CX maturity in APAC leads to business resilience, revenue growth: report

Asia Pacific companies that have continued to invest in their customer experience (CX) over the past year are 10.3 times more likely to have maximised their resilience during the pandemic, while being 4.7 times more likely to have grown their customer base in the past six months, according to Zendesk’s The 2021 State of CX Maturity Report.

Why it matters

CX-led innovation is a competitive differentiator for APAC companies and pivoting to a more conversational experience with customers is a key goal, signalling the shift away from transactional service focused on resolving tickets. 

Key insights

• Only 21% of midsized firms in Singapore feel they have made the right CX investments to increase business resiliency – behind Australia (28%), South Korea (28%) and India (64%).
• The vast majority of respondents in APAC (90%) agree that CX innovation is required to protect their business from competitors.
• Investment in CX leads to better agent retention/productivity – APAC champions are 4.3 times more likely to have excellent agent retention and 72% higher agent productivity than starters.
• The number of champions within midsized companies has grown to 8% since 2020, with India (16%), Australia (12%) and Singapore (9%) having the highest proportion of champions.

Background

The report surveyed more than 3,400 CX decision makers globally, of which 921 were from APAC, and identified common patterns and behaviours that separate high-maturity CX organisations – champions – from less-mature ones, while also outlining what businesses need to do to move up the maturity scale.