61% of ANZ companies indicate they are happy with their customer satisfaction capability, yet only 12% of their customers rate customer experience (CX) at 'advocacy' level, according to the latest research from NTT Ltd.
The tech services provider released its annual Global Customer Experience Benchmarking Report today, highlighting a key theme: that organisations are slow to respond to customer expectations.
The report also shows that, while 51% of ANZ firms connect data relationships between channels, this still leaves almost half of all companies operating 'blind' with no full view of the customer ecosystem.
"Increasingly we're seeing customers demanding more, from better experiences to more streamlined interactions through all touchpoints of their journey," says NTT Ltd general manager of CX business unit Australia Michael Slip.
"Providing exceptional CX is no longer a nice-to-have and businesses who listen to the needs and wants of their customers are often the ones who will stand out from the competition."
The research shows that a successful CX strategy improves customer and brand engagement, yet many organisations are still stuck in the developmental stage due to siloed technology systems, inexperience, and a lack of clear processes.
41% of ANZ organisations say their technology systems are failing to meet current needs.
Especially in the ANZ region, many teams also struggle with legacy systems (61%) and the integration of multiple technology systems (52%)
Almost two thirds (63%) of ANZ organisations agree there is only partial collaboration between functions when it comes to designing CX, and 21% of companies in ANZ don't collaborate at all.
82% of ANZ companies still have no cross-channel contact management strategy.
Just 7% of AI and robotics users in ANZ say customers rate their experience at advocacy level, exposing the gap between emerging technologies and satisfaction levels.
This demonstrates that businesses need to create a smart strategy which bases AI on optimum data.
Organisations must learn to fill the gap between data management and integration and prioritise an efficient data management platform.
But according to the NTT report, 21% of ANZ firms have no data management strategy at all.
Because of this, data is becoming increasingly difficult to manage. However, 64% of ANZ teams are evaluating and learning how to use available data.
An increasing number of organisations are moving towards the use of smart data to inform CX decisions but are often overwhelmed by this transformation.
Analytics is expected to be the top factor in reshaping the CX industry within the next five years, with a 61% market share predicted in ANZ.
This is closely followed by artificial intelligence (40%) technology integration (59%), and service personalisation (49%).
