truly effective customer channel for customer service in the last four years, picture of the customer. It will help with analysing and
experience. Its about a connected, contextual experience while the traditional channels for customer service visualising the customers and prospects with precision,
on any channel. such as home telephone and email have plummeted. and with richer psychographic, geographic and
behavioural insight.
Unfortunately, most companies still treat each channel However, there are times where self-service and new
as a separate silo, creating multiple communications mobile channels do not produce the expected results. Putting digital transformation to work
streams for each. Many companies have more than 30 At this point, businesses must provide the option to
application sources across customer, employee and escalate to another channel. Customers want to be Organisations must streamline the process that
product data scattered across areas such as e-Commerce, able to easily switch between channels, depending on customers use to interact with a business to ensure
marketing automation, content management, point of their context in the broadest possible sense: where that the systems used for customer engagement
sale, customer service and order management. Now they are, which device they are using, the nature of enhance the process and provide accurate information
add to that all the new channels of interaction, including situation, the urgency and personal preferences. sharing with various back-end systems of record.
mobile, social and chat, the result is an IT nightmare
across systems, applications and data repositories. Systems of engagement demand
intelligent software One of the major benefits of the digital transformation
Consequently, many businesses are looking toward is the ability for businesses to achieve a much
orchestration tools that can use business processes While context drives omni-channel, context-aware closer relationship with the customer.
and data more effectively. process-driven applications are the future. Cognitive
and self-learning systems as well as the data that
New channels of engagement drives them play an increasing role in the evolution of Access to information must be more responsive and
customer-facing business applications, whether this immediate in the age of the customer. The end goal
By unlocking information that is generated across is sales, service or marketing. Intelligent business is for businesses to phase out analogue and
multiple customer interactions and across several applications are really the only way to understand, paper-based processes, which are error prone and
channels and sources, customer expectations can be contextualise and embed data intelligently into business consumer manual effort.
exceeded. Customers want to communicate on their process.
terms using their preferred channels. Depending on However, the most important essence of embracing
the urgency, nature and overall context of the customers Business applications must transition to be not only digital in a transformative approach requires a layer
situation, self-service is one of the most important more agile and real-time, but also prescriptive to of intelligence to be embedded into processes that
engagement channels, with many interactions beginning capitalise on the data and the desired business connects divisions, back office and front office, to
on mobile devices. outcomes. The data layer is critical into the overall meet expectations in the age of the customer.
CHANNEL INTEGRATION Where are organisations with channel integration?
Current stage:
42% 49% 9%
We have one or two
customer contact
channels
We have a
multi-channel model
Plan for 2017: We have an
omni-channel model
19% 49% 32%
In todays digital landscape its important to offer customers a multitude of contact omni-channel takes this a step further by ensuring there is a consistent and seamless
channels, so they can choose the one theyre most comfortable with. However, movement from one touchpoint to the next. This is where having a solid customer
when it comes to the terminology for these channels our questionnaire brought insight strategy comes into place, as the available customer data will form the basis
up an interesting conundrum: while many said that they want to move from of creating that integrated experience across multiple touch points.
multi-channel to omni-channel, when asked directly the majority of businesses
dont actually differentiate internally between these two buzzwords, despite them On the next page we delve deeper into the differences between multi-channel and
having a vastly different meaning externally. omni-channel, highlighting cross-industry case studies showing the value of focusing
not only on having channel choice, but also on creating consistency to drive a better
Multi-channel refers to offering the customer a choice of channels, whereas overall CX.
CHANNEL INTEGRATION Multi-channel vs omni channel: Understanding the differences
What is the difference between creating and needs. A consumer may be introduced to a new product associated with digital platforms. For omni-channel
implementing a multi-channel strategy vs an via an email, then visit the website on their laptop, strategies to be successful customer trust not only
omni-channel strategy? And how can you use the review the product ratings online and visit the store needs to be enhanced, but educational efforts must
concept of omni-channel in your customer to gain further advice, before finally purchasing the be employed to ensure that consumers are comfortable
experience strategy? product on their mobile. using emerging digital technologies.
Multi-channel refers to companies using multiple A study by strategic marketing consultants at

