Excerpt from Execs in the Know’s 2024 CX Leaders Trends & Insights Report Consumer Edition
ACT recently partnered with Execs in The Know on its 2024 CX Leaders Trends & Insights Report Consumer Edition. This survey of over 500 consumers highlights critical findings that demonstrate the importance of a holistic approach to the modern customer experience. The findings clearly indicate that a successful strategy in 2024 must go beyond individual touch points and instead focus on the integration of CX with the Employee Experience (EX), Multichannel Experience (MX), User Experience (UX), and Digital Experience (DX) for a seamlessly orchestrated Total Experience overall.
Below, we briefly explore what the survey data reveals about the interplay between these experiences and why organizations should adopt a Total Experience approach when addressing current consumer trends and expectations.
The Challenge of Customer Care Automation
Automation in customer service is no longer a futuristic concept; it’s a present-day reality that continues to gain momentum. From interactive voice response (IVR) systems to AI-driven chatbots, these technologies promise to resolve customer issues efficiently, 24/7. However, reliance on automation can lead to unintended outcomes, such as consumer frustration, reduced customer satisfaction, and a decrease in overall loyalty. The 2024 CX Leaders Consumer Report highlights that 52% of consumers feel frustrated when they are unable to reach a human agent after interacting with automated systems (page 14). This statistic underscores the importance of striking the right balance between automation and human interaction. The survey also shows that in live interactions, “poor agent quality” remains a top pain point for consumers as well (page 14). The Total Experience bridges this gap by integrating DX with other experience elements, ensuring that digital channels are supported by successful human interactions when necessary.
The Role of Data in CX
One of the most telling findings of the 2024 survey is that 42% of consumers find the most frustrating aspect of customer care to be the difficulty in reaching a live person. This frustration underscores the importance of effective Customer Experience management within the Total Experience. Siloed data and traditional reporting methodologies can exacerbate these issues, as they often fail to capture the nuances of customer interactions across channels. As a result, when a customer finally does reach a live agent, they expect the agent to already have knowledge of and/or access to information about their experience and prior interactions. Unfortunately, many agents face the daunting task of navigating multiple disparate systems to resolve the customer’s inquiry, resulting in friction for both customer and agent alike. By prioritizing the orchestration of customer interactions and ensuring that data is integrated across all touch points, the Total Experience helps businesses reduce these blind spots, making it easier for agents to provide customers with the help they need, deliver personalized service, and improve overall satisfaction (page 63).
Employee Experience (EX) and Its Impact on CX
A common oversight when examining the drivers of a positive customer experience is the employee experience. The survey highlights a crucial connection between EX and CX. The Total Experience emphasizes the importance of a motivated, well-trained, well-supported workforce to deliver high-quality customer interactions. By investing in EX and mapping the end-to-end employee experience, businesses can identify and remove process friction and better equip their contact center employees to meet customer needs, leading to improved outcomes for both customers and the organization (page 21). These tools enable the organization to impact customer experience in real time by placing the agent in a position to successfully address the customer’s request.
The Importance of Multichannel Experience (MX)
The survey highlights a need for better channel integration to ensure a seamless customer journey. Many customers start with self-help tools but often require voice-based interactions for resolution, pointing to the need for a cohesive Multichannel Experience strategy, offered by the Total Experience. Notably, only 38% of CX leaders measure across all channels, with 78% not comparing single-channel to multichannel journeys — creating blind spots that hinder a comprehensive understanding of the customer journey (page 18). A strong MX strategy offers the following benefits:
- Seamless Channel Integration and Enhanced Problem Resolution:
MX allows customers to transition smoothly across channels without losing context, ensuring consistency in information and service quality. This seamless integration is crucial for resolving complex issues, as the survey indicates that many customers require voice-based support after starting with self-help tools. Addressing these gaps in channel integration ensures that all relevant information is accessible across channels, leading to more efficient problem resolution and a more cohesive customer journey (page 19). - Consistency in Customer Interactions:
MX ensures consistent messaging and service standards across channels, building trust and reliability. The survey emphasizes the importance of this consistency to avoid customer frustration and loyalty erosion (page 19). - Personalized Interactions:
MX integrates data across channels to enable personalized service, addressing customer frustrations, especially when automated systems fail. The survey shows 52% of consumers are frustrated when unable to reach a human agent, highlighting the need for context-aware interactions (page 14). - Brand Loyalty:
A strong MX strategy fosters brand loyalty by delivering a seamless, satisfying experience across all channels, encouraging customers to remain loyal (page 19).
