#21: Christmas through the eyes of the employees??

Happy Friday! We're bringing you our roundup of industry news summarised in an exclusive LinkedIn newsletter. For more detail on any news featured here, check out 'This week in CX' on the?Customer Experience Magazine (CXM)?website .

And welcome to the final news roundup of 2022. Thank you all so much for supporting CXM's news coverage that we launched earlier this year. We will be back on 6th January!?

This week's news features will focus on digital CX – including the rising importance of the metaverse and immersive experiences, new AI solutions by NICE, and chatbot frustration. There’s also new research into inclusive workplaces – or the lack thereof.

The metaverse and immersive experiences are gaining more importance

?? 凯捷咨询 Research Institute has found a growing anticipation and interest in the both the metaverse and immersive experiences. Consumers are beginning to see usages and potential for both, in relation to social interactions and interacting with businesses.?

Out of the small group of metaverse-experienced consumers, three-quarters say they are currently using it and will continue to do so. This indicates?there is potential for businesses that can harness the power of this much-hyped immersive experience.

According to the report, 66% of organisations now have a 1–2-year roadmap for immersive experiences. 15% of organisations aim to have some metaverse presence within one year. A further 45% believe it will be mainstream within three years.

Further findings include:

• 78% of consumers?agree more interactive experiences would enable them to make better purchase decisions.
• 84% of organisations believe immersive experiences will be a key differentiator for their company.
• 80% say their employees believe that the use of immersive technologies will improve CX.

Customer interactions with agents are getting a big improvement due to new contact centre solutions

?? NICE have this week launched Enlighten AutoSummary. This is an AI contact centre solution for automatically generating contact centre summaries of every customer interaction with an agent.?

With this new solution,?average handle times and after-call work are reduced. Agents are relieved of the need for manual notetaking, while concise, accurate and actionable information about the interaction is immediately available to the next agent in the customer’s journey.

The interaction notes generated by Enlighten AutoSummary include customer contact reason, actions and outcomes. The solution is underpinned by extensive purpose-built, predictive AI models based on the industry’s leading CX dataset. In addition, Enlighten AutoSummary?continuously improves its understanding of specific customer and agent behaviours with machine learning?for more informative interaction narratives.?

Are we seeing the end of chatbots for CX?

??New research by ujet.cx , Inc. has revealed that chatbots increase frustration for 80% of consumers. Considering that chatbots were introduced to the world of CX for ease and efficiency, it seems that they have had the opposite effect!

Key findings include:

• 78% of consumers were forced to connect with a human after failing to resolve their needs through an automated service channel
• 63% indicated that their interaction with a chatbot did not result in a resolution
• 72% felt that using a chatbot for customer service was a waste of time
• Brands could significantly improve customer experience by ensuring problems are resolved on the first contact (73%)

What do you think of chatbots? Would you agree with the findings that UJET have taken? Do they frustrate you, or do they serve part of a good customer experience for you? Get thinking and let us know!?

With Christmas now less than 10 days away (!!), let's start with the new Christmas research and insights????:

• A lack of inclusive workplaces has been emphasised in light of Christmas work celebrations. We Are Wildgoose revealed that one in five people (20%) believe their current company lacks inclusivity. It also discovered that 57% of employees had witnessed discrimination or a lack of inclusivity whilst at work. Christmas celebrations can also contribute to this feeling of exclusion in the workplace. In the lead-up to Christmas, which is widely celebrated in the UK at the end of December, it’s important to note that this is a celebration stemmed from religion. Not every employee will celebrate, or want to, as they practice a different faith. Let’s not pressure employees to partake in Christmas celebrations.
• Speaking of Christmas work do's, you might want to be on your best behaviour this year. there are?new warnings that any misbehaviours could get employees fired.?This includes actions of thefts, incapacity, harrassment and violence.?Jayne Harrison, head of employment law at? Richard Nelson LLP , said:?“While the Christmas party is an event there to be enjoyed, it’s important to remember there are boundaries and rules which must be respected.?Disciplinary action can be taken against employees who display bad behaviour as it will fall under gross misconduct whether it takes place at the office or a venue further afield.”

M-Cube ?has launched its “Eventually, Christmas” music selection to provide inclusive songs to stores over the festive holidays. The music selection aims to create a?convivial, traditional and festive atmosphere; moving away from the stereotypes of popular Christmas music?while embracing cross-culturalism.

• New Gartner marketing research?has predicted that?by 2024, 70% of brands will redeploy at least 10% of their media budget to product placement in entertainment content.?
• New research by Merkle has revealed that 77% of UK consumers say that prices overrides any other reason to remain loyal to brands.?86% also agree that a lack of promotions and discounts is a reason to turn away from one brand to another with better offers.

CXM articles of the week

Are you caught up on the top articles we published this week? Give them a read if not!

Thanks for tuning into CXM’s weekly roundup of industry news. To find out the new coverages in full and more, remember to?check?this week's post .?

We will back on January 6th!??