channels (e.g. social media, email, PPC) to engage Organisations must ensure that the customer Imperial College Business School looked at
their customers, giving them an option to choose experience is consistent across the right omni-channel shopping behaviour of millennials
the channel of their choice. Omni-channel, however, channels, whether that be online or offline. across vertical sectors, including electronics, sports
is about viewing the entire experience and journey clothing, footwear and toys. The study, which consisted
through the eyes of the customer, optimising across of both quantitative and qualitative analysis, revealed
all channels (online or offline) so that it is seamless, This offers multiple opportunities for marketers to some interesting findings.
integrated and consistent. connect with their audience, but also raises a challenge
in that they must ensure interactions with their Electronics
Omni-channel realises that customers vary in their customers are kept consistent and seamless across
journey to purchase and that they may start at one all channels. In summary, omni-channel marketing Shopping behaviour differs based on the tangible and
channel and move through various others before they is about putting the customer at the centre of your intangible costs associated with the purchase. Young
reach the end point. So what is the difference? In simple strategy and if youre not focusing on it as much as consumers tend to inform themselves thoroughly before
terms, omni-channel is multi-channel done the way you could be then now is the time! purchasing expensive and more personal electronics.
its supposed to be.
Omni-channel insights across vertical markets Interviewees revealed that they typically need
Still not sure? reassurance on products such as TVs, laptops and
Omni-channel is proving to be one of the most cameras, preferring to go in store to see these items
The internet has changed the way consumers interact prominent tools for reaching consumers, particularly first. Additionally, a number of respondents revealed
with brands. They now have numerous options and the millennials who have, in a short time period, become that they attempted to research these products in
channels, which they can use to make and influence the ones to watch. Extensive research points to store but struggled to understand the technical lingo
their purchasing decisions. omni-channel as the marketing and sales strategy surrounding them.
of the future. However, there are many challenges in
To add to this, the increase in electronic devices such implementing an omni-channel strategy. The consulting team recommended brands use short
as laptops, tablets and mobile phones has given one minute how to videos, clearly demonstrating
consumers various options to satisfy their shopping One of the leading barriers is the lack of familiarity the benefits and limitation with specific products in
CHANNEL INTEGRATION Multi-channel vs omni channel: Understanding the differences
comparison to others. The research found that for products by sending a package that includes all deliveries must ensure that the customer experience is consistent
high involvement products, helpful staff with extensive and requires very few steps. across the right channels, whether that be online or
product knowledge is highly valued, whereas less offline.
expensive electronics purchases tend to be done Delivery option innovation is another area, which
online, as the evaluation is more focused on price and could help set retailers apart. More than 90 per cent
face-to-face advice is not needed. of respondents claimed to have used smart delivery Omni-channel is multi-channel done the way
at least once before in their purchases and 80 percent its supposed to be.
Sports clothing and footwear confirmed that they facilitate their decisions when
shopping online. The majority of these respondents
The clothing and footwear market was extremely had tried various delivery options, such as next day The experience and more significantly peoples
popular among the millennials who were surveyed, delivery, economy delivery, click and collect and expectations differ widely across various markets.
with 64 per cent of respondents buying clothes once a scheduled home delivery. 63 per cent of respondents As an organisation you must ensure that you have an
month or more. A majority of 75 per cent of respondents would choose an e-commerce platform over another understanding of your audiences expectations for
prefer to purchase in store, the main reason being if it offers smart delivery options. your products and company. In other words, have an
down to the shopping experience, the opportunity to understanding of what they value, narrow down the
test the product and to see how well it fits. When asked about click and collect, consumers recalled common journeys and ensure that you are providing
retailers Argos and John Lewis and the next day them with a consistent experience that will enable
The majority of respondents revealed that a typical delivery option was associated with Amazon Prime them to trust you.
journey for more expensive products involves the by a number of respondents. The research revealed
consumer first researching the item online, then visiting growing expectations for these delivery options, with Companies must go above and beyond to meet the
the store and finally purchasing the product online if consumers demanding more accurate, cheaper and rising expectations their customers have ensuring
available at a better price. convenient service. that they are always looking ahead in order to exploit
innovative opportunities. The research conducted by
Other key findings Conclusion Imperial Consulting Group found that organisations
that go the extra mile to make the customers life easier
The research found a number of features that act as Many organisations struggle to see the difference will be rewarded.
a bridge between online and offline shopping behaviour between a multi-channel and an omni-channel
that help accelerate consumers purchasing decisions. strategy. If this difference is not understood, companies Special thanks to the Imperial College Strategic
In the retail sector, flexible return features was will inevitably fall behind. Omni-channel is about Marketing Consulting Group for sharing their
mentioned quite frequently, with a number of understanding that although they have similarities, research findings with us: Mayssa Abed, Irene Casaburi,
respondents using ASOS as an example of a company every consumer is different in regards to their journey Salma Gaber, Shay Khosrowshahi, Karim Mamlouk,
that allows their customers to conveniently return and their expectations are greater than ever. Organisations Devora Mateeva.
INDUSTRY LEADERS The leaders within customer experience
When we talk about the leaders within the industry, all too often the same few names pop up again and again. But they arent the only exemplary organisations, as our
research has found. We asked all our survey respondents practitioners, solution providers and analysts who they admire most when it comes to the customer
experience provided and you can view the most mentioned organisations below.
INDUSTRY LEADERS What can you learn from the industry leaders?
In our research we asked why these organisations are at the forefront of customer experience. How do they stand out? What are they getting right? According to the
responses they are pro-active, consistent, transparent, continuously exceeding expectations and provide proper employee training.
Take a note of the answers below and make an effort to incorporate these measures into your own organisation. Combine them with the industry developments and insights
highlighted within this report to create a greater experience for your customers, and by doing so maybe your organisation will be cited as one of the leaders in next years report.
This organisation is getting their customer experience right by:
Spotify have the

