A new global report released by CallMiner reveals that 70% of contact centre and customer experience (CX) decision makers acknowledge some improvements are needed to the ways their organisations use data to enhance CX. The inaugural CallMiner CX Landscape Report, conducted in partnership with Vanson Bourne, identifies how organisations today are collecting and acting on customer data to effectively overcome challenges, maximise opportunities and drive better experiences.

To drive positive CX, it’s necessary to gather the right data, yet according to the report, more than three in five (62%) respondents believe their organisation doesn’t collect all the data they need.

Only around one in 10 (12%) say their organisations collect about an equal amount of solicited feedback (for example, customer surveys) and unsolicited feedback (for example, customer interactions that happen within customer contact or service centres). And with 79% reporting that at least the majority of the feedback they collect is solicited and 44% reporting that all the feedback they collected is solicited, organisations are clearly missing out on a significant opportunity to gain a holistic view of CX.

Limited data collection and analysis is holding organisations back

While 100% of senior decision makers surveyed say they collect some data and feedback from customers about their experiences, organisations are still maturing when it comes to how they use that data. If organisations are going to drive improved CX, they must use innovative methods of customer data collection, while efficiently and effectively analysing data to uncover insights and intelligence that result in meaningful action.

The report found:

Almost all respondents (96%) surveyed say their organisations are using manual analysis to some extent, such as hand-coding feedback or aggregating data using Excel or PowerPoint. With so many still using manual processes, organisations aren’t maximising the potential of the data they’re collecting.
The majority (70%) say some improvements are needed to the ways their organisations use data to enhance CX. With only a portion (48%) actually recording calls and so few collecting an equal amount of solicited and unsolicited feedback, it’s clear most don’t have a complete view of CX.
Six in 10 (60%) say their organisations are unable to accurately track return on investment regarding customer data and feedback all of the time, which could be holding them back from understanding the value of their CX efforts.
Despite 94% of respondents believing their organisations are very customer-centric, more than half (58%) report that their organisations’ CX departments and teams are not completely aligned with the rest of the business.

As long as organisations have departmental silos and are using outdated methods to analyse customer data and feedback, they’ll be limited in their ability to identify key trends and adapt to customers’ needs – ultimately making it hard to connect the dots and drive enterprise-wide CX improvements that showcase the ROI of their efforts.

Employee experience plays an important role in CX

There’s strong agreement (99%) that the way employees deal with customers has a direct impact on the perception of the organisation’s brand, products or services. Similarly, the vast majority (99%) believe employee experience (EX) is at least somewhat important to the success of CX.

However:

While the majority (93%) of respondents report that their organisations use insight from the analysis of CX data to improve training, onboarding and coaching for customer service representatives, less than half (44%) are using unsolicited feedback sources to understand the experience of their employees.
Further, a third (34%) of those surveyed say customer service representative disengagement or lack of productivity is one of their top three biggest challenges.

Improving EX is critical to improving CX. Though organisations have started to take the steps to utilise data to drive employee satisfaction, engagement and retention, there is much to be done to close the gap in addressing the workforce challenges that ultimately impact CX.

AI is critical to the future of CX

Organisations clearly recognise the benefits of artificial intelligence. In fact, according to those who have or plan to implement AI, three of the areas that organisations say have been or will be positively impacted are how effectively departments can share insights and data with each other (41%), brand reputation and crisis management (38%) and employee engagement and productivity (36%).

Yet the report shows organisations still need more guidance and support to successfully invest in and implement this technology, and in turn reap the full scope of benefits they know to be possible.

According to the report:

AI has been widely adopted to collect and analyse data about CX and customer satisfaction, with 71% saying their organisations have at least partially implemented it. However, almost half (48%) of these organisations report that they aren’t fully realising the benefits.
The most common challenges faced by this group are that AI-powered technology is too expensive and organisations don’t have the budget (41%), or it’s too complex for them to implement and manage (41%).
The vast majority of all respondents (93%) believe AI will become very important or even critical to how their organisations approach CX in the future, making it vital for organisations to overcome these challenges.