As frequent visitors to the Contact Center Solutions Community know, I like to recommend reports that contain insights of value for almost everyone. Such is the case of the recently released report from Accenture titled, “B2B Customer Experience: Start Playing to Win and Stop Playing Not to Lose.”
The reason for the recommendation is two main findings from the survey of 1,450 B2B sales and marketing executives, that more than half of respondents felt their customer experience (CX) investments are ineffective, and that those companies who are proficient (labeled as “masters”) “generate higher-than-average revenue growth—develop strong customer experience strategies and execute them well.”
Despite the lack of effectiveness, respondents do recognize the importance and impact of CX investments to their success going forward. For example, seventy-nine percent agreed that an effective customer experience will influence the way business-to-business (B2B) organizations sell to customers, and 73 percent said it affects the way they service and support existing customers.
Methodology and insights
For purposes of analysis, respondents were split into three main categories:
Masters (24 percent): This group prioritizes customer experience to achieve strong financial growth.
Strivers (48 percent): Those who consider customer experience to be a priority, yet yield modest results.
Laggards (28 percent): As name implies, this group yields low to negative financial results, even though it appreciates the importance of customer experience.
Accenture has prepared a detailed infographic of the survey, and below are two items of interest that should whet your appetites.
Source: Accenture
Just as aside, the first one about replication of a consumer-like experience is one that is popping up not just in regards to selling, but interestingly is also driving the way in which enterprise applications are delivered and used on personal devices. It turns out that “consumerization of IT”, meaning ease-of-use and convenience, is now a matter of importance and urgency across the enterprise.
Readers should also take a look at Accenture’s recommendations on steps to take in order to play to win.
Source: Accenture
Additional findings of note in the report include:
In short, the report highlights what is true when it comes to IT in general, but is particularly important in regards to enhancing customer experience initiatives, i.e., aligning customer experience accountability with financial goals, and providing customers with digital options throughout the experience, is a demonstrable path to success.