The Walt Disney Uber provides consistently
Amazon creates a right data and use it
Company truly has the great experiences, asks
personalised omni-channel intelligently to suggest
wow-factor in addition for feedback and genuinely
experience and provides an options for customers
to a close connection to seems to care about the
immediate response that actually matter to
their customers experience
them
Dominos has order tracking,

Caterpillar has a Cool Blue Zappos really listens
seasonal marketing, fantastic
multi-channel approach personalises their to their customers and
renewal-based schemes and
coupled with employee clear strategy and have has the right technology
a social strategy that adheres
engagement across functions an internal cultural to help them
perfectly to their demographic
alignment
INDUSTRY LEADERS Inside the most customer-centric team at Aegon
Iain OConnor leads the customer Yes, those are definitely priorities I recognise. Another subsequent behaviour of these customers and compare
experience and insight team at Aegon I would add to that would be employee engagement. to control groups. Tracking commercial value of CX
UK. He has extensive financial This is a big focus for Aegon and from attending conferences initiatives is often a long-term commitment rather
services experience, having joined and CX events Im seeing more and more companies than a quick result.
Aegon in 2014 from Royal Bank of make the link between engaged employees and first
Scotland where he spent 10 years and held various class customer experience as part of their core CX The biggest challenge CX practitioners face today
CX roles. While at RBS, OConnor also led many large strategy. is building a customer-first culture. As the winner
scale insight studies, including multi-channel CSAT of the most customer-centric team across the
(customer satisfaction), NPS (net promoter score) Do you have advice for CX professionals to help them global Aegon Group in 2016, this is clearly a challenge
and mystery shopping. make the most of a focus on one of these trends as youre well on your way to achieving. What are the
part of their wider strategy? key steps youve taken to help you with this?
Since joining Aegon, Iain has developed the CX and Insight
team to deliver significant improvements in cross-channel It sounds obvious, but when focusing on customer We have a vision and values at Aegon that are very
NPS and a more customer-focussed culture across the loyalty and retention its not enough to just track CSAT well communicated and bought into at all levels of the
organisation, including the recent launch of a new CX of NPS numbers without linking to commercial value.By organisation. Our stated purpose is to help our
Lab and CX Academy. In 2016 the team were judged showing the financial benefit of improving NPS its customers achieve a lifetime of financial security. One
independently by executives from leading European CX much easier to win buy-in from business leaders to of our core behavioural commitments supporting that
leading brands such as Heineken, Belron and Hotelschool make CX improvements. An improving NPS score is is customer centricity so every part of the organisation
as most customer-centric team across the global Aegon Group. always impressive, but nothing catches the eye quite should be able to demonstrate this in everything they do.
like the impact on the bottom line.
OConnor will be speaking at the CXForum 2017 in
London about improving feedback to provide lifetime That is a good point. Within the CX industry its not
value by establishing operational processes to close the always easy to demonstrate ROI of a proposed initiative
Technology has been vital to our CX
feedback loop. CX Network caught up with him ahead upfront, however. How do you go about showing the
of the event to discuss the key findings of The Global commercial value of a new CX initiative to senior
strategy and as trends continue to
State of Customer Experience 2017. management? develop at pace, the challenge will
be keeping up with new
Our research into the global state of customer An example would be tracking the retention value on developments and advances in line
