Remote working and internal politics hinder CX efforts

COVID-19 has made the digital customer experience increasingly important, but at the same time the pandemic has hindered collaborative efforts at improving it, a study finds.

A study of 209 decision-makers in businesses with large headcounts, conducted earlier this year by multi-agency consulting business Paragon DCX, found that 86% of respondents agreed that the CX they provide directly equates to commercial value, but 55% have struggled to recreate the customer experience they offered before the pandemic.

Why it matters

The study also found that half of large organisations do not have an approach to CX that is both developed and joined up; for many, the CX digital journey is, at best, merely functional and effective. With CX now becoming a point of differentiation and competitive advantage, marketers need to focus on how they can develop this aspect of their business. One option is the use of CX guardians or customer committees to bring teams together and oversee the work that goes into creating better customer experiences.

Key findings 

• Challenges: a lack of face-to-face meetings (cited by 44%), less cross department CX collaboration (33%), too busy because of pandemic to focus on CX (25%) 
• Barriers to collaboration: lack of time (32%), internal politics (31%), silos (29%), data not being joined up (24%), poor internal communication (24%).
• Data: 50% admit data sits unused on their CRMs – this despite the importance of data to profiling and segmenting customers and prospects. 

Quote

“It’s astounding that almost a third of respondents claimed internal politics prevents them from providing a better customer experience, especially as a significant majority understand that customer experience directly impacts their bottom lines” – Matt Conner, Chief Growth Officer at Paragon DCX.

Sourced from Paragon DCX