Rethinking digitalisation and embracing customer centrality

In a world where everything is just a click away, consider your last online shopping experience. Perhaps you abandoned your cart because the website was too slow, or maybe you chose a different brand because their customer service was quicker and more helpful. This is the reality we live in—our expectations have evolved, and businesses must keep pace. The mantra “the customer is the boss” has become a guiding principle for companies striving to stand out in a crowded marketplace. From the urgency of same-day deliveries to the seamless integration of digital and in-store experiences, today’s consumers are demanding not just quality products but also exceptional service and engagement at every touchpoint. In this newsletter, Divya Anand, Associate Vice President, APAC Marketing at Tata Communications, delves into the critical importance of customer experience (CX) and how businesses can adapt their strategies to meet and exceed these new expectations.

Customers are undoubtedly placing greater value on their overall experience in this omnichannel environment. Seven in 10 customers consider customer experience (CX) a priority over price and quality, according to a PwC report. At the same time, research in the Time to Win study revealed that for 64 per cent of people, speed is just as important as price when making a purchase decision.

A 2023 CX trends report by Zendesk found that 80 per cent of business leaders are planning to increase customer service budgets over the next year, while 59 per cent of businesses in the Asia-Pacific are increasing their CX management investments to meet consumer needs, according to a CX Network report.

Leaders are committed to exploring new strategies to ensure that their CX is not just meeting changing consumer demands, but also surpassing them.

What is CX and why is it important?

CX refers to the entire customer journey, ensuring customers receive the best service, value and experience at any touch point. This encapsulates how the business engages with the customer, from the breadth of customer channels to the type of customer interactions.

By providing intuitive brand convergence, across all its communication platforms to deliver new positive brand experiences, businesses can position themselves favourably developing stronger brand affinity and customer retention and growth.

The convergence of digital experiences

The accelerated rate of digitalisation and the growth of digital experiences since the pandemic has resulted in a remarkable shift in attitudes towards CX standards compared to previous trajectories.

An important facet of customer experience is speed to delivery. Today, customer tolerance levels for service inefficiencies have plummeted, and new digital experiences are significantly amplifying the importance of omnichannel communications.

What technological strategies can businesses use to improve CX?

Businesses are learning to adapt to an accelerated growth path in understanding and pivoting to customer requirements. The challenge for businesses is to balance addressing the unique pain points of each segment (B2C / B2B2C) while also delivering hyper personalised, intelligent efficiencies to drive instant epiphanies across both physical and digital realms.

This means adopting a design thinking approach and taking a closer look at the technologies that companies use – from APIs to advanced artificial intelligence solutions to predictive analytics. These help build a framework of proactive customer engagement initiatives that are immersive and experiential and drive sustainable growth.

Harnessing customer input for future success

An important but sometimes overlooked aspect of CX is customer feedback and input.

How can you effectively co-create with your customers? Start by taking a step back from the solution, outcome or experience that you wish to offer and set up a specific goal. This helps businesses formulate strategies more clearly to augment current processes and develop greater capabilities surrounding existing business solutions.

With CX playing out across millions of potential touch points, businesses must take action to enhance CX and deliver the optimal experience and service quality that customers now expect to receive. With business outcomes strongly tied to customer centrality, leaders need to rethink their CX strategies to ensure the business has the capability to drive success.

Learn more about how Tata Communications can help you enhance your customer experience!