experience found that the top three trends in CX today initiatives like our Aegon Cares closed loop feedback
with customer expectation.
are customer loyalty and retention, the digital customer process. We aim to convert NPS detractors to
experience, and data and analytics. Does this align promoters through that process and record the value
with your own experience? to Aegon of each new promoter. We can then track
INDUSTRY LEADERS Inside the most customer-centric team at Aegon
Most companies have values so that in itself is not We dont necessarily use that terminology internally,
unique, however few actually deliver on them - whereas but we do try to ensure the same look, feel and
at Aegon we work hard to ensure we do that. consistency of message regardless of channel.
One of our core behavioural
This means that customer focus is evident in our Another hot topic within the industry right now is commitments is customer centricity
training, our internal communication and our ways digital transformation. How can CX professionals so every part of the organisation
of working each and every day. Its important too that ensure a successful transformation while keeping should be able to demonstrate this
when we make improvements for our customers we the customer at the heart of that strategy?
in everything they do.
make these as visible as possible.
Continuous customer testing is key. This sounds
Weve worked hard on engaging our front line teams obvious, but only by testing digital services thoroughly
on CX improvement and empowered staff to make decisions with customers can companies ensure online behaviour By capturing and measuring customer feedback as
and bring forward ideas on how we can improve further. doesnt throw up any nasty surprises. Designing digital well as consolidating relevant customer data held in
services based on customer behaviour and requirements other business systems, our frontline employees have
An area of responsibility for you at Aegon is is really the only way to ensure digital services meet access to a more comprehensive view of the
multi-channel, which is one of the key focusses customer needs and perform effectively. customer. I do think, however, as technology
within the research at the heart of this report.Where continues to advance, the quality of human
are you on the journey to channel integration? When it comes to the 2017 trends and challenges interaction will also become even more important
mentioned above, as well as channel integration and for market leading CX.
This is a key priority for us, we want our customers digital transformation, what has been the
to have the same first-class experience whether they importance of technology in helping to support Very true. Weve heard the phrase automation vs
contact us by phone, online, email or via web-chat.We your overall CX strategy? personalisation often, but this is very much a balance
measure transactional NPS on all front, back and that should be found between the tools and
digital customer touch-points and have detailed Technology has been vital to our CX strategy and as employees to create a powerful CX. How do you aim
action plans in place for each - these help us trends continue to develop at pace, the challenge will to achieve that balance for your customers?
understand where we have improvement needs and be keeping up with new developments and advances
help us ensure we provide a consistent level of service in line with customer expectation. This is an exciting To use a simple example, weve embraced web chat
regardless of channel. challenge for the industry and at Aegon weve for some time now and have had some great results
embraced developments and continuously improve through that channel.The trend might be to increase
Do you differentiate between multi-channel vs our digital services. Even using the right technology automation at all touch points but when personalisation
omni-channel internally? If so, how do you define internally as enabled us to achieve greater customer is required, the quality of response by our staff can
the difference? insights. still be a big differentiator for us.
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The Global State of CX 2017