Digital Experience (DX) and Its Challenges
Despite significant investments in self-help digital tools, the survey shows that 58% of consumers feel their issues are too complex to be resolved by self-help solutions alone. Additionally, traditional metrics like Average Handle Time (AHT) and First-Call Resolution (FCR) may not fully capture customer frustrations, particularly those involving complex, multichannel journeys. This underscores the importance of integrating DX with UX and MX to provide a comprehensive solution that not only meets functional needs but also captures and addresses customer sentiment and emotional cues (page 43). A well-designed DX strategy offers the following benefits:
- Foundation for Modern Customer Interactions:
DX is often the first point of contact for customers. A positive DX can set the tone for the entire journey, while a poor one can quickly turn customers away (page 14). - Consistency Across Channels:
Consistency in DX across channels is key to maintaining brand integrity and preventing customer frustration. The survey underscores that inconsistency leads to negative experiences (page 19). - Personalization and Customer-Centric Design:
Personalized digital experiences are crucial for customer satisfaction. The survey reveals that customers expect tailored interactions, making personalization a key element of a strong DX strategy (page 43). - Data-Driven Insights:
DX allows for the collection of valuable data that can be used to refine strategies and better meet customer expectations. The survey highlights the importance of leveraging these insights (page 43). - Integration with Human Interaction:
DX is most effective when integrated with human support, allowing customers to transition seamlessly between digital and human interactions. The survey supports the need for this balance (page 14). - Impact on Overall Customer Satisfaction:
Ultimately, DX significantly influences overall customer satisfaction. A seamless, intuitive, and responsive digital experience can enhance customer satisfaction by meeting their needs quickly and effectively. Conversely, a poor DX can lead to frustration, dissatisfaction, and negative perceptions of the brand. In the Total Experience, DX is a key driver of customer satisfaction, working alongside other elements to create a holistic and positive experience. The survey underscores that DX is a key driver of customer satisfaction, with seamless and responsive digital experiences enhancing overall satisfaction (page 43).
Additional Considerations: Technologies to Elevate the Total Experience
ACT has adeptly tackled the challenges highlighted in the 2024 CX Leaders Trends & Insights survey by leveraging advanced AI-based tools that enhance every aspect of the Total Experience. Our AI-powered solutions optimize the agent experience by integrating and aggregating data across all touch points, providing a unified view of customer interactions, and a single-pane-of-glass dashboards to solve for the complexity of the agent Employee Experience. This integration allows us to draw real-time insights from customer experiences, and directly influence Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) real-time. By employing these sophisticated technologies, ACT ensures that both automated and human interactions are seamlessly orchestrated, resulting in a more cohesive and responsive service experience for our clients.
Conclusion: The Total Experience Formula™ a – Holistic Approach for 2024 and Beyond
The 2024 CX Leaders Trends & Insights Consumer Edition survey provides compelling evidence for the need for a holistic approach to customer experience. The Total Experience Formula™ integrates the critical components of EX, CX, MX, UX, and DX, creating a seamless and effective strategy that addresses the full spectrum of customer needs. By adopting this approach, businesses can not only meet the expectations of today’s consumers, but also set themselves up for long-term success in an increasingly complex CX landscape.
ABOUT ACT: ACT was founded 27 years ago on a winning formula – that the best solutions integrate Employee Experience (EX) + Customer Experience (CX) + User Experience (UX) + Digital Experience (DX) + Multi-experience (MX) for an outstanding Total Experience (TX) overall. We call it the Total Experience Formula™. Today, many of the world’s leading brands and Fortune 50 trust ACT to be an extension of their business to unlock their ability to respond quickly to rapidly changing competitive, business and compliance environments, to anticipate and scale for future needs, to outmaneuver their competition, to lower operating costs, to improve efficiencies, to drive revenue and increase customer engagement.
As a 100% employee-owned company, we have placed Employee Experience at the center of our business strategy because we know that engaged employees ensure the best customer outcomes. As shareholders in the business, our Employee Owners have a personal interest in delivering value to our clients, and their motivations are uniquely aligned to our clients’ success. When clients first come to us, we consistently find it to be an opportunity to transform their CX design and outcomes with a Total Experience approach, starting at the Employee Experience level.
ACT offers the operational expertise, technologies and best practices that you expect from a world-class BPO, combined with the innovative solutions, flexibility and individual attention that you can only get from a 100% employee-owned company. Learn more at our website www.acttoday.com.