Customer experience high on agenda, says Confirmit

Confirmit has commented on the findings of the DMG Consulting 2008 Contact Centre Surveying/Feedback and Analytics Market Report, and the importance of enterprise feedback management software.

Gary Schwartz of Confirmit said the 21.3 per cent growth highlighted in the report corroborates the findings of research carried out by the Strativity Group, which found that 95 per cent of executives think that customer experience is the next competitive background.

Here, Schwartz explains why the fact that customer experience management is so high on the agenda and that more businesses are investing in feedback/analytics software should not come as a surprise.

More people and organisations are changing the way they do business or make their purchases, using technology to interact in a more collaborative manner.

It is becoming increasingly important to create a two-way dialogue with customers so that business can tap into consumer opinions in real-time.

This dialogue should be via whatever channel the customer finds most appealing, whether it be in-store, online, via IVR or the contact centre.

Customers increasingly know what they want, and they want it now.

Or they will switch to a competitor.

Loyalty and repeat purchases in a multi-channel world are increasingly dependent on the quality of service provided, the speed of response, and whether a customer feels that his or her opinions are being taken seriously.

The good news is that technology has evolved to the point where companies can now communicate with their customers both 'how they want it' and 'when they want it', and they can leverage the feedback collected across a range of channels into an enterprise-wide programme that directly impacts business results.

Enterprise feedback management (EFM) software enables companies to integrate the voice of the customer into the business in order to drive actionable results.

More than just market research online, the raft of tools and functionality now incorporated into sophisticated EFM software means that event-driven, contextually rich surveys can be initiated at 'key moments of truth' for individual customers about individual interactions with a company.

The feedback provided can provide actionable insight about the sales process, product selection, pricing or service provision, with real-time alerts enabling an organisation to respond with the most appropriate solution in real time.

Confirmit believes that EFM is well placed to help businesses build an effective customer strategy in order to achieve competitive edge.

Perhaps it also has the potential to help businesses become more agile overall.

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