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The Global State of CX 2017

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THE GLOBAL STATE OF

CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE 2017

In asscociation with: Independent knowledge partner:

INTRODUCTION CHALLENGES CHANNEL INTEGRATION

Contents 2 Top challenges for 2017 13 Where are organisations with 27

About the contributors 3 overcome these challenges Multi-channel vs omni-channel:

Foreword by Forrester 4 Top tips to overcome CX challenges 16 Understanding the differences

ABOUT THE RESEARCH 5 INVESTMENTS INDUSTRY LEADERS

Industry trends are looking at

Industry challenges Top investment challenges for 2017 22

Channel integration DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION ABOUT CX NETWORK

Where are organisations on their digital 23 Partner spotlights 34

TRENDS transformation journey? Join CX Network 35

the trends Why CX is at the heart of digital transformation 25

ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTORS

PHILIPPA SNARE Zarina de Ruiter graduated with a BA in Journalism

ABOUT THE RESEARCH

ABOUT THE RESEARCH: Practitioner responses

Customer experience 35%

Financial services 22%

ABOUT THE RESEARCH: Practitioner responses

How many employees are there in your company?

18% 8% 9% 9% 13% 13% 30%

15% North America UK only 22%

1% Central America Europe 22%

4% Latin America EMEA 22%

19% Other 22% Global APAC 22%

ABOUT THE RESEARCH: Practitioner responses

36% 11% $1 million

10% More than

INDUSTRY INDUSTRY INVESTMENT DIGITAL CHANNEL

TRENDS Top predicted trends for 2017

Emotional engagement 19% Personalisation 19% Customer journey mapping 15%

Self-service 19% Digital transformation 18% Digital marketing 15%

Personalisation 14% Human-centred design 13% Personalisation 13%

TRENDS Top predicted trends for 2017

TRENDS 15 Ways in which CX leaders are preparing for the trends

Switching to mobile platforms to engage with customers

Examining best practices of

Looking into targeted investments

CHALLENGES Top challenges for 2017

Top 3 challenges as predicted by Top 3 CX challenges as predicted by

CHALLENGES Top challenges for 2017

CHALLENGES 15 Changes that can help practitioners overcome these challenges

Practical guidelines and

Bringing in an external agency Effective recruitment and the right talent

CHALLENGES Top tips to overcome the biggest CX challenges

On linking CX investments to ROI On creating actionable insights from data

INVESTMENTS Top investment priorities for 2017

Top 3 CX investment Top 3 predicted CX investments as Top 3 predicted CX investments as

Customer insight 20% Personalisation 17% Customer feedback 15%

NPS 15% Cloud services 14% Personalisation 13%

INVESTMENTS Top investment priorities for 2017

INVESTMENTS Practitioner investment priorities by function No budget /

Contact centre investment priorities:

11% 13% 12%

Customer insight, data & analytics investment priorities:

INVESTMENTS Practitioner investment priorities by function No budget /

47% 48% 45% 48%

11% 15% 13%

Marketing investment priorities:

Brand strategy Content marketing CRM Digital marketing Influencer marketing

INVESTMENTS Top tools, tech and vendors practitioners are looking at