New research has found that 36 percent of CMOs admit their brand still hasn’t invested in Customer Experience, despite 88 percent expecting a focused CX programme to yield long-term customer loyalty and increasing sales over time.
The survey of over 100 senior CX professionals from national and international brands of all sizes was carried out by digital agency AmazeRealise and forms part of its new report, The CX Challenge.
Seventy-seven percent of CMOs confessed that their business has spent less than one percent of its annual turnover on enhancing CX. The top three reasons cited for this lack of investment were: they didn’t know enough about it, the perceived cost of implementation, and that they had trouble building the business case for its positive impact based on results.
In addition, around one-in-five (22 percent) said the lack of investment came from organisational blockers and team structure and 11 percent blamed a lack of C-suite support and senior buy-in.
Chris Barnes, Customer Experience Officer at AmazeRealise, said: “There’s still a huge and growing gap between customer expectations and the reality of what brands are delivering, especially when you see smaller, more agile disruptors entering the marketplace and being able to be much more forward-thinking with their Digital Experience.
“According to Forrester research, CX improvements have stalled for a third year in a row. It’s clear that brands need to build trust with consumers, actually listen and take action.”
In spite of the lack of investment, the survey found that the long-term business benefits of dedicated CX programmes were well understood by all CMOs. As well as providing improved loyalty and sales, almost half of those surveyed (44 percent) expected CX initiatives to lead to a decrease in costs, and 25 percent thought they would attract new customers through word-of-mouth recommendation.
At the same time, those brands that had invested significantly in CX were experiencing those benefits in full: 25 percent of those who’d invested in CX said the primary benefit to the business was increased sales; 22 percent said it was greater customer loyalty; and 22 percent said it was receiving deeper consumer insight that enabled better decisions.
Chris added: “We all need to face up to the fact that CX is now a key factor in driving business growth. The key is to bring everyone along on your journey. It can be immensely satisfying when you can see that the changes you’re making have a tangible impact on your bottom line.”